Some facts of a horses ear/ hearing first:
Horses' ears are primarily for hearing, but they are also utilised to express and communicate (body language).
To explain a horses ability of hearing it helps to distinguish between loudness, pitch and localization.
The easiest to describe here, is the LOUDNESS.
We all know that the noise of a sound is measured in decibels. Studies figured out, the lowest sound a horse can hear is 7 decibels which is comparable to the sound of a person breathing quietly. Think about that for a second.
Isn't that amazing! It also means , we don't need to yell at our horses. They can perfectly hear us when we talk normal....
Horses can respond to a training command given at a very low volume. We don’t need to shout to be heard. Also, horses are very sensitive to the tone of voice. We need to use a confident tone and avoid overly emotional tones such as shrill, high pitches.
Horses can pick up many low frequency sound. They notice them through the vibration in their jawbone and teeth and also in their hooves.
That's why they stop grazing, stop grinding their teeth, when they hear a sound. So the grinding does not interfere with the transmission of the sound they heard to the brain for analysis.
Horses have learned within evolution to pay much more attention to small noises than we do.
Another reason we are not hearing these sounds might be that our minds are always too busy " listening" to voices in our head making plans for dinner, worrying about work etc.
Photo credit to msdvetmanual.com
What really surprised me within my research was, horses can actually hear the ultrasonic squeal of a bat or dolphin, the silent dog whistle and the sound of an insect. All inaudible for human ears.
An example from a life with a horse:
Everyone has experienced this scenario with their horse at least once:
Your horse seems to freeze within his motion and listens to something while you are telling him "its nothing there". Sounds familiar?
So now we know, its probably a frequency that we humans cannot hear, as explained earlier. And again it shows, horses behaviour ALWAYS means something!!! There is not such thing as "nothing".
They are prey animals, they don't have time to focus on " nothing", if they would, the tiger would be happy for the meal :). They always communicate with what they do, and even if they don't do anything it means they feel safe and rest.
Horses associate learned sounds with sights, smell, touch, experiences and knowledge. We know that horses can link the special vehicle sound of the owner when its feeding time ( but ignoring other cars passing by), or the sound of the bucket when grains are mixed for them.
Horses brains are very good in interpreting the sounds of other horses when they snort, groan, nicker, etc. They know who is making that sound, what mood the other horse is in and what he wants.
That's why your horse gets upset, when a stressed horse close by is snorting or whinnying.
They also recognize their owner from the voice, good news! Their brain is connecting the vision and hearing, which was thought is unique to humans.
So, we learned the horses ear is more than just a furry attachment to the head of a horse.
It is very complex in function and essential for the horse to explore the world around them. It is also very sensitive to sounds as we realized.
We have to take this into consideration when we change the environment of our horse through moving to a different stable or drive to a competition. If they are in a new setting, not knowing the other horses, and new sounds everywhere, it is a lot to process for their brain!!!!!
It is a very confusing, overstimulating noisy environment for a start. So we should not be surprised, if they get upset by changes.
It is our job as their owners to give them comfort and make them feel safe in a gentle and a patient way.
For more happy horses!
I hope you enjoyed reading this Blog and got some new knowledge out of it. It is my goal to help you understand your horse better and improve the quality of your time being together.
Inspired again by the book " Horse brain, Human brain" by Janet Jones
and the videos and books of Dr. Steve Peters.
Britta Bruns, Invercargill
Panya ni kiungo cha kusikia ambacho hutumiwa na farasi, lakini pia hutumiwa kwa mawasiliano na lugha ya mwili. Ili kueleza uwezo wa farasi wa kusikia husaidia kutofautisha kati ya sauti, pitch na eneo. Rahisi zaidi kuelezea hapa, ni LOUDNESS. Sote tunajua kwamba kelele ya sauti hupimwa kwa decibels. Kwa mujibu wa utafiti, sauti ya chini kabisa ambayo farasi anaweza kusikia ni decibel saba, ambayo ni sawa na sauti ya mtu anayepumua kwa utulivu. Fikiria jambo hilo kwa muda. Je, hilo si jambo la ajabu! Pia inamaanisha, hatuhitaji kupiga kelele kwa farasi wetu. Wanaweza kutusikia vizuri tunapozungumza kwa kawaida... Farasi wanaweza kujibu amri ya mafunzo iliyotolewa kwa sauti ya chini sana. Hatuhitaji kupiga kelele ili tusikilizwe. Pia, farasi huathiriwa sana na sauti. Tunahitaji kutumia sauti yenye uhakika na kuepuka sauti zenye hisia nyingi kupita kiasi kama vile sauti kali na za juu. Farasi wanaweza kusikia sauti nyingi zenye mzunguko wa chini. Wanaona kwa njia ya mtetemeko katika mfupa wa taya na meno yao na pia katika manyoya yao. Hiyo ndiyo sababu wao kuacha malisho, kuacha grinding meno yao, wakati wao kusikia sauti. Kwa hiyo, kusaga hakuzuia sauti waliyosikia isipelekwe kwenye ubongo ili ichunguzwe. Farasi wamejifunza katika mageuzi yao kukazia fikira sauti ndogo kuliko sisi. Sababu nyingine kwa nini hatuwezi kusikia sauti hizi inaweza kuwa kwamba akili zetu ni daima busy sana "kusikiliza" sauti katika kichwa chetu kufanya mipango kwa ajili ya chakula cha jioni, wasiwasi kuhusu kazi, na kadhalika. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya kwanza ya jarida la ""Misteri ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano ya Mifano.""" Yote hayo hayasikikiwi na masikio ya kibinadamu. "Mfano kutoka kwa maisha na farasi: Kila mtu amepitia hali hii na farasi wake angalau mara moja: farasi wako anaonekana kuzama ndani ya mwendo wake na anasikiliza kitu wakati unamwambia ""hakuna kitu huko.""" Je, hilo linakutokeza? Kwa hiyo, sasa tunajua kwamba ni uwezekano wa mzunguko ambao sisi wanadamu hatuwezi kusikia, kama ilivyoelezwa hapo awali. Na tena inaonyesha, tabia ya farasi sikuzote ina maana kitu!!! Hakuna kitu kinachoitwa "hakuna kitu". "Wanaweza kuwa wanyama wa kuwinda, hawana wakati wa kuzingatia ""hakuna kitu,"" ikiwa wangefanya hivyo, simbamarara wangekuwa na furaha kwa chakula." Wao daima kuwasiliana na kile wanachofanya, na hata kama hawana kufanya kitu chochote ina maana wanahisi salama na kupumzika. Farasi huhusianisha sauti zilizofundishwa na maono, harufu, kugusa, uzoefu na maarifa. "Hawa farasi wanaweza kuunganisha sauti ya gari maalum ya mmiliki wakati wa kulisha (lakini kupuuza magari mengine yanayopita), au sauti ya ndoo wakati nafaka zinachanganywa kwa ajili yao.""" Ubongo wa farasi ni mzuri sana katika kutafsiri sauti za farasi wengine wakati wanapopiga kelele, wanapiga kelele, wanapiga kelele, na kadhalika. Wanajua ni nani anayetokeza sauti hiyo, farasi mwingine yuko katika hali gani na anataka nini. Hiyo ndiyo sababu farasi wako hukasirika, wakati farasi aliye na mkazo karibu anapopiga pua au kulia. Pia humtambua mmiliki wake kwa sauti, habari njema! Ubongo wao unaunganisha maono na kusikia, ambayo ilidhaniwa kuwa ya kipekee kwa wanadamu. Kwa hiyo, tulijifunza kwamba sikio la farasi si tu kiunganishi cha manyoya kwenye kichwa cha farasi. Ni tata sana katika kazi na ni muhimu kwa farasi kuchunguza ulimwengu unaowazunguka. Pia ni nyeti sana kwa sauti kama tulivyofahamu. Ni muhimu kuzingatia hii wakati wa kubadilisha mazingira ya farasi wetu kwa kuhamia kwenye kibanda tofauti au kuendesha kwa mashindano. Ikiwa ni katika mazingira mapya, bila kujua farasi wengine, na sauti mpya kila mahali, ni mengi ya kusindika kwa ubongo wao! Ni mazingira yenye kelele yenye kutatanisha sana, yenye kuchochea kupita kiasi kwa ajili ya kuanza. Kwa hiyo hatupaswi kushangaa, ikiwa wao hukasirika na mabadiliko. Ni kazi yetu kama wamiliki kuwapa faraja na kuwafanya wahisi salama kwa njia ya upole na subira. Kwa ajili ya farasi wenye furaha zaidi! Natumaini ulifurahia kusoma blogi hii na kupata maarifa mapya kutoka kwake. Lengo ni kukusaidia kuelewa farasi wako vizuri na kuboresha ubora wa wakati wako pamoja. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika kitabu cha ""Horse Brain: Human Brain"" cha Janet Jones, ""Ubongo wa binadamu"" ni kitabu cha utafiti wa ubongo wa binadamu." Britta Bruns, Invercargill