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
Unlike us, horses can see what’s going on on either side of them with their left eye watching their left side and their right eye watching the opposite side. As a prey species, this helped them watch out for predators better. Alternatively, they can use both eyes to focus at something straight in front of them like we do.
Switching from one mode of vision to the other seems to be jarring for the horses. I recall one incident in which doves taking off from a race track caused the horses to switch from panoramic view to focused view, and it was so confusing on the horses that several ended up throwing their riders or breaking a leg. Blinders keep them focused on what’s in front of them all the time. Had those horses been wearing blinders, they wouldn’t have been as startled by the doves.
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