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Dirty Ears

6K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  csimkunas6 
#1 ·
Ever since I bought Rodeo, Ive noticed that every so often he seems to have clumps of some kind of nastiness tangled up in his ear hair. I was just wondering what everyone here uses to clean their horses ears, if at all.

He lets me take the clump of stuff out of his ear, and it just appears to be ear wax. Is this normal?


Thanks
 
#2 ·
It's not unusual

for my old mare to have dry skin and gunk and plant material and cobwebs around the outside of her ears. :-o:shock:

She has very furry ears which I must clean everytime I groom her. I just brush them out dry with exfoliating bath gloves. It's the rolling in the paddock does it I think.

Sounds like he doesn't mind you cleaning them for him which is good. :grin:

Does the discharge look/smell like healthy ear wax or something else? If it looks or smells nasty or his ears are bothering him (headshaking) I'd be getting the vet out.

Sorry I can't help more. I'm looking forward to hearing other replies. Good luck and give Rodeo a scratch from me. :)
 
#4 ·
for my old mare to have dry skin and gunk and plant material and cobwebs around the outside of her ears. :-o:shock:

She has very furry ears which I must clean everytime I groom her. I just brush them out dry with exfoliating bath gloves. It's the rolling in the paddock does it I think.

Sounds like he doesn't mind you cleaning them for him which is good. :grin:

Does the discharge look/smell like healthy ear wax or something else? If it looks or smells nasty or his ears are bothering him (headshaking) I'd be getting the vet out.

Sorry I can't help more. I'm looking forward to hearing other replies. Good luck and give Rodeo a scratch from me. :)


Thanks for the reply Day Mares!!! He doesnt mind it at all, actually seems to enjoy it to an extent. It doesnt seem like his ears are bothering him, he doesnt shake his head or anything. Like I said, its really only occasionally. It just seems like a combo of ear wax and dirt to be honest, nothing else really. I do know, that it does seem to be more relevant after he rolls, which was very obvious yesterday, so that could be it too.

Thanks for the reply!!! I will be sure to give Rodeo a scratch for you :)
 
#3 ·
Horses are much little dirty little kids, they hate to get their ears cleaned. Be gentle and don't drip anything inside the ear, a moist cloth is all it takes.
 
#6 ·
My TWH mare has hairy ears with gunky ear wax from time to time. I don't believe in clipping them clean, since we don't show, so it ends up gathering at the bottom of the opening of her ear, on the ear hairs. She is not crazy about having her ear wax cleaned out so we just do it as gently and quickly as possible. I agree that a damp cloth is all that is needed. Also, she is really sensitive to fly bites (especially the types of nasty critters that bite horses' ears) and they make her ears swell, crust and itch. For that, I gently rub the crusts off, which for some reason seems to feel good to her, and put roll-on fly spray on the back and inside of her ears as a repellent.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the post!!! I dont want to clip his ears due to bugs and what not, I thought about it though. But thats exactly where he is getting it at, right at the bottom of the opening of his ear!!! Glad to hear he's not the only one that gets it....thanks for the help!!!
 
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