Do I need to tell landlord about CSNB?

[Chinchilla]

I think I might (touch wood!) have found somewhere to relocated my horses, however, I'm not sure if I need to tell my potential new land lady about Diva's Congenital Stationary Night Blindness (she's homozygous Lp). I'm presuming it would be a good idea, but don't want to get turned away on the grounds that my mare might break anything! (She wouldn't do it deliberately!!!)
She's not completely blind in the dark and can obviously see a little, but night vision is quite limited, making her spookier in the dark. She tends to get around by sticking close to the ponies and learning the lay out of the environment but does still sometimes walk into things, particularly in winter when it's dark for quite a long time. Usually she doesn't damage anything (except herself!!) and for this reason tends to wear a light weight rug in winter so the sound of the rug ripping alerts her to the fact that she's walked into something before she cuts herself. I would do this in any new place for a the first fortnight or so until she knew the layout.
Thank you x

 

[be positive]

If the landlady is on site I think you must tell her as she may see her acting strangely and have concerns about her safety, you also need to ensure the fencing is up to scratch and explain why you may be fussier than average wanting no fencing that could possibly cause damage or be a bit tricky to negotiate easily.
I would have no worries about her breaking anything on my property as it would be part of the agreement that you repaired or replaced anything beyond normal wear and tear, which this would be, so it is only fair to tell her that there may possibly be a few minor incidents in the first few weeks, if she is reasonable she will be fine if she is not fine then it probably isn't the right place for your pony anyway.

 

[SpringArising]

No I wouldn't say anything.

 

[Chinchilla]

No I wouldn't say anything.

Just curious but....why?

 

[Chinchilla]

If the landlady is on site I think you must tell her as she may see her acting strangely and have concerns about her safety, you also need to ensure the fencing is up to scratch and explain why you may be fussier than average wanting no fencing that could possibly cause damage or be a bit tricky to negotiate easily.
I would have no worries about her breaking anything on my property as it would be part of the agreement that you repaired or replaced anything beyond normal wear and tear, which this would be, so it is only fair to tell her that there may possibly be a few minor incidents in the first few weeks, if she is reasonable she will be fine if she is not fine then it probably isn't the right place for your pony anyway.

Diva doesn't actually act that badly in the dark (I have seen 'normal' horses worse) just tends to be a bit 'looky' and always fixates on any light sources....pic is from the the appaloosa project of what CSNB horses can see, obviously left is normal horse right is CSNB.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Yes, for both your mare's safety and for everyone else who may come in contact with her after dark.

Why would you turn a night blind horse out at night anyway, surely she would be better in a familiar stable, and then you could perhaps leave her light on overnight.

 

[Chinchilla]

Yes, for both your mare's safety and for everyone else who may come in contact with her after dark.

Why would you turn a night blind horse out at night anyway, surely she would be better in a familiar stable, and then you could perhaps leave her light on overnight.

She has a light left on and she's not 100% blind anyway, vision is just poor (obviously not sure how poor exactly).
Where she's currently kept the stables are too flimsy if she panicked, plus she's a good doer who's better off out to get a bit cold and lose weight, and I much prefer keeping them out anyway, it's more natural. And in fairness to her, once she's learnt the layout she's mostly great, and you wouldn't know she was night blind, unless you were told.

 

[be positive]

Diva doesn't actually act that badly in the dark (I have seen 'normal' horses worse) just tends to be a bit 'looky' and always fixates on any light sources....pic is from the the appaloosa project of what CSNB horses can see, obviously left is normal horse right is CSNB.

I didn't say anything about her behaving badly just that it may be noticed that she is not behaving normally, it is the sort of thing I would probably notice as I can see mine at night if the weather is good and I pick up quickly on unusual behaviour so I may be concerned if I noticed a horse bumping into a fence regularly and want to know why, you could say it is none of my business but if I rented out a field at home I would want to know if a horse had a health problem just so I was aware if anything changed, it works both ways, the horse may benefit from someone watching out for her as you are obviously not there 24/7.

 

[Chinchilla]

I didn't say anything about her behaving badly just that it may be noticed that she is not behaving normally, it is the sort of thing I would probably notice as I can see mine at night if the weather is good and I pick up quickly on unusual behaviour so I may be concerned if I noticed a horse bumping into a fence regularly and want to know why, you could say it is none of my business but if I rented out a field at home I would want to know if a horse had a health problem just so I was aware if anything changed, it works both ways, the horse may benefit from someone watching out for her as you are obviously not there 24/7.

No what you say is actually totally reasonable, I'm just paranoid about being turned away because it makes sense that if a land lord was going to rent to someone they'd not want someone who made work for them by having a 'destructive' horse.

 

[be positive]

No what you say is actually totally reasonable, I'm just paranoid about being turned away because it makes sense that if a land lord was going to rent to someone they'd not want someone who made work for them by having a 'destructive' horse.

Far worse that you move in then get kicked out because your horse is destructive, you will be responsible for the running repairs so why will it be work for them, all horses can be destructive so just go and see what the set up is like and whether you will feel comfortable in the place as you will be spending plenty of time there.

 

[Chinchilla]

Far worse that you move in then get kicked out because your horse is destructive, you will be responsible for the running repairs so why will it be work for them, all horses can be destructive so just go and see what the set up is like and whether you will feel comfortable in the place as you will be spending plenty of time there.

I am going to go and see 2 potential yards to meet YOs, discuss prices etc. and intend to tell them then, and see if it will work for Diva. Thank you for all your help

 

[SEL]

I've got a snowcap also with CSNB. I moved yards a few weeks ago and made sure the new YO knew in advance. I didn't make a big deal about it, just told her that I'd have to fence off anything in the field that could be an issue after dark (fallen branches) & that she needed to be turned out in a new field early on in the day to learn her boundaries. Also said not to handle her after dark unless emergency because she can be very spooky.

YO quite interested as she hadn't heard of the condition before (not had I until an Appy joined my herd). I think there are many Appy owners out there oblivious to their horses issue.

 

[Chinchilla]

I think there are many Appy owners out there oblivious to their horses issue.

I absolutely agree with this! When I first got Diva, I had no idea - I put her spookiness down to previously being stabled next to a big town, so never experiencing 'true darkness' before, and not being familiar with her new home.
Then I was reading up on PATN2 and read that 'all homozygous appaloosas have congenital stationary night blindness'....whereupon I burst into tears, because I'd been calling her stupid horse or whatever for 'being scared of the dark', and moaning and getting annoyed with her for ripping rugs and coming in with cuts. But this was when she'd not been with me long.

There definitely needs to be more education on this, I think the Appaloosa Project does a very good job, and UC Davis are good at putting information about genetic disorders out there. But an awful lot of owners fervently deny that CSNB is even an actual disorder. And, obviously, no one wants to be told that their horse is blind half the time, but, unfortunately, it is an actual issue, but not too tricky to manage once you know about it.
In fairness I don't think people should deliberately be breeding horses homozygous for the leopard complex because of CSNB; the less 'loud' spotted patterns, which is what CSNB tends to occur in (ie animals with less spots so snowcaps, extreme varnish roans, and of course fewspots), are much harder to market and sell anyway, meaning they're more likely to end up unwanted because they're less 'pretty' (in other words - less "will get me noticed" type colours) than blanket spots or leopard spots.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I would want to use electric fencing inside the boundary, so that she wasn't able to hurt herself, horses can usually hear the fence before they feel it. But yes, YO should be made aware.

 

[SEL]

I would want to use electric fencing inside the boundary, so that she wasn't able to hurt herself, horses can usually hear the fence before they feel it. But yes, YO should be made aware.

I use a lot of electric fencing but I think she uses my other horse as her 'eyes' after dark.

When I was a lot younger I used to ride a few spot. We had jumping lessons in an unlit outdoor school and would often jump in low light. I remember the horse refusing and running out - poor animal probably couldn't see the jump properly!