Bad eyesight?

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itsapiebald

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Over the last few weeks I've have noticed my horse struggling to find his feed bucket in his stable. It might sound strange but he gets excited when he can see me making his feed across the yard (he can see the bucket) but when I take the feed to his stable and put it down at the back of the stable he follows me and as I walk away he follows me again as if I haven't even put the feed down. This only happens in the stable, if I feed him outside he is fine. Could it be that his eyesight isn't very good in dull areas? He's also been panicking if I leave him in the stable for example when I go to ride my other pony.

If you think his eyesight is the problem, is there anyway I can make things easier for him?

Obviously the vet will be involved x
 
itsapiebald said:
Over the last few weeks I've have noticed my horse struggling to find his feed bucket in his stable. It might sound strange but he gets excited when he can see me making his feed across the yard (he can see the bucket) but when I take the feed to his stable and put it down at the back of the stable he follows me and as I walk away he follows me again as if I haven't even put the feed down. This only happens in the stable, if I feed him outside he is fine. Could it be that his eyesight isn't very good in dull areas? He's also been panicking if I leave him in the stable for example when I go to ride my other pony.

If you think his eyesight is the problem, is there anyway I can make things easier for him?

Obviously the vet will be involved x
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I'd just ask the vet to check his eyes over. My horse is funny about going into the washbox from outside when the light is off, I think he struggles to adjust from the light to the dark, he also used to be funny about going into his old stable as it could be quite dark in there when the overhead lights weren't on. Now when its a dark day I will switch on the light to the washbox before I take him in there. That said he is fine with XC on the occasions when I have had to jump into/canter through from light into a dark wooded area.

I'd had his eyes checked a few years ago; was told by the vet that he had an extra layer of cells on his right eye called an epithelium layer over his cornea which 'could' make him spooky, yet when checked by a different vet some months later was told there was nothing wrong with his eyes. I had his eyes checked a few weeks ago as he was going through a period of being very spooky and I was told there was no problem with his eyes whatsoever, nor his back, legs or teeth. He also went on a bute trial and that made no difference to his spookiness. It turned out that the run off water from the barley that was being fed to the hunters was making him spooky as it was being mixed into the liveries feeds to give them a hot tea. As soon as he stopped having it his spookiness returned to the level it was at previous to the water being given to him.

Very occasionally he will bang his head on the door frame or his manger, but now I know its him being clumsy.

I think the problem with your horse might be the dull light. The panicking when you ride the other horse might be due to a lack of confidence on his part upon being left alone.
 
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sjp1 said:
What breed is your horse?
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If you are asking about the OP's horse I don't know.
If you are asking me that question he is Dutch bred (Nimmerdor line) but born in Belgium so is stamped with the BWP.
Why what difference does it make SJP1??
 
Get checked by vet. My mare was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes about 7 years again. She is nearly blind now but is still ridden and has a lovely life. She struggles in the dark more than daylight. In the stable as long as her hay and water are always in the same place and her feed is always in the same colour bucket and placed in the same place in the stable she has no problems.
 
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