Experience with a horse going blind?

[Celtic1998]

Just going through the motions horse I ride has become very spooky and is spooking at nothing randomly. Also find he doesn't always feel like he's going in a straight line. I've also found that when doing a circle more so in one rein he doesn't turn very well and a couple of times we have headed for the fence. Then the other day I rode him around and he trotted straight into a jump block which was very strange. He's just recently been randomly spooking and can sometimes feel like he's twisting himself to look around. He also is petrified of large machinery now which he was normally bombproof with and we've had no incidents involving cars or machinery. He's had no discharge or trauma that I know of however he regularly gets nicks on his face from playing with the other horses. He's also always been a bit funny going into certain stables. He isn't headshy and blinks when I put my hand to his eye. He's had teeth, back, saddle checked no problems there. Just think it's all very strange he's suddenly become a very anxious horse and he's also stopped jumping any form of ditch and we've had quite a few huge jumps over fences lately. He also kicked out at a horse coming past the other day which is very unlike him. Just wondered if I'm making something out of nothing and looking for excuses for my horses behaviour and wondered what people's experiences where with horses with any form of blindness and what are the behavioural changes they experienced. When I look at his eye it can look a little cloudy in dim light I'm thinking it's just certain light and both eyes look similar may try to get a decent picture next time I'm up. Is this all something I should be concerned about? Had vet to check his poll the other day would you expect a vet to notice or in early stages is there a more definitive test they carry out?

 

[TheMule]

Obviously he needs a thorough eye check up.
If he is losing vision then jumping and hacking on roads are immediately out, but you may be able to ride in an arena/ on tracks if he has sufficient vision

 

[be positive]

Horses can suffer from cataracts as well as many other eye conditions, your vet should be able to see any early changes easily enough although they may not be able to be precise on how limited the vision will be, your description does suggest something going on and I am surprised you did not ask the vet to check his eyes when he was looking at him the other day, I would get him back and see whether there is reason to be concerned.

 

[Celtic1998]

Must also add that he's become terrible to lunge but maybe this is him loosing his manners as he tries to come in on a very small circle and I struggle to push him out and keep on a big one - however he may just be being cheeky! Just there's no obvious trauma but heard of them sometimes struggling with side vision or straightforward

 

[Celtic1998]

Horses can suffer from cataracts as well as many other eye conditions, your vet should be able to see any early changes easily enough although they may not be able to be precise on how limited the vision will be, your description does suggest something going on and I am surprised you did not ask the vet to check his eyes when he was looking at him the other day, I would get him back and see whether there is reason to be concerned.

When I say the other day it was maybe just over a week ago it was to do all horses jabs and he'd been experiencing this behaviour so we asked the vet to do his back and assumed this was it however his behaviour has continued and it was just a small tweak nothing too excessive. The bumping into a block happened after his back was done and sometimes things like horses not feeling straight and not circling very well could be a back issue too my vet is in walking distance of the yard so may go enquire if this behaviour could be alarm bells ringing

 

[millmo]

My mare has bi -lateral cataracts and these have been getting worse over the past 5 years. She only has about 20% vision in total, she is still ridden and hacked out with no problems. She has never displayed any of the things you are describing. Horses are able to sense things around them with there whiskers.
Hope you get the problem sorted soon.

 

[Pigeon]

Tbh this sounds more like a neurological problem than an eye problem :S There are some neurological tests you can do yourself (e.g place one front foot in front of the other and see if they can sort themselves out) might be worth trying just in case.

 

[PeterNatt]

In would suggest a full veterinary MOT to check everything.

 

[poiuytrewq]

You have to get a vet. No one here can really help. I had a horse pts last year as he was totally blind in one eye and lost most of his vision in the remaining eye. He became scared of life loosing the first eye so when I found the second was compromised also we made the call straight away.
I hope yours is something fixable and not blindness or neurological

 

[Celtic1998]

Will defiantly be getting the vet out just looking for reassurance my horse is known for having the vet out every five minutes and I've just lost my other horse after breaking his leg I don't have much luck with vets I did speak to mine when he would walk funny after being tacked up and he put this down to psychological and being cold backed as you can't pick his feet up or turn him in circles after he is tacked up or he will almost fall over and I spend most of my time in the school walking and circling to warm him up just think sometimes the internet you type in symptoms and what you find is scary just wanted to know if anyone else had similar experiences thanks everyone