DefinitelyDressage.com

The barn owner was telling me how my horse no longer comes when he is called, even for food. He has to see her and then he comes.

I called him and he certainly acted like he didn't hear me. I walked close enough and was waving my arms. This caught his attention and he cantered to me. I showed him his food that he didn't eat because he didn't hear the barn owner call him to eat.

I think the barn owner is right. I don't think he can hear much. I have never encountered this before. If true, what makes a 21 yo horse lose their hearing?

I, too, have wondered about my horse's level of hearing these days. He'll turn 27 next month. He often hears something (me, driving up in the Gator), but has difficulty determining which direction a sound comes from, looking around, periscope up, then finally figuring out what's going on. I can drive past the pasture in my diesel truck (can't miss it!) and he'll look up, stare in the wrong direction, and never turn to see me go past. He can hear me whistle from outside the pasture, but still has trouble figuring things out sometimes.

His vision is also suspect. I can be walking to the barn, across totally open field, within 50 yards of him and he's oblivious to me until I get very close. As if lacking the peripheral vision most horses have under those circumstances. Old age sucks!

The timing on this post is impeccable! LOL! I was just telling my husband that I think our daughter's aging QH is losing some of his hearing. When I go out to feed in the evening, they are all in the loose housing shed to get away from the bugs, when I call, all three Canadians and the mini donks come running, but I have to walk out to the shed and get Stetson's attention, and he looks at me like I'm an alien! LOL!

Stetson is in his early 20's, and I think it is an age thing. Maybe that is the reason for your horse as well Tsavo?

That could be, Tuddy. I am going to find info on how to assess his hearing. If he has lost it I will teach him America Sign language for "Momma's boy" and "treat!" and "good".

My horse seems to have recovered his hearing. I guess that might have been a case of hysterical hearing loss lol.

I think there is a strange mind-body connection in my horse... he developed a vet-confirmed small aneurysm in the girth area on his left side. This happened soon after Trump won the GOP primary. Then he developed another smaller aneurysm in the girth area on the right side when Trump apparently won the electoral college (we won't know if he actually won until we get the straight dope on vote machine hacking). Coincidence? I don't think so!

I cracked a tooth from grinding my teeth in my sleep after Trump became Potus. This is serious business.