Horses with one eye?

milesjess

milesjess

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Just wondering if anyone owns one? How do they cope with ridden/ ground work etc..?

Possibly looking at a rescue who's got one eye, but is still quite young. Unsure how she's come to be without her eye, but she's slightly spooky/ green but rideable.

Any advice :)
 
My daughters 1st pony lost an eye at 13yrs old. She rode exactly the same (in fact was a bit calmer doing mounted games!) still jumped etc, but on the ground she got a little spooky & we always had to make sure we approached her from her off side (was left eye) & tack her up/ mount from that side too x
 
tinap said:
My daughters 1st pony lost an eye at 13yrs old. She rode exactly the same (in fact was a bit calmer doing mounted games!) still jumped etc, but on the ground she got a little spooky & we always had to make sure we approached her from her off side (was left eye) & tack her up/ mount from that side too x
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Missy is partially sighted in one eye and is very jumpy on that side. Will spook if something rushes into view or sneaks up on her. Is okay in general though and can go for walks and be fine. It's just a luck of the draw in what's out and about!
 
Trevor Breen's Adventure du Kannan and Malin Baryard's Tornesch have both lost one eye. They are both top class international show jumpers, they both lost an eye in middle age and both have continued to jump at top level internationally after only a relatively short break to recover for the operation. Remarkable.
 
Friend had a little 12.2. pony that had lost an eye (cataract) and he did everything we ever asked, but we discovered a few things that helped over the years.

We always talked to him if we approached from his blind side, or he would jump if someone just touched him out of the blue (obvious stuff really but we had to make children more aware).

He preferred to be lead from his blind side, and would bite the leader if they led from his good side, as it obstructed his one good eye!

If loading him, we let him approach with a loose lead rope so he could swing his head a little and see the whole ramp.

If he heard a horse approaching from behind, for example on a hack, we would let him stop and move his head so he could see the horse approach - he hated something just overtaking him.

On a lead rein gymkhana we stood at the end of the line, and when the starter said go, the others galloped off and he reared in panic - because his blind eye was towards the others and he could hear the thundering of hooves but not see it. For the next race we put him the other side, so he could see the others, and he was fab.

He wouldn't jump ditches perhaps because he was wary of not being able to see how wide it was on the blind side, but he show jumped up to 3' and only stopped if the rider turned too tight to the right in a jump off so he couldn't judge it.

Hope that helps - currently have a rescue job with one eye and he is very chilled as never known any different.
 
Not had one myself, but there was one at a yard I used to work at. It had lost it's eye (can't remember how) at a young age so had adapted really well to it and you would never think it behaved any different to a horse with two eyes! Was a lovely big thing.
 
I have a pony with one eye - he is utterly unflappable, and unspooky. He is just a youngster, and coping so well, that I intend to break him to drive this year - although his eye is on the traffic side, I can't see it will be an issue.
 
i have known three that have coped well and been fine, and one currently at work who is spooky/difficult and edgy you could not put a rider on him and it is a good job he is a shetland that is only handled by adults as he can be sharp and unpredictable, he does not tolerate anyone on his blind side-he lost his eye when he had fallen on the road pulling a cart with three men in it-they were beating him to try and get him up so it is unlikely he would ever have been perfect after that.
 
Very interesting thread. I know someone who had to have their horse's eye removed on Xmas Eve.

sport horse said:
Tornesch with Malin Baryard
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They interviewed them at Olympia and they said that the horse had had eye problems and therefore limited sight in that eye up until it was removed, and that it actually judged things better than it did with a bad eye. They just said that they had to turn fractionally slower when turning towards the blind side (it was still jumping off at top level, so couldn't have made much difference).

I taught in a school with a one eyed horse many years ago, didn't notice any difference, and rode at another place with a one eyed horse when I returned to riding, again no difference.
 
Yes, a lovely mare, who had her eye removed due to a series of infections. She adapted really well, I met her when she had just moved yards, without any problems at all. She still goes to shows, jumps, hacks out etc...
 
I had a jumping lesson on a one eyed horse many moons ago and he was no different to ride. I don't think you can use a one eyed horse for polo from memory (something to do with safety) but as far as I know that is the only discipline you can't do.
 
There is another HHO member (can't remember their name- someone else might know!) who has a bay horse with one eye- she events him certainly at 90 if not beyond- might be worth a chat with her? (sorry i know this is very vague!)
 
The first horse I broke and brought on 3 years ago lost an eye aged 3. She was a very well bred Oldenberg and one of the sweetest horses I have ever had the pleasure of riding. Without her eye she was no different. It was her right eye. I had just started lunge work when it happened, she had it removed, had a while to recover and then we carried on and I can honestly say she was still perfect in every way. She is now doing low level dressage with her owner who is having fun :)
I just made sure I spoke to her when approaching on the blind side or puttin on rugs etc.
Was told at the time she would adapt well due to being young and having a fab temperament and the only thing she wouldn't be able to do was play polo for safety reasons.
 
I regularly see one at PC jumping 80cm-1m - calm as a saint and jumps like a pro. He can jump if you sneak up on his blind side and touch him, and likes to moves his head around a lot to see what is going on, but a fab horse.
 
In the 1930s a horse called Oxo came second in the National. He would have won but his jockey rode him to the outside to give him a clear view in his sighted eye.
 
The landowner of where I keep mine had a one-eyed pony for her young sons. Had you not have seen he had an eye missing, you would never have believed it. He was a fantastic lad, totally bombproof too ...... And a brilliant Houdini lol :)
 
Thank you all very much for the helpful and positive replies.

Appears I have found a rather special and unique mare in that case! :)
 
I have had too horses with only one eye one was a brood mare with one eye missing and very nearly blind in the other we lead a completely normal brood mare life the only time you could tell she was when her foals where very small .
The second was a hunter he had lost the sight in eye to Uvetis and was great to ride and jump .
But the Uvetis flared up constantly and it was awful we put him to sleep .
I would consider a horse with one eye unless the eye had been removed because of uveitis in which case I would not touch it with a barge pole.
 
Dusty85 said:
There is another HHO member (can't remember their name- someone else might know!) who has a bay horse with one eye- she events him certainly at 90 if not beyond- might be worth a chat with her? (sorry i know this is very vague!)
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That would be me :)

My horse only has 1 eye and he is a STAR! He has won and placed BE up to novice and won newcomers SJ, jumps off any turn or angle (even from the blind side) and is an absolute saint.

I literially never notice he only has 1 eye apart from occasionally he'll do something silly like bump his nose if he turns his head too fast to the left. (no left eye).

He lost it before I got him (lucky for me, would never of been able to afford a horse like him). He had a field accident. Apparantly he was a little worried for about 3 weeks after the operation but then went back to his laid back self, and was back out show jumping within 6 weeks of the op!

So personally I wouldn't be put off at all.
 
I have a horse with one eye also.
It was removed last year, almost to the day actually! He found it difficult to adjust but was loosing the sight and having severe ridden and general confidence problems anyway (this partly spurred the decision to operate).
It took a fair time but I can now say it was the best thing we could have done. He's great and back hacking, jumping etc.
If I liked a horse it certainly would never put me off buying.
 
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