stroking horse ears

Question
hello, can i stroke my horse ears regularly? i heard that few horse ears are cold is which is a sign of sickness. am i right?

Answer
Hello Caine,

Thank you for your question.  You can stroke your horses ears as often and as long as you want, especially if they are willing to let you do it.  In fact, gently massaging the tips of your horses ears is an equine massage technique that helps calm them down as it is said to encourage the release of endorphins in the blood stream.  There is some suggestion that hot ears are an indicator of fever (although taking your horse's temperature is really the way to tell if they have a fever) and that cold ears suggest that your horse's body temperature is dropping.  Keep in mind that it is normal for the tips of the horse's ears to be cooler than the rest of the horse...and ear temperature tends to be an indicator of ambient temperature.

Thanks, Corlena