The Ultrasonic Noise and the Deaf Horse
“Wow! Martin’s father is rich. So many horses and look at the horse sheds. Some of them are even bigger than my house!” said Eeshan. He had come to visit Martin with Nitin.
Nitin laughed and said “Don’t exaggerate! Too bad uncle would have to sell this off.”
Eeshan smiled and said, “Why does he need to sell this? I am surprised it isn’t doing well. We have nothing like this in Allepey.”
Nitin said, “He wasn’t planning on selling it. But lately the business is not doing well. Since a month they haven’t been able to give a single ride to a tourist. The minute they go a certain distance the horses go berserk and throw the tourist off.
Some of them have been seriously injured too. The police told uncle to shut this place. It has actually started happening since the Dcostas also started their own horseback riding business. All they do is make their horses wear a weird helmet.”
Eeshan said, “That’s strange…you know..”
“We got our horses checked too. Only one horse seems to be able to give a ride. But we don’t use her much as she is old and deaf,” said Martin.
“Deaf! That’s it!” exclaimed Eeshan.
“What is?” Martin asked.
“Eureka!” screamed Eeshan as he ran towards Martin’s father. Nitin and Martin followed.
“Uncle I think I know why the horses have been acting weird. What if someone is blowing a dog whistle to disturb them?” Eeshan said.
“Slow down, Eeshan. What do you mean?,” said Martin’s father.
“Dog whistles make a sound that is emitted in the ultrasonic range, which a human ear can’t hear. Only a few animals can hear it as the range of a dog whistle is 23 to 54 kHz, beyond the human hearing. The human ear can listen to sounds within the range of 20 to 15,000 Hz. Hz or Hertz is the measure of hearing.
What if someone is blowing dog whistles in your estate to irritate the horses as soon as they take a tourist for a ride? It can also explain why only the deaf horse in your estate can take people for rides.”
Nitin’s father said, “That’s possible! Remember you hired Ghanshayam just two weeks back to clean the horse sheds. He is always around the horses. What if he is an inside man of Dcosta?”
Martin’s father said, “That’could be it. He also wears a weird looking whistle around his neck!”
Martin said, “And, father, I have seen him blow it around the horses.”
All of them confronted Ghanshayam who finally confessed. He was taken to the police and the estate of Mr. Dcosta was sealed till the judge ruled. Martin’s father gave Eeshan free horse rides and lessons for life.
Martin went up to Eeshan and said, “Thank you, Eeshan! Because of you the estate is still in business. You are indeed Einstein Iyengar, Eeshan!”
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