Blind or partially sighted competition horse?

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ruthb

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Hello,

I wonder if anyone has any experience of a horse which has lost all/part of its sight, but which has continued to compete (any discipline)?

Iam a journalist writing a piece on just this subject for Horse magazine and would love to talk to anyone whose horse has overcome sight loss ... I want to try and show that a loss of an eye is not the end of the world and wonder if you agree/disagree.

A PM would be HUGELY appreciated,
Ruthx
 
Fiona Russell Brown carried on team chasing her horse at top level after he had an eye removed, and she always said he was no different. She works for the MFHA so you can contact her at their office...
 
Mark Todd evented at 4* a horse with one eye - can't remember its name but you could google it. Think they are absolutely fine with one working eye - less than that and you kght be in trouble
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I am just starting my 3 year old who was born with only 1 working eye. His other eye has the stalk but no eyball. Looks like an alien inside his eyelids. He is exactly the same to deal with as any normal youngster.
 
My horse has been blind in one eye since she was a youngster - she's not strictly a competition horse but has shown up to county level and done the odd hunter trial. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
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Whitakers had a one eyed horse and in the 1930's a one eyed horse called Oxo came second in the Grand National having had to gallop the long way round so that his jockey could give him a clear run.
 
Granat ridden by Christine Stuckelberger was totally blind in one eye and he was at one time a World Champion and an Olympic Champion. He was an international Grand Prix dressage horse between 1972 and 1982.
 
There are lots of one eyed horses around - some their people probably don't even know about! There was a filly racing in the US that was carried out on a turn and then continued to run straight into the rail, sustaining a fatal injury. When they autopsied she turned out to be totally blind but had been racing successfully up until that day.

The situations that seem to cause the problems are the ones where the horse's sight is compromised in one or both eyes but not completely eradicated. I knew a horse that partially lost its sight (through being shot!!
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). The owner desperately wanted to keep the eye, going to massive lengths to save what sight remained. The horse was just impossible - anxious, spooky, certainly not safe to ride. Eventually the vets convinced her to have the eye removed and the horse settled right down. Now maybe there was a pain aspect but it stands to reason, knowing how horses are hooked up, that vague movements and unidentifiable objects would be a great deal more anxiety producing than just reliable blackness.
 
Interesting, TS. My one-eyed eventer came to me blind in one eye - due to another problem he was turned out for 9 months, and during that time his blind eye became infected so it was removed
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. He came back a much more chilled horse, which I put down to a combination of change of environment (big yard to 3 stables at home) and 9 months off, but thinking about it he may also have been more secure in vision.

OP - he went on to some Intermediate placings and CIC** before retiring at 17 due to rubbish front feet (on top of one eye and bad hocks, in the days before injections) - he was as straight as a die to big fences and technical stuff, he just couldn't cope with 2 things: (1) indoor jumping/under lights outdoors, and (2) square width on a narrow fence - if it had some dimension, like flowers or something, he was fine, and wide and square he was fine... just one of those things. He's now 23 and terrorising the neighbours at home
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I agree with TarrSteps. I ride a horse that is partially sighted due to a cataract on one eye. Prior to the cataract forming he was virtually unspookable. Over time he has become very spooky but only spooks away from anything on his partially sighted side. This is more obvious on the lunge. He is relaxed and calm when his 'good eye' is on the outside, but tense rushes when his 'bad eye' is on the outside. He is worse when daylight fades (dusk). He is also aprehensive leaving a well lit stable and going into darkness and visa versa.

He used to be very bold cross country but started stopping at the second part of doubles as the cataract began to form. Suspecting something was wrong we had him checked over, which is when the cataract was diagnosed. He is now semi-retired (he is 24 years old) spending his days being a nanny for our youngsters.
 
Actually, thinking about it, my friend had an old schoolmaster, who when he was retired, had a visit from the vet just to give him an MOT to check he'd be OK being turned away as a field companion.
The vet asked:"when did he lose his sight in this right eye, doesn't look like it was recent?"

We had no idea, but thinking about it, he was always spookier on the left rein and would often whip round going into a dark corner of the school. He'd also sometimes 'guess' a bit comng into a fence off a tight turn.
But he'd been shown right up to that point at county level and until recently showjumped, and was a fantastic competitor...
 
I rode a one eyed one round my stage 3 cross country exam, she didnt put a hoof wrong. I was a bit concerned initially, but she was better behaved than alot of the fully sighted ones!
 
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