Eye injury!!!

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CosmicKid

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Last night my best friend ended up in a accident meaning he had to be rushed to the vets! a couple of minuets ago i got the dreaded phone call! its been confirmed that he has infact cut his Cornea (Is that how you spell it??) I know that eye injury's are a pain to heal and not nice for horse or owner, But i am calling out to all owners who have gone through this situation too! This is my first ever eye injury that has happened personally to my horses and i'm wondering what outcomes i should prepare for (I Know worst case is he looses his eye)
The vet informed us that it is a pretty nasty looking cut but they will do there best to try recover his eye which involves him staying down at the vets for a while receiving up too 6 eye drops per day! She describe it as a ''abrasion on the cornea'' (Probably spelled that all wrong!!) and wondering if any of you have gone through the same thing and what outcomes you have had and what i should expect!

He is just a 2YO fallabella, the vet was with him within 30 mins of the accident and he is my best friend... and the greatest wee man too waddle into my life!

will also add he could have 8 eyes or none and i will still love him the same! i would just like to get a bit more information on eye injury's!

Any tips or experiences are appreciated! :)
 
A friend of mine had a pony that got a thorn in his eye, he spent some time at the vets having intensive treatment and came here at livery to recover with a lavage system in place, this meant the drops went directly into the eye through a tube which was tied into his mane far easier than fighting to get them in, he spent some time in the stable until the lavage could come out when he was then allowed normal turnout, he did lose the sight in his eye but kept the eye which became shrunken, otherwise he was perfectly fine living a normal life as a companion which is all he was anyway.
Plenty of one eyed horses live normal active lives competing at all levels, it is not the end of the world if he does need to have it removed although it may take them a while to adjust and require careful handling on the blind side, hope all goes well with your little man.
 
Would you say it's a very high chance he will loose sight in it then? :( the cut was caused by a blunt bit of metal :( obviously it will be sad if he does loose sight... Especially since he is still a baby, but it won't be the end of the world as well he will still be my special little boy!
 
UPDATE!!

Sadly about a hour ago i got the phone call i will never forget from the vets... Earlier today his Eye ruptured. The only option is to remove it... i know its not the end of the world but to me its very upsetting. will get to visit him on sunday after his surgery. does anyone now have any tips for how to deal with this? How i can make him coming home easier? The most heart breaking part is when he comes home it will be to a new field (Lease on old field ended a couple weeks ago and we are meant to be off the land by now, but due to the accident they where kind enough to extend it by a couple weeks) So he will be in a strange environment... please can i get some tips on how to make it easier for him? :'(
 
So sorry OP. But actually removing the eye can be the kindest thing. Long term treatment like Be Positive referred to doesn't suit everyone. Once the eye is removed the pain stops. That can be kinder.

One eyed horses can usually do pretty much anything a two eyed horse can - they are very resilient. It sounds like he has a good relationship with you and that will help massively. In the early days he might need to you be sure to speak to him before you approach; always be sure he knows when you are near so you don't startle him. If he has lost his right eye you might need to adapt how you work around him to work from his remaining eye - but not all need that. Just take things slow for him and let him guide you as to what he can cope with. But generally horses figure out how to cope really quickly.

In the longer term - I had a friend with a one eyed horse whom she competed and had all his bridles made with an eye patch thing attached to the brow band. Made absolutely no different to the horse as there was no eye there anyway - but it did let others know there was something a bit odd and reminded them to approach with a bit more caution in warm ups etc.

My daughter's cob -who has a home for life with us - is blind on one side and to be honest you would never know. He doesn't lunge with his blind eye to the handler and if traveling with others cannot have another horse to his blind side. But other than that you would never know. We also had a one eyed companion pony for a while. Again you simply would not know they were any different than a full sighted pony.

Its horrible when our friends are hurt and we can't help -but loosing the eye is not the end of the world. Just the start of a new one. Take heart!
 
My old girl had to have her eye removed,although she lived out we were told to keep her in a stable. She tried to rub the wound on the stable door frame so we did our best to pad the door frame. In the end we let her out with her friends and she was much happier. It didn't hamper the healing in any way. Think they were dissolvable stitches. Sorry about your little man. I wax terrible upset when I first saw her but feel better about it now. My daughter cleans it with warm water and sometimes puts Vaseline on it. Hope all goes well for you
 
So sorry to hear this but it's not the end of the world.
We had an eye removed and the horse coped amazingly. It was all straight forward, healed and recovered really well.
We got used to it very quickly and he was still our baby! He loved having his eye socket rubbed! Sounds gross but when it's your horse its fine to do ;)
 
I've no experience of what you're going through at the moment,...but just had to post a reply to say how truly lovely it is to see others posting their experience/advice/suggestions to you.. it's very humbling.

You will now be travelling a new path with your young man in the near future and i'm sure that together you're gonna be just fine... :) You sound like a wonderful 'human mum' and he's a lucky lucky boy to have you in his life.

Take care of you and your man..xx
 
I have had dealings with 3 horses who lost their eyes. One of which was retired, one a Trec horse, and one an eventer.

TBH, if you did not know there was very little to have to be wary of. The Trec horse needed careful presentation to obstacles, but TBh the event horse, other than not angling fences too much in the blind side, was just as competent.

Was it not a few years ago that a one eyed horse won the Hickstead Derby?

The retired one was like one above, happier once turned out when recovering from the operation. I think he wondered why he was in!

I like the idea of an eye patch so other competitors know there is an issue, as TBH with the shadow where the eye was, on passing it is not an obvious thing.

With your pony I would take him into the new field whilst leading him, and take him round in hand, with the blind side into the field, so he can see where all the fences are. Same with any obstacles.

I am a softy, and would probably graze in hand a day or two so I was sure he was OK, and another couple of days observing, but I am sure that would be for me not for him!
 
He'll be fine. It will look weird but that's all. You would be surprised at how well they adapt. I've dealt with 2 eye problems at work. One scratched the cornea and got uveitis so he wore a coloured contact lense and uv mask for a month or so. The other had his eye removed. Bless him he must have been in so much pain before hand as he was so much happier when it was out. He carried on and raced again over fences. He is now 19? 20? and loving life as a companion. Its never bothered him since.

You just need to make sure you speak and approach from his good side so he doesnt freak out at you suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
 
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