Idiotic putting a horse through mounted shooting in other than absolutely necessary circumstances. Their hearing is just as sensitive to loud noises as ours if not more so. plus being unexpected it causing stress and possible harmful reactions. Like our own hearing 70db should be approaching a maximum under sustained or frequent circumstances. Large bore firearm's can reach 160 to 175 db or more. Hearing loss in a horse isn't something I'd want if I had to rely on them. Even though hearing protection for horses is readily available, I doubt many use it.
Phil
The sport of mounted shooting uses blanks, not live rounds. Blanks are surprisingly quiet. They make a cool *pop* but nothing that comes remotely close to needing ear protection. Some horses don't like the sudden noise and don't get used in the sport because of it. Other horses just don't care.
