The thread on swimming horses made me wonder - I remember hearing as a child that if a donkey got water in his ears, he would die. Do you know if this is true of horses? I tried googling, but I couldn't find anything on it, so maybe it's not true.

I have never heard of this and it sounds a little absurd to me. I can see it causing some irritation, and even an infection if the horse doesn't clear it in time. But not death.

All mammals don't fare well with water in their ears as it upsets the balance. Cotton balls in the ear or rags, etc can be used like when you give your dog a bath, but the placement can be hard and they could fall out or get too far in the ear. A little bit of diluted alcohol or acetic acid can help dry out ears after swimming.

Makes you think that if you had water in your ears, you wouldn't want it there either right. Never heard the myth though so someone please correct us if we are all wrong here. :)

Well, I've Googled and find nothing to suggest that there is any truth in this. Water will dry out of ears, and if there was a real danger to this then the ear would be built differently. I can't see an animal having something that would kill them so easily.