Have you or would you consider buying a horse with one eye?

[NIKKI1974]

When working at a rehab centre i came across a lovely mare who had had an accident in a paddock which resulted in the surgical removal of one of her eyes.I have to admit when i first saw her it was quite a shock and made me feel a little queezy.Once i had got used to the idea she was just like the others only difference being you had to talk to her more when approaching her from the off side. Would this put you off a horse?

 

[DiablosGold]

Probably would if temperament, conformation etc was ok, and price was reduced accordingly.

 

[CastleMouse]

Yes, it would put me off a horse...

 

[Tinkerbee]

We have a livery with one eye

Hes just like any other
Goes hunting/hacking/ all sorts

 

[merlinsquest]

I know two one eyed horses and it doesnt seem to bother them one bit...... One lost his eye after many years (cancer) and the other was born without an eye.

The first has a hairy skin covered hollow where the eye should be, so its sealed and clean, although a little difficult to remove mud if it gets in there as he is understandably tender there.

The second is just like the eye has been sucked out and you can see the fleshy structures behind where the eye should be.

Personally I would definately not consider a horse with one eye.... firstly it just looks a bit grim and secondly with two eyes you do have a stand by if anything goes wrong with one, if you start off with one you have no backup!!

 

[BroadfordQueen]

My first pony was blind in one eye, and it didn't affect him (and made him a very good "handy pony" pony, as you could pick up the flags etc on his blind side and it wouldn't spook him

). So nope, it wouldn't put me off, as in my experience it doesn't change their way of going!

 

[dozzie]

It would depend on what I wanted it for. Seeing a horse with one eye doesnt bother me.

 

[Pedantic]

Rode next to a horse on an endurance ride which was blind in one eye, I didnt realise until the rider told me as the horse didn't seem to act any differently at all, I dont think I would purchase a horse with one eye though for the same reason as Merlinsxmasquest.

 

[JessPickle]

We have a horse with one eye at my yard he is lovely to ride, allthough getting old now,

 

[GinaGem]

[ QUOTE ]
It would depend on what I wanted it for. Seeing a horse with one eye doesnt bother me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same as. My mum had a horse on loan that had an eye removed because of cancer. Didn't affect her at all, although she only hacked her.

 

[mollymurphy]

Sunnymum has a one-eyed horse (Fat One Eyed Cob!) and he seems to cope fine! As did a one-eyed horse who was on working livery at my sisters' college.
If the horse was perfect for me in every other way, it wouldnt put me off at all. Although i would be super paranoid if the remaining eye got so much as a SLEEP in it!!

 

[Tangaroo]

I had a horse on loan who lost an eye as a foal. I evented him and hunted him and it never affected him in the slightest. I would buy one so long as it was cheap.

 

[Happytohack]

It wouldn't put me off at all

 

[burtondog]

Wouldn't really put me off if I like the horse.

 

[GypsyLady]

Was at a horse sale at the end of summer with a friend, she just wanted to have a look. We seen 2 lovely foals tied to the side of a horse lorry, they were obviously too young to be away from their mothers but one was blind in one eye. My friend is a veterinary nurse and when she checked it closely she said it could have been saved if the owner had got a vet out to it!

 

[PurplePickle]

Would'nt put me off unless I wanted to show etc, I nearly purchased a mare with one eye but she had other issues including being so strong 2 people couldnt hold her so a combination of the two in my mind made h er dangerous.

However if they have a good temperament and arent spooky Id go for another, but yes the no eye thing is quite odd to get used to just that sewn up socket!

 

[Tia]

Yes.

 

[Donkeymad]

Wouldn't worry me.

 

[Parkranger]

I wouldn't have brought Ty if I'd have known he was blind in one eye - purely because I was returning to riding after 15 years and didn't want any 'complications' unfortunately 5 stage vetting didn't pick it up so had no choice.

You have to watch them in certain situations and you're unlikely to train a green one eyed horse to jump (as i found out!) but other wise they tend to be ok.

 

[Minnies_Mum]

I saw a one eyed horse at Gatcombe last year- Briarlands Blackberry, can't remember who was riding him. It looks a bit odd when you see this great empty socket (even though the skin is over it) but he was obviously fine to event at that level. Not sure how I'd feel about buying one...might put me off a bit, I guess.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

I am the Sunnymum Mollymurphy mentioned!!!! I have a GORGEOUS Section D - affectionately known by all at the yard as the FOEC (Fat One Eyed Cob) coz...well...he is! He lost his eye after a desperate 6 month battle to save it ... previous owners couldn't be arsed to clear up a perfectly curable chronic conjunctivitis and it flipped over into something much nastier. He is the same as ever now except you do have to be aware that he has a blind side and sometimes needs to turn his whole body to have a good look at things. But he still pops a 2ft 6 jump, hoolies around in the field, bites the bum of his new stepsister in the next door stable (sorry mollym!) and is generally a fab, safe boy. HOWEVER, the other replies are absolutely right in that I live in a state of constant paranoia that the OTHER eye will get damaged...we don't have a spare now!

 

[Dogbetty141]

my horse has had sarcoids on his eye and has radiothearpy on it to burn them off now he can still see but it is very limited. He does fine and he is less spooky on that side (quite a mardy boy spooky wise) thought he is getting better as he gets older hes 15 now. Every now and then it goes watery but other than that he is fine with it! Its not pretty but he is a special man to me! Would you buy a horse with an eye like this?

 

[wizoz]

I had a pony with one eye, he too had had to have it removed after an accident but he was the most amazing animal ever. He was the one that taught me to jump and took me round my first hunter trial, which we came 3rd in, I did all the gymkhana jumping on him and he was excellent. He adapted really well to having just the one eye. So no, it wouldn't put me off.

 

[Theresa_F]

Cairo has one eye - he has an empty hair covered socket - some people don't notice there is an eye missing for quite a while.

Never bothers him and he is not at all spooky. Only thing I do is to make sure doors don't slam on his blind side and if out riding with a very lively horse he prefers them where he can see them.

As I do showing I would think twice if the horse had an empty socket but not if the eye was there but it was blind.

However there is no other reason why I would not consider an one eyed horse.

 

[Blackhawk]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes.

[/ QUOTE ]

To which question? The thread title or the one in the post?

 

[MagicMelon]

It depends what I was buying the horse for. I would be fine to buy a one-eyed horse as a companion but wouldn't for what I do competition-wise, mainly because it would be too much of a worry XC making sure he could see the fences!

Although a friend owned a one-eyed horse and it jumped normally, just like any other.

 

[wizzi901]

my pony was blind in one eye, never affected him as long as I let him have a good look on the tight corners before jumping off the right rein!

 

[ihatework]

Horses cope really well with just one eye.
However I most likely would not buy one unless it was perfect in every other way and was very cheap, but even then probably not.
A friend of mine bought one through the sales for £2500 when it would probably have been worth at least 6x that, given she only wanted it for pure dressage she got a super quality horse on a budget.

 

[MontyandZoom]

The ex polo pony I have on loan had one eye removed after an accident in the field (hence the EX polo pony bit). It looks a bit gross and it definately takes alot of getting used to but she is the sweetest mare ever! I suppose it depends on what you want the horse for but it doesn't affect her at all. She is perfect in traffic and non-spooky. A real poppet!

 

[blackcob]

My horse is blind in one eye and it's never been an issue, it hasn't affected anything I've wanted to do with her including jumping/hunting etc and she's bombproof in traffic.

I wouldn't buy a horse with a degenerative eye condition that might lead to it becoming blind, and I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a one-eyed horse, but if the price was right I wouldn't be bothered about it.