Balance issues in a mini... would one ear being deaf affect balance?

[PaintsRule]

I have a nice little black splashed white (I think) mare. She has white over her ear, one ear, not the other. Blue eyes.... we had her just in a large stall 16 by 20 and hadnt turned her out in the field for some time. The first time we turned her out, she had to come out of her stall, turn go about 10 feet, then jump down about 1.5 - 2 feet to get outside. Well she staggered and almost fell, then went away and staggered a time or 2 again. She seems to work out of it, and if turned out often seems to get better and better. The other day my husband was trying to push her out (she was very leary of going out) so I said I will lead her the long way and no jumping. When he was pushing to get her out, she was wobbling, but she lead very best all the way and I released her in the pasture and she was fine. My thoughts, is is there a possibility that she lacks pigment inside that one ear and none of the little hairs that are required for hearing as well as I read somewhere that the hairs are also is used for balance, and is deaf in one ear? I know people are going to say my splashed white is deaf but has no balance problems, well I would say, yeah both ears and they can be balanced because they are the same in both ears, but wouldnt just one cause balance issues? She does not appear to be in pain along her back or her head etc, and when she is outside and is running she can really boogie...... I have put this mare for sale, but am considering my options, I did tell someone about the occaisional issue and did a video of her running..... She was never sick, nor injured to my knowledge... I always wondered if she might be deaf because of the white, but if she was only one ear deaf then it would be harder to tell...... We only bought her this spring and had her in the large stall for some time before we turned her out so in the barn everything was perfectly normal, and it appears she only staggers when needing to jump or turning quickly......





Here is a video to show you how she CAN run and play... Not sure if I do it right, maybe you can copy and paste....

http://www.facebook....&type=2

 

[chandab]

Are the balance issues mostly when going from the stall to outside and having to jump down? If so, perhaps its also related to adjusting from the darker stall to bright outside. Don't really know, just offering another idea.

 

[PaintsRule]

Its also inside when you are pushing her and she doesnt want to go..... and also when she turns to be frisky and take off in another direction....... feels more to me like balance issues, but not sure...... and grasping at straws with the white ear and her being splashed white.

 

[stormy]

Balance issues can be related to so many things, wobblers syndrome, EPM, pinched nerve, even stifle issues that make a leg hesitate and not move forward in a smooth manner, I would not expect deafness to impact balance in one or both ears, inner ear infections can, so can infections of the gutteral pouch.

 

[PaintsRule]

This is what I found about people, and assume that horses are much the same, since the white inner ear causes the hairs to die that are in the inner ear, I figured deafness in ONE ear, could cause balance issues.... I am going to research to see if the hairs do the same thing in horses, I would imagine so.... I dont think she has any of the other problems, did you watch her running in the video? But on pushing or her being frisky she almost falls to the ground, but not when running.....

"How We Balance - The Vestibular System

The semicircular canals and vestibule function to sense movement (acceleration and deceleration) and static position. The three semicircular canals lie perpendicular to each other, one to sense movement in each of the 3 spatial planes. At the base of the canals are movement hair cells, collectively called the crista ampullaris. Depending on the plane of movement, the endolymph flowing within the semicircular canals stimulates the appropriate movement hair cells. Static head position is sensed by the vestibule, specifically, its utricle and saccule, which contain the position hair cells. Different head positions produce different gravity effects on these hair cells. Small calcium carbonate particles (otoliths) are the ultimate stimulants for the position hair cells.

The hair cells for both position and movement create nerve impulses. These impulses travel over the vestibular nerve to synapse in the brain stem, cerebellum, and spinal cord. No definite connections to the cerebral cortex exist. Instead, the impulses produce reflex actions to produce the corrective response. For example, a sudden loss of balance creates endolymph movement in the semicircular canals that triggers leg or arm reflex movements to restore balance."

This is what I found about why Splashed white can be deaf.... but I am sure the occurance of just one being deaf is very rare even more so.....

"Here an absence of melanocytes in the inner ear leads to death of the hair cells, which are necessary for perceiving sound.

 

[PaintsRule]

Its not really the fact she would be deaf in that ear causing the inbalance, I suspect that if the hairs are not present (as this is what causes the deafness) the hairs are needed for balance, and if they are not present they could be causing the inbalances..... I dont know.

 

[HGFarm]

I have deaf cats and if missing hair would cause imbalance due to deafness, then they would be imbalanced all the time. They have excellent balance and leaping skills, lol My first guess would be to have her back alignment looked at and see what else could cause the problem. I dont think it's deafness.

 

[PaintsRule]

See my thoughts are that there are MANY instances of deaf cats, deaf horses, etc... and splashed whites are deaf because of the lack of little hairs inside the ear, well I researched and found that the little hairs are also what sends the messages out to move a leg to regain balance, but if they are missing in ONE ear (and again as I stated before, many are deaf in both ears, its quite rare for a splashed white to have white only over one ear, there is really no precedence etc for ONE ear AND having lack of pigmentation inside) then its different, I am much better balanced if I am carrying 2 buckets, now give me 1 and I am much more handicapped than with 2..... so if both ears are missing the hairs, then its easier to balance than if only one is missing..... I dont know.... has ANYONE watched the video to see how spry and fast she can run when not being pushed off balance? And if this is the case she was born this way so it may not be noticeable as much..... She goes from running like in the video to if you push her to do something she looses her balance, but I can push on either hip when standing still and she is strong and fine.... guess to answer my question I will first have to have her Baer tested to see if she is actually deaf in that ear or not.....

 

[PaintsRule]

It really is such a rare occurance to have a splashed white affected only in one ear..... so its hard to compare a horse lacking those hairs needed for balance only in one ear.

 

[supaspot]

I have deaf cats and if missing hair would cause imbalance due to deafness, then they would be imbalanced all the time. They have excellent balance and leaping skills, lol My first guess would be to have her back alignment looked at and see what else could cause the problem. I dont think it's deafness.

not sure you can compare cats , we had a white deaf cat and it turned out one of the small bones ( hammer anvil stirrup,) in the ear was missing nothing to do with hairs

 

[PaintsRule]

I wonder if the vets that were involved in the US Davis studies of the correlation of the Splashed white pattern with deafness in horses, caused by the hairs being missing would be able to shed some light. The previous owner never noticed anything amiss with her, and I would not have had either, except I dont just lead her out to the pasture, I sometimes just turn her loose and coax her out, sometimes pushing so but when leading its fine.... not sure.....

 

[JAX]

Just a thought, maybe the difference in light is difficult for her eyes to figure out and then when shes been outside for a while her eyes have adjusted and that is why it is better for her later??? Sorry no idea about the deaf ear causing balance issues but maybe so.

 

[happy appy]

I haven't read every post yet, but if you suspect a balance issue, what about trying to jump her where light isn't going to be an issue?

 

[PaintsRule]

I can try, she is worse when she is not picking her own way, so I will find out.... she is not keen about coming back in either going into the dark....

 

[supaspot]

this sounds more like a sight issue

 

[PaintsRule]

I doubt it supaspot cause she has also done it when taking off frisky outside, and the light was not changing, and she has done it inside the barn before being in sight of the barn... from what I have read mammals have hairs inside their ears that send messages to the legs to react and a splashed white is deaf because of hairs inside the ears missing so I figured it might be the cause. But a splashed white is rarely white over one ear, its usually both inner ears that are deaf, so its kinda "hypothetically" because I can't find say 20 people or even another person with a splashed white with one white ear to compare........

 

[paintponylvr]

I couldn't get the video to load.

What does your vet say re: back, hips, stifles, balance overall? Then hairs, white ears, balance?

 

[Blackwater Farm]

I have a deaf splash white stallion. Neither one of his ears are white and he is still deaf. She may very well be partially deaf, but I think the balance problems might be something else.

 

[PaintsRule]

I have not yet called a vet, my vet that was great at giving advise on the phone is no longer in service, so..... anyways, here is the video, let me know if you cant get it to load. Because she is pretty well normal looking, and this is not really affecting her day to day life... does not appear sick,etc, I have not rushed it with the vet. I just feel that research tells me that the hairs inside a splashed white is what causes hearing loss AND research tells me that the hairs are also used to send signals for balance, that one ear missing the hairs would be more noticeable.....

Not sure why the video is not available... its on my facebook, and I put the address.... try copying and pasting?