Jdorward:Several times we suspected that he didn't hear, but he pointed his ears (at what he saw?) and functioned in our herd without any difficulty. Because of the ear pointing and low index of suspicion it took us several years to figure out that he is totally deaf. Now that we realize his deafness, we are able to interact with him more usefully and he is so much more relaxed. Our farrier says that he "glows from happiness" that someone finally understands him.
Thank you for sharing Prince's story. It's sad, yet en-heartening he finally landed with a family that took time to investigate his handicap and reach out to him.
The horse's ear is hard wired to follow the eye, even though there may be no auditory input. The optic and auditory nerves connect to different parts of the brain. The eyes are most important to the horse's survival. So the optic nerves run to the diencephalon and attach to the left/right lobes of the thalamus for threat evaluation. Visual signals then go directly through to the hypothalamus, which has the capability to instantaneously trigger the flight response and jolt the horse with adrenaline when needed. The auditory nerves, on the other hand, connect to the temporal lobes of the brain cortex for processing and then have to pass signals through the screening process of the thalamus before the horse can attach any level of importance to what it hears. The delay in that decision making process could be fatal to the horse. That's why the horse's vision is so critical to it's survival and body language the most direct method of communication. So even though the ear follows the eye in apparent unity, they still serve separate functions. ~FH
"Abuse is when a human action or reaction is obviously accompanied by anger, rage or adrenaline. Proper correction and reprimand are done in silence with thoughtful intent. Your horse knows the difference." ~FloridaHorseman
