I’ve posted a similar thread on Off Course, but figure you guys might be the GoTo group in this case.
One of my horses goes crazy over the fireworks noise and displays. I’d like to muffle the noise, and would appreciate directions about how you get cotton in the ears so it’s effective AND can be removed after the noise stops.
I’m afraid of getting it stuck too deep to get out.
Thanks.
I know a lot of guys use cotton, but I go ahead and spend the $ on the ear plugs made for horses. Smart pak and Dover both usually carry them. I’m not going to say don’t worry at all about getting them in the ear too deep, but don’t worry much. You’ll see what I mean when you go to put the plugs in, it would be very hard to actually lose a plug in an ear. Some horses don’t mind them, others take a bit to get used to them and are fine, and some just hate them. If a few hours after you put them in your horse hasn’t forgotten about them (still shaking his head, etc) it’s best just to take them out, they aren’t worth a sore neck.
I feel your pain, I have an older horse at the farm who can’t stand the 4th of July. Every year used to be traumatic. Earplugs didn’t seem to help him. What works best for him is to be in the barn, with at least one fan in his stall and on ‘high’ (he’s in Texas, it’s always hot), and with a radio turned up loudly, I go with either classical music or oldies country station, no death metal, haha. He still gets a little agitated and nervous, but nowhere near as bad as he used to get.
Good luck! I’m seriously considering starting a “4th of July horse owners co-miseration” thread.
I know many people use the spongy foam ball cat toys as ear plugs
A post came across my facebook feed about earplugs and fireworks!
Have a horse that hates fireworks? Make a pair of earplugs out of baby socks stuffed with cotton (In the photo, Dr. Slovis models a pair at our recent large animal rescue training). Tie them closed with each end of a length of heavy twine (loop the twine over the back of the horse’s neck when the ear plugs are in). If your horse hasn’t experienced ear plugs before, use the next few days to get him comfortable with them before the fireworks start. Have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Ditto on the soft foam cat ball toys. Cotton will also work. As someone else said, it would be pretty hard to get it in too far. In fact, you want to shove them in fairly far so they can’t shake them out. A fair number of hunter people use them so you might want to ask in that forum if you don’t get enough answers here.
I’m not sure if you’re in an area near any racetracks or tack shops that carry racing equipment (only because mail ordering something now might be an issue time wise), but there are several options for earplugs, full ear hoods, and even cups to put in the ear hood to help with noise control. Below is a link to Big Dee’s with the options they have for Standardbreds and they also sell Thoroughbred race tack. If your horse is not happy with ear plugs the ear cups look like they’d fit in a fly mask with ears, so that might be an option for you.
I’ll save you the trouble of going over to the H/J forum. Everything said here will be repeated over there. I used them on my show hunters when needed for years…like indoor winter shows. They would be great for fair shows or those with something else noisy going on in the adjacent area, like polo matches or kid league sports.
The trick is to teach them to tolerate them in advance of when they will need them. It needs to be routine before you add the additional stress. Not too late but putting them in for the first time Saturday evening will be. Put them in every day for a bit between now and then. Cotton or the cat toys work best and Wal Mart has both…oh, get the sheet cotton and roll it into about a 2-3" ball. Too big is better then too small to start with.
If they head shake at first, try pushing deeper. Most of them get to kind of like it, it gets to the deep, itchy spots and when you pull them out, you won’t believe the gunk…ewwwww.
We used to dye the bulk cotton rolls dark brow or black, so do many others. Thats why you don’t notice it.
Ditto everything here…I have also used an ear bonnet to help keep the earplugs (or at least in a place where they can be found should the horse shake them out.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I ordered (Amazon) some Cashel ear plugs with a string attached so that I could get them right away. They’ll be here tomorrow which should give me time to fiddle with them. He’s a retired show horse, so sort of expects all sorts of odd wearing apparel.
Gotta love COTH–no matter what strange thing you need to do, somebody can tell you what you need and how to go about it. :love-struck:
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