The horses can still hear all the distractions. I would think that would be more distressing to hear but not be able to see things like cars or pedestrians. The horse must know things are going on around it by sound. So because they can’t see it, it doesn’t exist?
In: Biology
I was a harness racing groom for five years: as others have said blinders help horses focus on the direction ahead rather than anything else. That includes the driver, as some horses will take the opportunity to kick if they see the driver raise/move the whip, or if they see another horse coming up behind/along side them.
There are also ear hoods and ear plugs that can be used to reduce audible stimulation, pop out plugs being strategically popped out to give a flood of noise when needed to get a brief extra boost of speed.
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