Failing eye sight

[filly190]

Hi folks could you give me advice/symptoms to look for on this subject. My mare is 22 and her behaviour has been a little odd lately. At night she wont come into her stable, even when all the others are in and I wondered if it could be failing eye sight, as normally she is always first in and ready.

The other difference is when being ridden out she is putting her head right down, almost to the floor, not all the time, but when we are on a stoney type track.

How would you tell if a horses eyes are starting to fail? Many thanks

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Filly190 - couple of things to check. First, are her eye/s cloudy to look at? A sort of milky tinge across the corneas? She may have cataracts. Secondly, in a SAFE place, try the startle test. Hold your horse carefully with her head up and bring the flat of your hand fast towards her face as if you were going to smack her right in the eye. Try it for each eye. She should "startle" ie flinch visibly and jerk back. Its not a definitive test but if she doesn't flinch or jerk back its a good bet that her eyesight is compromised in some way. If it was me (and sadly I have too much knowledge of eyes since my gorgeous boy had to have an eye removed because of the carelessness of his previous owners) I'd get the vet out for a check up either way. Fingers crossed.

 

[filly190]

Many thanks I will try at the weekend. My friend suggested a bright light in the eye to have a deeper look. She is 22 and fighting fit, so I am hoping and praying that this is'nt the case, but from the summer she has become extremely careful with her footing and has really slowed down which makes me think along these lines.