[Chronometer]

This poor baby is deaf :c

Username: TheToyMaker
Show Name (optional): TTT Seaside Melody
Name: Mel
Gender: Stallion
Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)
Age: 9
Height: 15hh

[Ardere]

Username:Ardere
Show Name (optional):Electronic Heart
Name:Bullet
Gender: Stallion
Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)
Age:6
Height:14.1
Halter Colour:Deep purple with silver buckles
Five word personality:Sweet, Skittish, Calm, Bouncy Eager.
How does he/she cope with his/her deafness?Bullet was born deaf, learning from a young age, he learnt body language very well, responding to the slightest movement and touch. Depending strongly on his sense of smell, Bullet is every spooked by sudden movements and strong scents. He is definitely not for a beginner, and needs a patient and kind rider.
(Edit; grammar mistakes.)

[feverrr]

Username:
Show Name: The King And The Rook.
Name: Rookie.
Gender: Stallion.
Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)
Age: Seven years old.
Height: 13 hh.
Halter Colour:
Five word personality:
How does he cope with his/her deafness?

Possible res??

[landofmakebelieve]

That mane... That tail... That eye... That body...

Username: piaffes in the snow

Show Name: Over Dun It

Name: Adimar - Meaning "He whose scars define him" in German

Gender: Stallion

Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)

Age: 3 Years

Height: 15.0hh

Halter Colour: White with gold buckles

Five word personality: Sweet • Gentle • Nervous • Cautious • Submissive

How does he/she cope with his/her deafness? Adimar has been taught basic American Sign Language. Many deaf horses before, in real life, have actually been taught Sign Language. It is a tough and gruelling process to teach a horse to read Sign Language, but it is worth it.

[Whatever.]

Username: Whatever.
Show Name (optional): Sólsetur (sunset in Icelandic)
Name: Sol
Gender: Gelding
Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)
Age: 8 years
Height: 13.3hh
Halter Colour: light baby blue with little white designs
Five word personality: strong-willed, doesn't not handle stress
How does he/she cope with his/her deafness? Sol didn't handle his deafness until the barn cat (I have yet to make one, I will one day) took a liking to his bad manners and would give him signals on whether everything was safe or not. When signaled that it is indeed safe (by a slow swish of a lowered tail and upright ears), Sol responds to touch. You do have to keep your hand on him at all times, and apply pressure when you want him to do something, like lift a foot. When under saddle he responds in much the same way. It's also recommended you be in his line of sight before you start touching him, otherwise he will lash out. If signaled that everything is not okay, Sol goes into a complete meltdown. He will lash out, almost blindly, and has broken quite a few stall doors this way. If the cat doesn't know the farm hand, she will give a signal of alarm (she raises her tail and flattens her ears). Sol always has the feline in his line of sight, as one the stable hands caught on they moved her bed and food outside his stall, she also tends to ride on his haunches out to the field where she sits somewhere clean and naps while he grazes.

[TheToyMaker]

As soon as I saw this babe, a story immediately popped into my head. I hope it's alright that I included how he became deaf! ><


Username: TheToyMaker
Show Name (optional): TTT Seaside Melody
Name: Mel
Gender: Stallion, why not xD
Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)
Age: 9
Height: 15hh
Halter Colour: Themed like the sea, perhaps?
Five word personality:
Before The Accident:
Confident-Weak Willed- Pressured- Immature- Uncaring

Now:
Soft-Creative-Caring-Free-Independent

How He Was Deafened(from Mel's perspective):

There we were, a small group of gangly foals huddled together against the harsh winds. Man, back then, we thought we were the bomb. Foolish foals. Thinking we could do whatever we wanted, that we were so cool and strong. Mistakes.
Anyway, one of the big colts had just broken the lock on the pasture gate. I was just as excited as the rest of them; jittering weanlings, looking for an adventure. Earlier, some of the bravest bullies had announced we were going to break out and go on an amazing journey. No one suspected a thing, much less this would be a life changing experience for me...
When we arrived, it was clear some of the foals had changed their minds. I stood with the rest of them in front of the massive concrete road before me, a bit regretful myself.
It was when the big colts announced we had to cross the busy street that sealed my fate.
Some smaller colts and frightened fillies announced they were heading back; suprisingly, the big colts didn't try to stop them. Instead they mocked them, teasing them for being wimps and cowards. This of course made me want to stay; I didn't want to be pinned as any of those. I wanted to prove to the others that I was just as strong and capable as the rest of them.
Before I could really comprehend what was happening, the first colt was crossing the road. Gangly legs and small hooves like his didn't fare well on the slippery concrete, but he crossed successfully. Soon enough, weanlings of all gender and mindsets were bunching up and leaping across, sometimes with a few scratches but otherwise alright. The big colts only pushed them on, encouraging the dangerous act without actually completing it themselves.

I soon found myself to be up next.

Closer it was much scarier. The wet pavement, waiting to snap slender bones that collided with it or send something sliding off to who knows where, was extremely intimidating. It was such a short distance, but so far....
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Only slightly, but enough for me to hear it. Apparently, no other foal heard it; that made sense, I always had very sensitive ears. Due to the other foals not hearing a thing, they only pushed me harder, laughing at my hesitation. Attempting to ignore the slowly growing rumbling, I leapt forward.

Oh, mistakes, mistakes. Everyone makes them, but some are much, much worse than others.

As my front hooves touched down on the pavement and immediately slipped, the rumbling turned into a blaring red siren and I realized that.

It blasted past me as I slid across the hard surface, the large vehicle blowing my then fragile body over, and I tumbled off the road and down a small incline. Right then I didn't care about the pain of falling; my head hurt so much I couldn't see straight, and my ears felt like tiny powerful explosions were repeatedly set off inside. Everything rang; everything hurt; and then, I realized again:

Everything was quiet.

I couldn't hear.

Things were screaming.

Things were ringing.

But I couldn't hear them.

For me, I had always relied so much on my sensitive hearing: this was a heavy blow.

The last realization for me that day was that crossing the road successfully wasn't important...

It was whether I would get through this or not.

How does he/she cope with his/her deafness?
Mel went through a long period of time when he was completely despondent. He didn't react to anything at all, and stayed hiding in the corner all day. The accident had dealt him a heavy blow, and his once bright eyes and shining coat began to fade to grey. The humans feared he was slipping away...

That's when he found the sea.

Soft sand cushioning his footsteps and the gentle waves at his feet, Mel walked to recovery.

The sea to him is extremely calming, comforting, beautiful. It's like a caring mother, a helpful hand to guide him, a friendly buddy to spend the day with. Even being unable to hear the waves rush back and forth or listen to the beautiful sound, Mel can somehow hear it anyway, almost through feeling. This allows him to imagine the sound, which just the thought of can make him so relaxed, he just wants to lie down and rest on the soft beach. He loves every part of it, how the warm rays of afternoon sun shine on his back, how the seaside breeze ruffles through his mane, how the salty air carries the scent and the very esscence of the ocean.

Sure, he wishes he could hear the gulls screech their arrival and the palms ruffling in the wind, but he's quite content with just the sight of beautiful blue fields of water stretching before him. He simply loves everything about it.

In the very short period of time Mel is away from his beach, he clearly becomes a bit unhappy- but it's the memory of those waves that keep him alive. It seems to be his very soul, freedom and life. He's now so much more knowledgable and cheerful; sometimes he'll even put on a funny show for the barn children, prancing around in scuba gear, just imagining their priceless laughs of joy. His life has been changed; bad mistakes have led to his freedom, scarring memories to happiness. He's changed.




There on the beach, stands a pony, one with a white and red coat. His mane and tail ruffle in the wind, ocean blue eyes washing over the water before him. He calls to the sea, a soft, rumbling melody that whispers through the salty air. He's singing to his ocean, his mentor, his guide, his friend. He may not be able to hear the response, but he wouldn't change anything for the world.

Because when Mel sings to the sea, it sings back.

[heyheygirl101]

Username: heyheygirl101
Show Name (optional): Defiance in the Face of Defeat
Name: Braveheart
Gender: Stallion
Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)
Age: 6
Height: 15 hh
Halter Colour: this please
Five word personality: Defiant - Brave - Determined - Independant - Strong
How does he cope with his/her deafness? Braveheart was born deaf and has, some would say luckily, never actually known what the sound of hooves is like or the whiny of his mother. However that does not mean he cannot hear in other ways.
Since Braveheart was only a few days old he has often just stood in one place focusing at the ground before heading off in the direction of other animals. At first everyone thought it was quite strange, since this little foal would often not play along for long because he was always, just stopping in the middle of a game to stand and stare at the ground.
One day his owner called the vet to see if it was something wrong with him, such as a side effect from being born deaf, however she to was perplexed by the fact that the foal would just stop and listen. She started doing tests and found that everytime he stopped there were vibrations in the ground, and it seemed as though he could see them, in that sense she was wrong.
By the time Braveheart was two he relied solely upon his hooves to be his ears. What people didn't realize was the fact that since the day he was born he has felt every vibration of hooves, feet, cars, paws, and everything in between, and slowly but surely he has learned to identify each and everyone of them, individually. He knows that his mothers hooves are a very thick vibration and that his best friend Whiskey's hooves are always paired with the little pitter patter of her companion, Souless', paws.
It has taken a very long time for him to learn and perfect his new ears, but he has been truely able to hear all along.

[guilttripping]

Bugle Boy

Username: fjord rider
Show Name (optional): Bugle Boy
Name: Blue
Gender: Stallion
Colour: Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)
Age: 10
Height: 15.3hh
Halter Colour: Turquoise
Five word personality: Intelligent, caring, helpful, brave and gentle.
How does he/she cope with his/her deafness? Blue copes with his deafness by learning things. He knows what time Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are. He knows what time and days he will get ridden on. He knows who is in each field and who gets on with who. He usually doesn't communicate with the other horses, he stands over them and makes sure they are safe. At the stables there is a little mare who accompanies him. She will translate to him through body language which he also learnt of humans and horses.

[Sandy Hoofprints]

Username:
vetwannabe

Show Name:
Without a Shadow of a Doubt

Name:
Shadow

Gender:
gelding

Colour:
Bay Dun (Ee/AA/DD)

Age:
19

Height:
17hh

Halter Colour:
royal blue

Personality
Gentle ~ Eager to please ~ Affectionate

How does he cope with his deafness?
Shadow wasn't diagnosed as deaf until he was four years old. You wouldn't guess, but many deaf horses aren't diagnosed until later in their life, and some never.

Shadow copes better than you would expect. There is not one thing he does, but . He relies more on his senses of touch and sight more than most horses, and he approaches life with due caution, but he doesn't spook that easily and it's hard to tell at all that he can't hear. In fact he acts just like any other laid-back, gentle horse would, only with a determination and willingness that is more rare.

He has an amazingly strong bond with his rider. He makes her feel safe wherever they are, but he especially loves to ride, because then he doesn't have to always be so careful - he can enjoy himself, knowing that she will keep him heading the right direction.
He also enjoys any grooming activities because he strives for that extra stimulation from the feel of the brush. Similarly he loves to play with toys and to have to work things out - his favourite toy is the food puzzle cube and he also enjoys playing hide and seek with his owner in the field!

[TheToyMaker]

Wondrous luck to the few that have entered ^^ So many wonderful stories! >w<