Eye saga

DressageCob said:
So decision made. Albert’s eye is coming out tomorrow.

We have had over a week of no improvement and his mood has changed. He’s now cross and is lashing out at the poor students trying to help him. That’s not my Albert, so I’m certain he’s had enough.

He also has scar tissue forming across his eye which reduces the prospects of him having much sight even if they can get the ulcer under control.

So the plan is for the op tomorrow and my beautiful boy coming home at the weekend. From there we will see!
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I hope it goes well for you I will be thinking of you tomorrow x
 
There is many a good horse with only one eye. Didn't one win the Hickstead Derby? Good luck with the surgery and recovery. It sounds as if Albert will be a lot happier without it. X
 
I've been following your thread over the past few weeks- you've all done everything possible to give his eye a chance to heal. Fingers crossed for the op today and his recovery.
 
He’s had the operation! Thank you all for your well wishes.

I got a phone call while at court this morning to say Albert was too agitated to have the op under standing sedation. He was lashing out when they came near him (even when sedated) to nerve block his eye. So they had to do a general anaesthetic. I was very worried because he’s a bit porky and not so young.

Thankfully all went well, he woke up fine and didn’t hurt himself trying to stand.

I went to see him in the dark this evening. It was gruesome. He has a ball of blood soaked gauze where his eye used to be, and there was blood on his neck, his blaze and his legs. They obviously hadn’t had chance to clean him up yet. But he called when he heard my car outside his window, greeted me as normal in the stable and willingly took some treats.

The sudden decline in his mood makes me confident I’ve done the right thing. We did exhaust all reasonable options and it wasn’t fair to wait to see if there was a spontaneous recovery when he was getting so angry.

He had a stent in to manage swelling but soluable stitches, so no need for any further meddling. I can’t wait to get him home ☺️
 
So glad Albert has pulled through. I can recommend clicker training to mitigate needle phobia if he is food oriented. Poor Quigley had also decided enough is enough needle wise but responded brilliantly to pressure from syringe-click-treat.
 
Quigleyandme said:
So glad Albert has pulled through. I can recommend clicker training to mitigate needle phobia if he is food oriented. Poor Quigley had also decided enough is enough needle wise but responded brilliantly to pressure from syringe-click-treat.
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That’s really useful advice, thank you. I will give myself that as a little project :)
 
OP, I have just seen your latest update. So sorry they had to take the eye out, and under GA as well. But very glad to hear it all went well! It does look very gruesome to start with, and takes some adjusting to (for you as well as the horse!) but it does get easier with time! I wish him all the best and really hope he starts to feel better once the effects of the surgery have worn off.
 
Glad all went well. My friends elderly mare had her eye removed last year. She’s a spooky sort and a natural worrier and my friend was apprehensive about how she would cope, but she needn’t have worried. The mare has been absolutely fine, still hacks our happily and enjoys normal herd turnout.
 
He’s home!!

My friend and I went to collect him this afternoon and we were discharged by the same wonderful resident vet that checked us in. So we’ve gone full circle 😊

I put Albie’s boots on ready to go and he was so excited. He was bouncing up and down like a Lippizaner :D

As we went down the drive to our yard he was calling out. When we arrived and I opened the side of the lorry he shouted again and his friend shouted back. He dragged me to his stable and started munching.

It was decided to have him in his normal stable, even though it’s a busy traffic route, because he knows it. I was going to tell the child yard helpers not to touch him (because in hospital he was very head and neck shy and was aggressive to people going in his stable in the last few days). But before I could, he had a little crowd around him and was lapping up the attention.

I walked him around the yard and he dragged me in the direction of his field. It’s safe to say he’s glad to be home. Tomorrow we are going to turn him out on his own for a bit. He will be elated.

Thanks for joining us on this journey 😊 I’m hopeful that we will get back to normal, with time.

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Glad it all went well, our ponies eye healed up remarkably quickly, healing vibes to you both.
P.s. don't treat him any differently, he will adapt xx
 
He looks so happy to be home. I know one who adapted really well too, was out eventing! Fingers crossed, it sounds like he has made a great start with his admiring children.
 
So happy to read this update, he sounds very glad to be back home and is already settling in like he's never been away. Perhaps over the last little while he's already started to adapt to the changes in his vision.
 
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It’s happened! My one-eyed cob is back out in his herd. He’s delighted. He’s not as confident as he was, but it’s early days. He has done a few preemptive kicks when he feels someone is approaching on his blind side, but they are just little warning shots. He seems to be running away whenever there’s a challenge, which isn’t like him, but is probably for the best for now.

We introduced him for a few hours on Friday, the same on Saturday and then he stayed out overnight on Sunday. So far so good!

I’m planning to ride at the weekend. We’ve done lots of trotting poles in hand, and a little raised pole/jump. I think we are both ready.
 
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I’m back on board! He has shoes on and he feels goooood! I had a lesson because I knew I’d need shouting at. And lo and behold there I was, riding around in the foetal position, staring at my pony’s very wild mane, not really riding at all. My instructor soon sorted that, since I needed to give Albert confidence and help him out.

He didn’t need much helping or much confidence. Aside from a couple of head turns when there was a noise (a horse coming in from the field and a terrier sniffing around), he was concentrating and was eager to please. He felt a little stiff, but that’s not a surprise since he’s been off since September and is already mildly arthritic. He loosened off and we had a walk, trot and canter on both reins. We only did 15 minutes or so since he’s a little unfit and it was a big deal, plus he’d gone so well there was no need to push it.

We are going to gradually build up the work now and see how it goes. I’m thinking of doing a short hack with one of his field mates next weekend, to see how he is out and about.

I love my pony. It’s so nice to be heading back to normality 😊
 
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