Maximum price for a horse that's blind in one eye?

blackcob

blackcob

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There's a very, very long story behind this question which I won't even begin to go into here (except to say that I am not sellling her, don't worry!), but I would appreciate your input on this as a basic question...
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What is the maximum price you would pay for a horse that is blind in one eye?

It's not a congenital problem and was caused by injury, so it has no implications for breeding etc. if that makes any difference.

Is there a fixed upper limit, no matter what the ability of the horse? Would you even consider buying a horse at all that was blind in one eye?
 
Unless you were buying it for showing, where only 1 eye would have obvious implications (confirmation-wise) i dont think it should make any difference. My friend has a 1-eyed horse and he does everything that any other horse can do and is the most trusting ever. Can still do dressage, sj, xc hack everything.
 
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Unless you were buying it for showing, where only 1 eye would have obvious implications (confirmation-wise) i dont think it should make any difference. My friend has a 1-eyed horse and he does everything that any other horse can do and is the most trusting ever. Can still do dressage, sj, xc hack everything.

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The horse in question still has both eyes - just can't see out of one of them.
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She does very well in the show ring incidentally, no judge has ever noticed that she's half blind!

In response to AmyMay, she can do everything that a fully sighted horse can do - it doesn't affect her in any way. She jumps, hacks out alone, shows, hunts etc. although is not what I would consider a novice ride, though this has less to do with being blind than it has to do with being a hotheaded Welsh Cob.
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I wouldn't expect to pay much less than I would if it had sight in both eyes. I have a one-eyed horse and it doesn't affect her performance in any way.
 
Years ago my sister-in-law had a TB that she had bought as a three year old and went up through the grades eventing. He went advanced. When she was selling him it came up in the vetting that he was completely blind in one eye! He passed the vetting because he had proven (to the highest level) that he was fit for purpose. My S-I-L couldn't believe it and said she would never had gone XC on him if she had known!!! So it just goes to show that it doesn't have to hold them back.


Just to add, he carried on eventing with his new owner!
 
I was looking for a 1st pony for my daughter and arranged a 2 stage check on an 18 year old ex riding school pony where the advert disclosed that there had apparently been an eye infection in the past that meant it had to wear a fly mask in summer to prevent reoccurrence. It turned out that the pony was completely blind in one eye, that itself didn't bother me but the vet painted a very bleak picture in that if the infection re-occurred then the eye would need to be removed and that would be at my cost since the eye would be excluded from any insurance. Obviously the potential eye removal 'freaked' my daughter out and she refused to persue any further. The pony had other issues in addition to the eye problem that caused it to fail its vet check and contributed to my decision not to purchase. To cut a long story short had it just been blind in the eye with no further repurcussions I would have bought it (£750). I did infact go on to purchase an 11 year old mare who has a cateract (from injury) that impares her vision by (we think about) 10% in one eye. That was the only negative that came up from her vet check, I paid £1000 for her.
 
I paid £1500 including good tack & rugs for a horse with a cataract (vet pretty sure it was caused by injury) in 1 eye. We had been going to pay a lot more until this came up in vetting. I went through agonies. In the end I decided to put in a very low offer as I was concerned about how he would cope & if the owners said yes it was meant to be. Luckily for me the owners said yes.
 
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I think I would expect someone to pay me to take it off their hands
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you wish
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horse is my first and forth piccy has only one eye, it has had no impact on his performance, I think the level of acheivement would reflect the price and not the 'eye'.
 
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I did infact go on to purchase an 11 year old mare who has a cateract (from injury) that impares her vision by (we think about) 10% in one eye. That was the only negative that came up from her vet check, I paid £1000 for her.

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Thanks for your input; that situation is remarkably similar to ours.
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Her previous owner bought her for £1200 as a just-backed-and-turned-away two/three year old, not knowing that she had any problem - she still had some vision in the eye at that point. The seller refused to refund any money after the blindness was discovered, and of course she'd not been vetted or anything so he didn't have a leg to stand on.

Would you have paid more for the mare if she'd not had eye problems?
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There are lots of horses who are blind in one eye over here - generally ex-racers of some description. Most, if not all, are simply given away, although I have seen people trying their luck and advertising for offers around $400.

I wouldn't pay anything for a half blind horse, however I would and do accept ones as paying liveries.
 
Blackcob I am sorry I didnt reply sooner, I logged out shortly after I posted. I hope you see my reply so you dont think me ignorant.

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Would you have paid more for the mare if she'd not had eye problems?

£1000 was her asking price, it didnt occur to me for one second to ask for it to be reduced. Like I said it was the only negative (oh other than teeth!) and the vet was quite positive in that he didn't feel there would be any adverse effects in the short term future at least (6 yrs). And he certainly didnt feel it would affect her ability to carry out her tasks as an allrounder. As I also said she is a first pony (for myself and my daughters) so temperement was far more important. We have had her for a couple of weeks now and she was a bargain. For example, today I went to fetch her from her very big field she was right at the top end grazing, I shouted her name she looked up saw me and came bounding over to greet me - priceless.
 
My horse Sunny (see sig) lost an eye 3 years ago to superficial keratitis. It was hideously expensive - thank god for insurance!

Sunny is still the same safe, happy gentleman he has always been and happily hacks, does dressage, pops jumps, etc etc. But here's the thing: if anything happened to his remaining eye he would have to be pts. He has no "spares" now.

The way I see it, if your much loved ned loses an eye, well he's still your much loved ned and nothing changes. But to actively purchase a 1-eyed horse? No way. Too risky.
 
Hey

When I was at school we had a pony who had vision only in one eye. He was no different to the others apart from when you went to catch him he'd run around in circles with his good eye looking at you, trying to avoid you!!!!

My old boy had Uveitus for a while after a bang to his head and was worked and turned out with a patch over his eye. His performance was fine, although he wasn't able to see you if you came up on the blind side.

Bx
 
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