Ella had her eye removed

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amerron rosina

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Hi guys

My old girl Ella had to have her eye removed on Monday afternoon as an emergency surgrey. Oh what a week I've had!! I've been told from half the yard im on that I'm cruel to put my horse through an operation like this at her age (27)!!! But good news is that she came round from the GA fine very sleepy afterwards but ok. She stayed in hospital for 5 days and came home this afternoon. She is doing great very spooky tho and keeps walking into the wall so going to foam up the corners in the morning.
Has anyone else had to have there horses eye removed and what did you do to help your horse adjust??

Many thanks
A very happy mummy

Deni :)
 
My horse has only got one eye. He didn't lose it with me so not sure about adjusting, but previous owner said he was back to himself on the ground in 3 weeks, and back in the ring competing (BSJA 1.20s) 6 weeks after the eye was removed.

Now he is absolutely fine, I don't treat him any differetly to other horses at all. He hears/senses me if I'm on his blind side. Occasionally he'll bump into me or something but its rare. Riding, I ride him like any otherr horse, we compete BE Novices, do sharp J/O turns ect, it doesn't bother him at all.

They're extremely adaptable :)
 
One of my liveries had this done with an older horse. Everything hard/sharp corners where wrapped up. Vet also advised handleing and talking to horse as much as poss from blind side to help desensitise them to noise and touch that they don't see coming. Take care when leading through doors and gates that they give blind side enough space. And turnout with nice friends, no bullies that they don't see coming! Good luck, they seem to sdjust reallt well
 
Not a horse, and she didn't have it removed, but my dog went completely blind in one eye. She used to turn her head into things, which was never fun. She's got used to it now and rarely bumps into things, but I have noticed she gets under my feet more!

There used to be one with one eye near me. Apparently, it (obviously) didn't spook at objects on that side, but didn't like new noises. Once it knew the noise, it was ok (traffic and such)
 
my mom's dog lost an eye and the biggest thing to help her adjust was to not change things too much as then she didn't bump into them.
I also knew an older horse who lost an eye and he was totally normal and well adjusted - it will just take some time.

Maybe add some of those round insulating things that you get to wrap around pipes (the grey ones from B&Q type places) and add to the cheek piece of her headcollar on the blind side then if she does bash into a surface it will cushion the blow and also she should feel pressure from the bulk before actually hitting her face - not sure if it would work but the thought occured to me :D
 
One of my ponies only has one eye. We had to have it removed after she got kicked in the face. At the time she must have been 17/18.

She was a little unbalanced at first and bumped into a few things but she recovered like a little trooper and we were out competing after about 4 months.

She was a little spooky if we approached that side first of all as she obviously couldn't see us but we just made sure to talk to her as we approached that side.

It really makes no difference to them what so ever.

Did the vets leave in the blink mechanism?
 
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If my old girl hadn't been so much older she would have had this. She was already blind in the eye though and coped fine, just didn't like trailers or narrow hedged lanes but that may have been general claustrophobia. At 39 she had an ulcer that penetrated the cornea and was too frail to contemplate a trip to the vets for removal so was put to sleep. If she had been 27 I would definitely have gone for the op!
 
I have a horse with one eye a little different for him though as it was damaged the day he was born, probably a crow pecked it, and you wouldn't notice he only had one eye most of the time. However I'm careful that if I do things on his blind side I try talking to him, I'm not yet sure if it will effect him ridden as he's not old enough yet, I would like to break him to drive and te vet can't see any issues with it. There are a lot more one eyed horses around than I realised.
 
Hi, not exactly the same as your horse, my tb mare had an accident and as a result badly damaged her eye, detaching the optic nerve with the blow. Once the eye surface healed she was allowed to keep her eye for cosmetic reasons but she is fully blind in it.

Since she had her accident as an unbacked 3 year old we have since backed her, she has not been the easiest horse to deal with but was like that prior to her accident. She is now out competing in dressage and will jump at home, she is progressing faster than any other horse we have.
She got used to losing her sight on box rest initially. The only thing she is unsure about is the trailer but she will go in with persuasion and is getting better with practice.
She is turned out with our other horses no problems.

Just be sure to let your horse know you are there to build up their trust as they will be a little unsure at first but do get used to it. Good luck to you and your horse x
 
at 17 yrs old my arab mare had her eye removed due to carsenoma on the eye ball, already retired ( a very happy field ornament) she went to o gormans in newbury was in one night, home the next day, was supposed to be in stable for 2 weeks, but due to snow, was 3 to 4 weeks! She was absolutly fine adapted brillantly, as much as a field ornament could! that was 3 yrs ago lost her this yr in march to severe infection in the back legs, 4 weeks of 3 differant antibiotics, had near no effect on her so sadly made the dicision to pts. :(
 
heres my beautiful boy 'captain jack'
jack11-M.jpg

when i worked in the middle east unfortunately due to the high sun exposure it was quite common for horses to loose an eye due to cancer. i personally knew of 3 that had it and all were amazing horses.
it took them a bit of time to adapt but after a while they were just the same as they always were, maybe a little more dependant on the company of other horses for security but dont worry im sure she will adapt :)
 
One of my clients (who is also a member on here and might post) has a horse whose eye was removed about 18months ago. Horse has adapted superbly and has done showing etc without too much issue. Sometimes she just turns her head to look at something but not usually when she is fully concentrating
 
Is my horse the only one who does still spook at things on his blind side??

It's hilarious, he's fine in traffic ect (has his traffic eye which I'm sure helps), but still spools at drains/signs ect on his blind side!
 
Aww take no notice of those horrid people, she's your horse end of so they have no say in the matter.

She'll adjust :) I've seen a video for a full blind horse somewhere and he copes they just ensure they adapt to suit him.

Definitely talk more so she knows your presence and avoid approaching from her eyeless side. Make everything injury proof and easy for her :)

She'll be ok once she gets used to it, it's a huge thing for her but they are such versatile animals.
 
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