Blindness

O

OFG

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I had the vet out yesterday to do yearly jabs and a general 'MOT' for my 36 year old.

I have noticed for sometime now that he struggles with finding his feed bowl and spooks when I approch him (even though I know he has initially seen me coming as he acknowledges me by turning his hear and pricking his ears. Just when I get to a certain spot it's like I am in a blind spot and then I 'suddenly' reappear and he shys away, either in the field or stable).

Anyway, bottom line is he's going blind in both eyes and his eye sight is pretty far gone already. :(

Now, I am not overly worried about this as I have read about other horses who are completely blind getting on fine but I wondered if anyone on here has had experience of owning a blind horse and is there anything I can do for him to ease his issues? (aware of not moving things around in field / stable as he will be familiar with his surroundings etc).

Other than this and his general stiffness he's doing great and even managed a little hack out yesterday afternoon with a neighbour and her horse.
 
Plenty of notice when you're coming close, talk constantly and if you're moving round him keep one hand on him and stroke along to where you're going. Also try not to change his buckets as they'll smell different and when leading him over uneven ground go super slow. They're not that hard to get used to :-)
 
My sister had a horse with a degenerative eye condition.
he was only 8 and full of life, when it got to the point where she new he was unhappy it was time to put him to sleep.

Sorry not much help to you, hope your horse can continue to have a happy life.
 
Thanks for replies.

Yes, good idea about not changing bowls around. I do chat nonsense most of the time :D but will have to get into the habit of doing it more just so he knows where I am and not to do any sudden movements.

He is happy at the moment and looks great. I know he will tell me when he's no longer happy (he went through a phase earlier in the year when he seemed really depressed and definately not himself. I thought then that 'this is it :(' but he snapped out of it and has been fine since). Guess we all have our down moments.

He's forming quite a good bond with the Welsh A I got given back at Easter so hopefully he will use her a lot to help him about (vet said that they tend to do this and listen for where other horses are and use them as guides).
 
Just make sure everything has a place and he learns where that place is, ensure noise is made as you approach..try using the same noise, whistle/cough/whatever so he knows it you.

My lad is blind in his left eye and I stupidly recently moved his water bucket in the stable to his blind side...got the yard in the afternoon and was worried why he'd not drank anything (he's a big drinker has 2 huge water buckets!) of course it was cos stupid here hadn't told him where it was and in the darker stable he couldn't find it!!:rolleyes:
 
I saw something about a blind horse that had a companion - the companion wore a bell so the horse could locate it when it moved, may be an idea. I had my 30yr olf TB checked by the vet earlier in the year, was told he had cataracts in both eyes and 'an impressive heart murmer'. The vet left and I turned him out in the huge field, which he prmptly galloped full pelt across.......:eek:

He also had an 'off' week or so earlier in the year, and like you I thought 'this is it' but like yours he snapped out of it. It always a worry isn;t it?

Sounds like he is managing ok though. Its a strange thing to think about isn;t it?
 
Sorry to hear about this. It's not quite the same but one of our dogs has lost almost all of his vision. One thing that we have found to help him is to change the surface under his feet to help him find things - eg some putting down mats which guide him through a gateway and others which lead him up to the back door. It might help in your situation if your horse needs to find his way into a field shelter for instance.
 
Brandy said:
I saw something about a blind horse that had a companion - the companion wore a bell so the horse could locate it when it moved, may be an idea. I had my 30yr olf TB checked by the vet earlier in the year, was told he had cataracts in both eyes and 'an impressive heart murmer'. The vet left and I turned him out in the huge field, which he prmptly galloped full pelt across.......:eek:

He also had an 'off' week or so earlier in the year, and like you I thought 'this is it' but like yours he snapped out of it. It always a worry isn;t it?

Sounds like he is managing ok though. Its a strange thing to think about isn;t it?
Click to expand...

:D Yep, my boy did exactly same after vet left. Went snorting round field, tail pluming and rounding up his 'women' like some 5 year old stallion. Think when they reach a certain age they start going backwards mentally :rolleyes:

Must be a man thing!
 
My instructors 17 year old has been totally blind for the last 5 years.

Normal things, talk to let him know you are about, he has been taught that lookout and hup mean a change of surface when leading, he has plastic streamers tied at intervals all along his fence line so he knows whereabouts the wire is and has to have another horse either in his paddock or next to him in the stable at all times or he worries that he has been abandoned.

Apart from that he is treated as normal, still schooled each day and used as a lesson horse for beginner riders (the most trustworthy and safe horse I have ever met) trailered to the forest and beach for rides (which he loves) and hacked out locally on the cycle paths.

In most cases you would have no idea he was totally blind at all.
 
Thanks for the lovely replies.

It backs up what little I already knew about blindness in horses and what to do to help them in their daily lives.

Will keep an eye (pardon the pun:o) and take each day as it comes.

As long as he's happy, i'm happy :)
 
Spangle said:
Sorry to hear about this. It's not quite the same but one of our dogs has lost almost all of his vision. One thing that we have found to help him is to change the surface under his feet to help him find things - eg some putting down mats which guide him through a gateway and others which lead him up to the back door. It might help in your situation if your horse needs to find his way into a field shelter for instance.
Click to expand...

I read about something similar to this, the horse lived in a paddock and the perimeter was marked out with gravel.
 
What a lucky old boy to have such a caring owner. There's loads of great suggestions here about what you can do to help.

With animals their sense of hearing is often much more acute than ours so I'm sure he will cope well.

Fab about the blind TB- lovely story.
 
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