Any crazy ideas why ...

I've now tested all three of my horses and two of them bring their muzzles down onto my hand from above, every single time. Ace is touching the side of my hand at least once with the end of his nose, then liftng his head to take the cubes, every single time. I don't suppose there is the slightest thing I can do about this, I think hoods are too dangerous, with several horses I know of injured or dead because the hood slipped and they were blinded. I can't give him spectacles, true. I have a call in to the vet to discuss it, but sorry of wrapping him in cotton will, what does anyone think I can do?

There is nothing in the field to have caused this injury except his own stable block and field shelter. It's a split injury, not a cut, so I believe that he swung his face into one of those buildings. Does anyone have any ideas how I can pad his face safely??
 
Do you turn out in a headcollar? Could you get some of those dead sheep fluffy side thingys (sorry no idea of name) that they use in racing as full side blinkers and a nose one to give him a little protection (or a diy job with pipe insulator foam, that comes in lengths split to go over things)

Be interesting to see what your vet thinks and get him to have a really good look in his eyes now you know the source of the problem
 
Just thinking - it may be difficult to pad enough to protect, without blocking his side vision. Of course he may adjust and turn his head more to compensate.
 
padded headcollar, sheepskin cheeks and nose and poll guard. Perhaps a little over the top but as he seems to be hurting his head regularly, better safe than sorry. The last thing you need is him to injure an eye or anything catastrophic.

At least you know what the problem is now, which is half way to being able to do something about it or at least, protect him from himself. Goodluck. He seems a smashing sort.
 
Arthritic changes in the neck/shoulder area that is causing pressure on his nerves i.e. like sciatica (sp) in humans causing him to loose control of his front end - so he falls ?
 
cptrayes said:
I can't give him spectacles, true. I have a call in to the vet to discuss it, but sorry of wrapping him in cotton will, what does anyone think I can do?

There is nothing in the field to have caused this injury except his own stable block and field shelter. It's a split injury, not a cut, so I believe that he swung his face into one of those buildings. Does anyone have any ideas how I can pad his face safely??
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Glad to hear that you have a route to explore, even if it's not one that seems to have an easy solution.

I would be tempted to try using a fly mask that is rigid enough to hold it away from his face. It wouldn't help pad, but could give him an early warning when he feels the mask touch an object. You might need to replace the mesh with something even finer, to ensure that you don't compromise his vision further!

http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/...isor_fly_shield_unlimate_fly_mask-(1436).aspx
 
This is really interesting - my girl has always been clumsy with her head, similar to yours in that she bashes me on occasion as well as herself. One stable she was in had a wall mounted hay rack - I ended up taking it out as after 3 months she still cracked her head off it on a regular basis!
 
What about those hoods that look like fly masks but have clear plastic goggles over the eyes. I've seen them with tinted shades to protect a horse with an eye disease but I'm sure you could get them with clear plastic too.

Horses that are blind learn their environment and cope, we had one at a yard I was at and he was fine as long as he was in his familiar stable and field and was even ridden. Though I wonder in your case if the fact he can see with some disturbance makes him think he knows where things are and misjudges which is worse.

Be interesting to get the vet's take on it, I wonder what research is out there in visual disturbances in horses.
 
Quite often horses with un explained head injuries are found to be suffering partial seizures,in your other thread you mentioned itchy nose and eye blinking,which can be part of a partial seizure. If you type in on Youtube seizures in horses ,you will see a video of a horse nose rubbing and rapid eye blinking. Seizures can be a delayed reaction to vaccination. Hopefully an answer can be found to help your horse.
 
Hmm .. until you raised this thread cpt and I mentioned that my husband had poor depth perception I didn't realise that horses had pretty bad depth perception in any case (googled it). Seems like they're not blessed with talent in this area, but if your boy is compromised even further I can see why he might be smacking himself by accident. Interesting what Shergar also said above.
 
Someone has sent me a pointer to a police riot shield that covers the face, which looks spot on and I will ring them tomorrow and find out how much it costs.

Meanwhile, he is out with a headcollar that looks like he's going into a rugby scrum at any moment. It took me an hour to pad it with neoprene and foam bandage pads.

Thanks to everyone for all your help.
 
shergar said:
Quite often horses with un explained head injuries are found to be suffering partial seizures,in your other thread you mentioned itchy nose and eye blinking,which can be part of a partial seizure. If you type in on Youtube seizures in horses ,you will see a video of a horse nose rubbing and rapid eye blinking. Seizures can be a delayed reaction to vaccination. Hopefully an answer can be found to help your horse.
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That's very interesting, thanks. I don't think it's his problem though, because he's done it since long before the blinking and nose twitching. That has stopped now, which I'm hopeful means that nerve damage from the broken eye socket is mending.
 
I don't know if it could help this particular problem but my friend's horse (4* eventer) had to have an op on his eye and wore a contact lens for some reason or other. May be worth doing some investigating into this - think he had his in for 8-12 weeks so they can be worn long term.
 
I have read all your post ,the fact that your horse has had two head injuries and been seen running into a wall ,it is the same as my friends horse that was having seizures in its brain ,they some times only last for a few seconds. the vet for that horse was RICHARD OWEN EQUINE CLINIC ST ASAPH DENBIGHSHIRE the vet who came out was Fiona Jones the phone number is 01745 584 516 PLEASE PHONE HER and tell her what is happening to your horse,she is a very good vet .
 
I could be wrong but I thought the Opthalmic (sp?) specialist at our vets dealt with somwthing like this in a horse. I coud be mad but I'm sure I have heard something about it. I think she essentially did some kind of laser treatment???

Might be worth talking to some of the specialists at Rossdales or Liphook to see if they have come across this before? Or alternately, Kate at Seadown in Hythe!!!
 
Shergar, I understand your concern but I am certain that he isn't having seizures. He was cantering happily down the barn in his joy at being home from hospital after his back operation, and simply failed to turn the corner before the wall. On other occasions, he has moved sharply away from, say, another horse who is biting him, and again fails to see how close the wall is.

Percymum., I have a case conference booked with an immensely experienced horse vet some time soon. Just waiting on a date.
 
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Leg_end said:
I don't know if it could help this particular problem but my friend's horse (4* eventer) had to have an op on his eye and wore a contact lens for some reason or other. May be worth doing some investigating into this - think he had his in for 8-12 weeks so they can be worn long term.
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Oooh, how interesting! I had no idea that could be done.
 
cptrayes said:
Percymum., I have a case conference booked with an immensely experienced horse vet some time soon. Just waiting on a date.
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Ooh, good luck. I hope something can be done for him. Let us know what he says - I for one would be very interested in what can be done in this kind of situation.
 
PercyMum said:
Ooh, good luck. I hope something can be done for him. Let us know what he says - I for one would be very interested in what can be done in this kind of situation.
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Will do. Now booked for next Monday. Check back later today for a photo of this year's 'must have' headwear :D. It took me hours to make it.
 
Sorry about that then ,can I just add that some horses lose all vision when having a seizure ,and they will run till they hit some thing ,my friend did not think her horse was having seizures until it smashed the front out of its stable ,for some reason she thought the injuries were from the horse being cast in the stable no one had ever seen it cast , but it had been seen running in to the door and walls.
 
shergar said:
Sorry about that then ,can I just add that some horses lose all vision when having a seizure ,and they will run till they hit some thing ,my friend did not think her horse was having seizures until it smashed the front out of its stable ,for some reason she thought the injuries were from the horse being cast in the stable no one had ever seen it cast , but it had been seen running in to the door and walls.
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No problem, all suggestions very welcome, I just didn't want you to worry about him.

I've just ordered one of these

http://www.deenside.co.uk/deenside-product-catalogue.php?cid=1012|27&pid=2862

All his injuries have been inside the area covered by that, so it should do the trick, I hope.
 
Goodness that just takes the biscuit! I am so sorry he is injured again! I can't believe how much trouble you've had with this poor chap.

Equine vision is extremely complicated and entirely different from human vision. Focusing ability differs enormously from that of humans, so near and far-sighted analogies don't really work. I would be weary of putting on anything that restricts his vision as you don't really know what is happening and it may cause more accidents. I think you need a referral to a eye specialist to get a better idea of what might be happening. It may be something that can be relatively easily corrected with laser surgery. Satchmo also comes to mind who had a transient eye problem such that occassionally he would become blind - it took ages to diagnose because most of the time his vision was clear.

I think you also need to exclude a seizure so you'd need a neuro/brain specialist. Has he ever had an EEG?

Good luck with the vets!
 
Booboos said:
Goodness that just takes the biscuit! I am so sorry he is injured again! I can't believe how much trouble you've had with this poor chap.

Equine vision is extremely complicated and entirely different from human vision. Focusing ability differs enormously from that of humans, so near and far-sighted analogies don't really work. I would be weary of putting on anything that restricts his vision as you don't really know what is happening and it may cause more accidents. I think you need a referral to a eye specialist to get a better idea of what might be happening. It may be something that can be relatively easily corrected with laser surgery. Satchmo also comes to mind who had a transient eye problem such that occassionally he would become blind - it took ages to diagnose because most of the time his vision was clear.

I think you also need to exclude a seizure so you'd need a neuro/brain specialist. Has he ever had an EEG?

Good luck with the vets!
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The balance until the riot shield arrives is between losing an eye, or worse, to more injury, or restricting his vision. I don't feel I have any option right now other than to pad him up so at least he can't break anything or take out an eye.

No he's never had an eeg, nothing has ever happened that suggested that he would need one. Why do you think it might be a good idea??
 
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Perhaps it's the equine version of deliberate self harm lol. Maybe arrange a psychotherapy session on a suitably sized couch and see what disclosures he makes.Follow up with CBT and review after 8 sessions.
 
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