buying a horse blind in one eye

[dj9ao]

I have been encouraged to take on a 5 year old cob/cross from the back streets of ireland, Hx unknown
from the riding school where I go, he has been badly kicked behind the saddle area leaving a big dent on his ribs, & blind in 1 eye which does not affect him
I am concerned because the eye is weeping & nobody can say why he is blind
he has exceptionally good paces for a cob

they want £2,200 for him

 

[ponydi]

I'd want to know what a vet thought - and then I'd want to pay hundreds, not thousands (and not too many of those!)

 

[littleshetland]

Errrm - that does seem like an awful lot of money for a horse who could potentially have a lot of problems. I f you really, really love him - then a thorough vetting would be sensible. Being blind in one eye need not necessarily be an issue - a lot of one eyed horses go on to have useful and happy lives, but if it's 'weeping' - this sounds like it may need expensive vet treatment. As for being kicked behind the saddle area - this rings major alarm bells. Sounds like they should be paying you to take him away......
I might be a good idea to have a look round and remind yourself that for £2,200 you could buy something fit, well, and ready to go....

 

[paddi22]

you would be absolutely CRAZY to pay that money! ashm on here got a similar cob for a couple of quid. they should be paying you to take it, it wouldn't pass a vetting. The dent in the ribs would ring huge alarm bells, and the eye infection is a bunch of vets bills most likely. If you are wealthy and want the horse for sentimental value and can afford it, then fine. But otherwise they are absolutely ripping the p*ss out of you.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I saw a beautiful little cob a month ago, perfect HOYS material she was 5 yo unhandled mare and was bought in a pub for a few euros, sold for E 350.
You cannot save the world. Someone should take pity and shoot this damaged cob rather than try to make money out of the poor thing.

 

[be positive]

you would be absolutely CRAZY to pay that money! ashm on here got a similar cob for a couple of quid. they should be paying you to take it, it wouldn't pass a vetting. The dent in the ribs would ring huge alarm bells, and the eye infection is a bunch of vets bills most likely. If you are wealthy and want the horse for sentimental value and can afford it, then fine. But otherwise they are absolutely ripping the p*ss out of you.

He would probably just about be worth that as a green 5 year old with 2 good eyes but with the strong possibility of requiring surgical removal at some point the owners should be either asking a token price or keeping him and treating it at their expense, the weeping probably means it is still unstable and requires proper treatment and a diagnosis/ prognosis, at the moment it just sounds like it has not been treated fully by a vet, there are numerous reasons for the loss of sight and most decent vets will have been able to at least take an educated guess at what happened.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Walk away.

 

[Nudibranch]

Have the people who own him had a vet look at the eye? From a welfare point of view I would be insisting that happened whether or not I was buying. As for the price, they must be mad.

 

[ROMANY 1959]

I only paid 2500 for a fit polo horse ISH no health issues and she is a fab mare...
They need to sort its health issues out first, and what happens if something goes wrong with other eye? You are left with a young blind cob, pts only option then... I would also worry about the injury behind rib area... Could be a broken ribs problem... Don't pay for an injured horse.... As much as you want to...

 

[Goldenstar]

The price is nuts for a one eyed horse .
OP I agree with those who say you can't save the world walk away.

 

[russianhorse]

Whilst a friend of mine had the most fabulous one eyed pony, you would be absolutely crazy to pay that sort of money 😳

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Its more of a welfare issue, and I would find a proper RS where they did not try to get money out of you for a lot of heartache.

 

[highlandponygirl]

Agree with the others, that is way over priced for a horse who has something wrong with it, especially if it hasn't been investigated to find out the cause.

I have previously worked with a pony who had one eye and was as good as any other pony, he was a bit nervous when you were on his blind side but plenty of voice/touch training/desensitising helped him to cope with most things. I wouldn't say definately not to another horse who was blind in one eye, but I would want to know every last detail of why and how he came to be blind etc before I parted with my money.

 

[Irish gal]

It's a pity as it sounds like you've fallen in love with him a bit - of course that's what riding schools rely on to sell ordinary horses at vastly inflated prices! He is only worth a few hundred op but of course if you have fallen for him you'll be willing to pay more.

I can more or less tell you where he came from. I'd bet €100 he belonged to traveller children or poor city kids here. They are obsessed with horses and keep them in back gardens, on greens in the city etc, as foals they are ridden at break neck speed on the roads. They are either light trotters or cob types and it's not long before they have injuries. They are traded for €50 - €100 prices. He might have other health issues if he was ridden on roads since a baby.

He may have to have the eye out, not sure what that costs vets wise but worth enquiring. One eyed wonder Adventure de Kannan won the Hickstead Derby - maybe this cob will manage as well as he did!

 

[laura_nash]

I live in "the back streets of Ireland" and could pick you up about 10 5 year old cobs of unknown breeding for that money, all with two eyes! Our local pound / rescue has about 200 of them, yours for around €40 with a bit of proof you have the facilities to look after them - plus maybe £200 to ship them to the UK. I only paid £2000 for my cob, in full working order and with tack and rugs, about 6 years ago in the UK and I thought that was very steep as he was overweight - I certainly wouldn't pay anything like that over here.

I have known two very nice horses with only one eye, though both lost the eye later on (10+) so were already very well established in their riding. That wouldn't put me off, but with the weeping and the dent I'd be looking at the poor thing as a £1 pity buy only - it would need to be a super-star established competition horse to be worth that money with those physical issue IMO.

 

[stormox]

Its not the one eye thats the problem, only being able to see out of one is fine. But its the fact that he will probably have to have the eye removed, and you wouldnt get it paid by insurance as he had it when you bought him. It could even be causing him pain at the moment. Its a totally ridiculous amount you are being asked for him. Leave it and find another...
I watched Adventure de Kannan win at the riding club ODE in Kilguikey, (his spare time hobby- RC horse) what a fab horse, if your cob had only one eye wouldnt bother me at all, but having an obviously diseased or injured one would.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Its not the one eye thats the problem, only being able to see out of one is fine. But its the fact that he will probably have to have the eye removed, and you wouldnt get it paid by insurance as he had it when you bought him. It could even be causing him pain at the moment. Its a totally ridiculous amount you are being asked for him. Leave it and find another...
I watched Adventure de Kannan win at the riding club ODE in Kilguikey, (his spare time hobby- RC horse) what a fab horse, if your cob had only one eye wouldnt bother me at all, but having an obviously diseased or injured one would.

^yep

 

[Aru]

It would be madness to pay that sort of money for a half blind weeping eyed 5 year old irish cob no matter how nice the paces.
Madness and sounds like someone is taking advantage if you are in ireland and the riding school is encouraging this purchase....

 

[risky business]

Do yourself a favour and walk away.

Absolute madness to pay that amount for any horse with those problems. Even if you only paid a couple hundred by the sounds of his eye issues he'll cost you double that in vet bills. You won't be able to claim for that either so will all be out of your own pocket.

 

[dj9ao]

thankyou so much for all your wise advice

sometimes when I am blinded by wanting a horse so much I cannot see what is in front of my eyes- even my young daughter said they were ripping me off
and unfortunately I wanted to believe the riding school even though I get a different answer every time I ask them

I will be looking for a different riding school & will think about going through a recommended dealer/agent/rehoming to look for a horse - I did want to rehome a racehorse but was talked into trying out the cob

 

[SpringArising]

The most honest, genuine, and well behaved horse I ever had only had one eye. She got kicked in the face and had to have it removed. Six months later we were back competing like nothing ever happened. She was an absolute superstar and would do anything for me. I would have another with one eye in an instant. The problem is when the vision is distorted or damaged in some way and the eye isn't removed - that can cause lots of problems. I would be wondering why the eye is weeping.

My mare was truly worth her weight in gold, but she had proved herself to me for over 8 years. I wouldn't touch this one for over 2k with a bargepole.

 

[stormox]

And the 'dent' behind the saddle would be a definite no - how do you know there aren't broken ribs there? Or worse? A lot of horses are in pain but show no symptoms because its in their nature not to. And the owners cant be bothered toget the vet? Walk away..

 

[dj9ao]

I was told by the owner it was kicked & had an abcess but thinking about the posts on here- my daughter broke her rib a while ago & she had a dent in her ribs too

I feel stupid that I have been taken in!

 

[Barnacle]

I would be rather tempted to report them to someone for neglect - that horse needs vet care.

 

[chillipup]

^^^^This. The sooner the better

 

[ashlingm]

I got a one eyed horse for a few (ie. very few!! Last owner wanted him gone!) hundred euro. He's 8 and is otherwise in super condition. I originally got him as a low maintenance companion for our hunter with the plan to mess around on him and sell him on.

He's actually turned out to be quite the rough diamond. He's done a bit of jumping, hacking (blind side is on the traffic side so was worried about this), side saddle, dressage (came 5th at his first ever show!) and now hoping to do our first ODE in the coming weeks. He is amazing to clip and I can do his entire head without a twitch or even someone holding him. He is a gentleman both on the ground and ridden.

His eye is still in the socket but was damaged somehow in the past. It's shrunk and is partially covered by his third eyelid. It is unsightly and I worry about flies and infections in Summer. I did originally think he could possibly see shadows in it but now I suspect he has gone completely blind in it. I think it's a hindrance more than anything now. I'm in the early stages of getting the operation done to remove it - I just had to wait till the flies went!

I wouldn't rule out a one eyed horse but I think paying that kind of money is crazy! You will need to factor in the possibility of an eye removal op in the future, not to mention livery costs while he is recovering etc.

Himself when I got him

With our hunter after his first ever show

Wonky eye

 

[MagicMelon]

I'd be reporting them for neglect as well if they are just leaving the eye to weep, and they should be getting x-rays if there is a big dent in his side!! Wow! Can't believe anybody would consider selling an injured horse, and for that money, just wow.

Saying the horse did come right, the eye wouldn't be so much of a concern to me as the dent in his side (who knows what internal damage that has caused). A friend had a one eyed horse (eye had to be removed) and it continued to show jump etc. no problem so they do manage.

 

[fatpiggy]

OP, the riding school clearly has two eyes which are functioning very well - they have definitely seen you coming! Run away, quick as you can.

 

[acorn92x]

Walk away now. As others have said, you cannot save the world. Think of yourself, your happiness and you bank balance. I recently brought a wonderful little cob, aged 7 who (Is beautiful and has two functioning eyes) has the most fantastic, genuine nature who in time, will be capable of turning a hoof to anything (Though I suspect her talents will lie in the dressage field), who came with tack for less than this. Oh, and I live in the South East. Keep looking!