how can you tell if your horse is going blind?

[LadyRascasse]

how can you tell if my horse is going blind, my 17yr old gelding seems to be me flighty and headshy at night when i bring him in and was a little concerned he was going blind, so what are the tell tale signs?

i have to ring the vet tomorrow anyway but just wanted to know if i was making a moutain out of a molehill.

 

[Ezme]

hold your hand up to his face then quickly move it towards his eye from different directions and see if he blinks. Its a good rough guide but the vet would be better to have a look around.

 

[merlinsquest]

Pretend you are going to poke him in the eye..... If his sight is bad, he will not blink.

This is how the vet checked one of the horses on the yard when the owner was worried

I suppose it will only tell you if they are blind though, rather than struggling to see clearly!!

 

[merlinsquest]

You beat me to it ..... great minds and all that

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

When you do the startle test by bringing your flat hand up fast as if you're going to smack your horse in the eye, be careful that the movement of air doesn't give a false negative!

Another method is to set up some unexpected obstacles in the school and see if your horse walks into them or shies at them or tries to look at them by turning his head.

It's definitely a vet job anyway. Fingers crossed it's just the scent of spring in the air. Let us know how he does x

 

[LadyRascasse]

i seem to get mixed reactions on of his eye and the one he completely freaks out when i do it, i'm going to try it again tonight when its dark and see what reaction i get then

 

[fatpiggy]

I came to the conclusion a while ago that my mare (now 26) can see to the side with her left eye but not forwards. The clues were there - shying at something as she passed it despite it being in full view front on, messing about on the lunge on the right rein, running into jumps on the right rein. I suspect her night vision has radically declined over the years too. If you have doubts, why not ask the vet to take a closer look. They are the experts after all!