# Where do his ears belong?



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

First off, howdy and welcome to the forum. 

Where the horse's ears point will often just be wherever is most comfortable for him and will also depend on their individual temperament. I've ridden lots of horses that had their ears pricked up and looking forward, lots that would keep their ears pointed backward toward me, and even some that would just let their ears flop around out to the sides LOL.

I've never found that it had any bearing at all on their responsiveness to my cues. Some horses will point their ears back when you cue, others won't. I am much less concerned with what their ears are doing than what their body is doing. If the horse is listening and responding well, then his ears can do pretty much whatever they want to as far as I'm concerned.

My only exception to that is when they are pinned flat. I generally don't allow that on a horse I'm riding because it's a sign of aggression and aggression in a saddle horse is almost always a bad thing.


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## BubblesBlue (Jun 29, 2010)

It's always good to have a horse with one ear cocked to you, it means they are listening. However if both ears are pointed forwards, they are mostly focused on that thing and not you, but some cases this can be wrong too.
Most of the time when horses have their ears back like this are frustrated[and I know they're frustrated because they had to stand to get their pictures taken or at least Heidi is]


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

He knows you're up there. He should be paying attention to where he is going and to you. If he is doing a good job of moving forward, watching where he is going, and following your cues, I wouldn't worry too much about ears.


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## Tianimalz (Jan 6, 2009)

I don't rely on the ears alone, they are just another communication and attention tool to the whole body of the horse  If I am on the trails, and my mare ****** her ears forward but is still moving in a fluid and easy gait, then I don't mind. But if she is tense, balking and her ears are forward... that is simply telling me is thinks somthing ahead is scary or she is unsure. Ears forward, and her body movement is jittery and very forward, then there is likely another horse up ahead and she wants to say hi. 

Really, you gotta read the entire body with all its cues put together. I'm pretty sure the only reason my mare keeps her ears tuned to me most of the time, is because she is familiar with my voice cues and is very good at listening for them.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I don't pay much attention to my horses ears at all when in the saddle so long as they are doing what I want. What I do do is if their ears ***** forward, head comes up and they start staring I'll look that way to see what they are looking at. Seen a lot of wildlife I would of otherwise missed by doing that.

What is important is whole body language. You can feel when they tense up because something is bothering them.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Ear shots of my mare:




























I don't have any pictures of her with her ears turned around to me. She almost never does it. Even when I sing (badly).

This is as close as she comes - in an arena, when she is feeling a little ****y about overtaking our gelding and I'm asking her to ease off the pace:










I think the arena bores her so she turns her ear because there isn't anything else to do. With an empty trail ahead of her...nope. Ain't happening. However, she is very aware of my seat, my legs and the reins.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Bsms, she is looking at you in that first picture. Tiny bit of ear tipped back there. Nice pics.


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

im not really worried about where their ears are pointing. my horses all have their ears twisting around listening to everything.
as soon as they hear my voice or get a cue theyll turn an ear back to me but other than that when on the trail if their ears are going everywhere i dont really care it means their paying attention to their surroundings (which is good because we do have bears and cougars and coyotes etc). theyll see something or hear something long before i do but as long as they wil bring their attention immediately back to me as soon as i ask for it then it doesnt really matter.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Celeste said:


> Bsms, she is looking at you in that first picture. Tiny bit of ear tipped back there. Nice pics.


Thanks. This picture (zoomed) was snapped a few seconds ahead of the other one...so I think she was mostly thinking about the horse and rider coming up to us:










OTOH, our gelding seems to like to listen to my daughter singing to him...almost every picture shows him with one ear halfway back:










And like one of the other posters mentioned, my mare's ears often alert me to something I'm otherwise going to miss. A couple of weeks ago, it was a 4 foot long blacksnake carrying what I'm guessing was a baby rabbit in its mouth, with its head about a foot above the ground. The thing in its mouth was squeaking, and a rabbit charged the snake a couple of times before giving up. I only caught sight because my mare's ears both went to one side, and then she looked intently at a patch of desert. If I had been out jogging on my own, I'd have missed it.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

You will hardle see a picture of my horse with his ears back, He is alert and watching the trail. The ears swivel all around


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

Like Painted Horse's horses, my girl's ears are going every whichaway. She watches everything that is going on - she loves the trails! Does that mean she's not listening to me? No - she's very responsive when asked to do something.

Well, at least she is until she decides she's gone far enough! (Daughter rode her around our 2-mile section - total 8 miles. Dancer got about 1/4 mile from the last corner and decided she had gone far enough and wanted to turn around and go home. All the way back around! Took a little convincing, but she eventually agreed to move in the desired direction. Guess she was very pleased to see that the way forward was the shorter, easier route!)


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## Jolly Badger (Oct 26, 2009)

I don't put too much thought into where my horse's ears are pointed, and it doesn't concern me if there isn't always an ear back toward me. 

Since he "listens" to the other cues I give him, his ears are able to focus on the rest of the world around us.


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## HagonNag (Jul 17, 2010)

If my horse is in the lead, his ears are forward. And when they REALLY go forward and he stops...he's focusing on something. Usually it's another rider coming down the trail towards us...WAY before I'd be aware of them. But sometimes it's deer or turkeys. He likes to stop and watch them sail past if they are really close.. Otherwise, he's just an early warning system. He focuses those ears and I know there's a surprise coming! LOL 

If we're following, he's totally relaxed. The lead horse is watching for danger, he's just following along. His ears can go any which way!


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

What I have learned with trail riding is that you want the horse to be alert. When his ears are turned back and his head is low he is paying no attention to anything. Should something spook him, he will likely react much more so than the horse that is alert.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Saddlebag said:


> What I have learned with trail riding is that you want the horse to be alert. When his ears are turned back and his head is low he is paying no attention to anything. Should something spook him, he will likely react much more so than the horse that is alert.


Been there. Done that. My horse was basically sleep walking when a bee stung her. She startled and ran. 
Gravity got me......... :lol:


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## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

I like an ear on me with arena work, but it doesn't need to be so. ST's ears will be flat out to the sides if we're following on the trail, and they'll be up and alert if we're leading (not normally, coz she's slow, lol). She generally starts to snort if she sees/hears something a bit farther, but if a little branch across the trail spooks her (for whatever dumb reason, haha) she'll literally almost sit down on her butt from whatever pace we're going to avoid stepping on it, and then she continues like nothing happened.
I like seeing ears up on a trail though, I think they make the best pictures that way 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Depending on if you are with a group or out alone. The leading or first horse will have their ears forward. That last horse will keep them back. If alone, they will go either way. 

It doesn't bother me if where their ears are when riding. I would rather have them keep their neck level than up like a giraffe. The ones with their head up seem to be worse spookers.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

I pay a LOT of attention to what my horse's ears are doing. They generally are going back and forth from mostly forward to one back or both back toward me. 

If I slightly 'tighten' one leg, that ear on that side will instantly come back to 'listen' to what I am asking. 
I my horses ears go into a VERY alert position, I try to see what he is looking at. 
If his neck is bowed and he is looking down, I think SNAKE! Lots of rattlers around here. 
If his head is up, particularly if he hesitates or stops, I think feral hogs or deer or ????
If he turns his head back, I look behind me for bicycles, game, other riders or ????
If I have trail riders with me, I glance back frequently to watch the ears and other indicators of the trail horses carrying them. 

'Reading' horses is a very big part of what I do and determines completely what kind of response I am going to ask for in a horse I am on or have with me. I always try to ride 'ahead' of where I am and think watching a horse's ears are one of the best indicators of where a horse's mind is.


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## Blue (Sep 4, 2011)

I want my horses ears all over the place. When we' humans are walking down the street or let's say walking in the mall. We're not always paying attention to just one direction. Sometimes, we're focused on who's walking beside us, what's in the window, who's coming our way, what's that smell, who's coming up behind, back to the windows, etc. An alert individual has focus all over the place. I want my horse to do the same. But his BODY is focused on me.


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## phoenix (Jun 7, 2010)

My gelding is the ears flopping out to the sides kind of horse. If he's out front he's generally got them somewhat pricked and alert but he's kind of laid back and mostly has them pointing side wards or with one pointing back towards me.


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## HorseCrazyTeen (Jul 29, 2012)

It doesn't really matter where your horse's ears are, just so you know that he is paying attention and obeying you. My horse always has her ears pricked forward, listening to other things until I cue her. Then one or both ears go a little back or sideways for a moment to tune into my voice. 

But, I know a few horses that do a lot of different things with their ears, so anything is fine except for ears laid flat back on the head. Then it's not so good! They are either being aggressive, resistant, fearful, and/or defiant.

Edit: Sometimes Brandy will have her ears flat out like Dumbo, which tells me she is either really bored or overly relaxed.


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