Checking Horses Eyesight - Iridology??

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Cloud9

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Been having ongoing problems with my horses getting very spooky - am wanting to get his eyes checked - is it best to just get vet or are their specialists out there - Iridology? I am in the West Midlands
 
Iridology isn't meant to check the eyesight, it's about reading the eyes to give clues about health issues - past present and developing.
 
Your usual vets can check your ned's eyesight C9. They can look into the inside of the eye using an opthalmoscope and this would show up any major abnormalities. You can do a very basic test yourself. The first way is to use the startle test. Stand close to your ned and go to smack him with your hand in his nearest eye to you. Obviously you pull up a millimetre short but he'll think you are going to hit him and he should "startle" away, ie jerk his head away fast. Try it both sides. It's not a perfect test because some horses would detect the rush of air even if they were blind, but it should give you an idea. The other test is to set up an obstacle course in your school. Poles on the ground in odd places, feed sacks, mounting blocks, umbrella if you're brave. Anything that's different. Then walk your horse round first on one rein, then the other. If he walks into things, it may mean he doesn't see them. Another thing to look for is aversion to bright light, excessive tear production, gungy eyes, cloudy corneas but your vet would check all that.

TBH, increased spookiness is more often than not down to changing seasons, high winds, changes in environment etc etc. As said above, iridology is something totally different and, depending on your viewpoint is either complete gobbledygook or a way to detect other health problems by looking at the eye.
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If you're just wanting them checked for function then your vet would be the person to ask, if you're after an iridologist to do as Trouble described then i'd recommend Helen Collinson, I used to work at a racing yard and they always used her and they rate her very highly.
 
Well I did the startle test - he did flinch - next the obstable course - he did completely miss a trotting pole but apart from that seemed to see everything ok - well the thing is he does try and walk over things - even big barrells - just walks into them and moves them along!!!!! However a friend was watching and said he did seemed to see everything? Don't know whether to wait till January when he has his jabs and carry on trying to relax when out on my own and ignore his spooking = which is getting difficult - probably not helped by the fact I turn to jelly when I think of riding out on my own. But rode this evening in high winds - and he was not too bad to be honest - but then again he always seems to be better the worse the weather is and on a fine day is worse?! Horses eh - who'd av em
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please don't wait as long as January. At least if you call the vet only to find that there is nothing wrong and he's just a spooky twerp, you won't have the stress of worrying about it all winter! If you wait and there is something wrong you will beat yourself up for ever! - believe me.
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