My world has just fallen in at the moment - eye removal..

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pipper

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I am devastated tonight - one of my precious mares has had an accident in the field - thorn went right into her eye and after a trip to the horsepital i have been told that the eye is so badly damaged I need to make the decision to have it removed. Poor poor pony!
She is a really lovely girl and is 20 years old. She is a rather spooky thing and rather sensitive to sounds. Will this mean the end of her riding career do you think? Will the spooking become much worse so that riding her will not be possible? I only ask as she loves competing and going out and about at shows and hacking for hours with her freinds. She almost runs up the ramp to go out and im sure she would hate not doing anything - apart from that she would stiffen up without exercise, as i discovered one summer when i broke my arm and couldnt ride! I am trying to make the right decision for her but there are so many emotions getting in the way right now - shock being the biggest. The other option is PTS which I really dont want to do. I KNOW she will hate just being stood in the field - unlike some of my other gang who would adore it! So if i go for the eye removal option and she cant be ridden it means more heartache...
sorry for the rambling - but im trying to juggle things around in my head to make sense of it all - I expect things will be much clearer in the morning when the shock wears off.....
please dont jump on me if ive said anything that doesnt sound fair/rational as i am not feeling either of those at the moment.....
 
I think horses adjust to this sort of thing a lot more easily than we do.
I remember stabling next to a horse with only one eye at the mkec3de a few years ago. Horse finished in top 3 as I remember.
 
I have not personal experience of this sort of thing, so sorry I cannot offer practical advice, but crikey what a shock for you, I can see why you are confused and emotional :(

All I would say is you have the option of giving it a go and seeing how your horse copes. It will take time for her to adjust obviously and then you will have a better idea of what type of future she has. If the other option is pts then really what have you got to lose by giving her, and yourself, some time? The outcome will be the same if you do it now or wait for a few months and see how things go. At the moment the future seems unviable perhaps, but animals can adjust to amazing change in circumstances so give both of you some time and reassess a few months down the line. You'll know if she isn't happy and can't carry on. You'll also know if its too much for you and there's no shame in calling it a day if you can't cope (I speak sadly from experience of this). I think there are people on here who do have first hand knowledge of one eyed horses and hopefully they will reply with something useful.

See how it goes, take advice where you can and try to stay positive. Best wishes x
 
I used to ride a very sharp pointer who was blind in one eye due to an accident. He hunted and raced with no trouble at all, you just had to remember to talk to him if you approached from his blind side-easy to forget as his eye looked normal. Also had to allow him to turn his head slightly on the approach to fences, but he never stopped. Just remember to pad out door frames and the like, she'll probably be fine, they can adapt to things really well.
 
In the long run, physically she will be fine to compete and do everything you already do with only the one eye. We race horses over hurdles and chase fences with only one eye - they adapt and they cope! As it is a sudden blindness I expect she will be more nervy, spookier and generally more reliant on you until she has figured things out for herself. Most horses cope, usually better with gradual loss of sight rather than sudden but cope they do. She will surprise you. A smaller number simply don't cope and do themselves more damage panicking BUT very few.

If she were mine I'd go ahead with the op for her own benefit and take things a step at a time afterwards. See how she wants to play things and go at her pace.

It does look a bit unsightly to onlookers to be fair, creepy if you will but the benefits far outway the cosmetic value. One of the horses we had an eye removed on was back under saddle in 3 weeks and back racing in 6 but he had a gradual onset of blindness and his eye was causing him pain. He was a much, Much happier horse for having it removed. It was like a constan throb and headache for him before it's removal. Best thing that ever happened to him to be honest.
 
A horrible shock for you, but she will adapt fine. I have known a couple of one-eyed horses and they have never been a problem after the intial getting used to approaching from the sighted side etc. The only slight problem was one would kick if another horse came up to his blind side.. but TBH I think that is fair enough.

We had the very same thing happen two years ago and were incredibly lucky that the thorn went downwards between her eye and her lower lid. Nasty deep wound but no lasting damage.
 
Lots of horses do very well with just one eye. There was one on my old yard who was retired for reasons nothing to do with her eye and shed had a very sucessful and happy life with just one eye and was fine to handle you just had to warn her you were on her blind side. She did become very attatched to one other mare in the field and used to always try have her on her blind side and use her as her eyes.
 
Pipper, firstly sorry this is my first post I am a lurker and not a poster!
But I had to respond to you as I was in the same situation the week before Christmas. My lad had an accident in the field and pierced his eyeball, he is 18 and loves life and lives to be out there being ridden and going to local events. The thought of having to retire him was weighing heavily on my mind as I just knew he would hate this. The vets said that many horses could still do everything they did before after the operation and I decided that he deserved a chance. It was the best decision I made,two weeks to the day after his surgery I was allowed to sit on him again and yes he was a little anxious about anything he couldn't see on his blind side but he soon began to adapt and now 3 months later neither of us take any notice. He is back hacking,jumping and he went to his first local dressage comp last week and a XC clinic at the weekend. I completely forget now that he is a one eyed boy and like I said this is only 3 months later!
I would therefore say give your girl a chance, I am sure she will prove to you it was worth it. I know its a massive shock for you and I am sure your head is all over the place but you know her best and will make the right decision for her.x
 
Thankyou all so so much for your replies - they have made me feel much better and more optomistic about her ridden life after the removal. I am going to bed now as i am shattered but please keep the stories of how others have coped and i will read them in the morning. I really really appreciate the up beat replies - you dont know how much! many many thanks.
I hope my girl is having a sleep now and is not in too much pain. I will be back there tomorrow *would have stayed there all night but they threw me out!!!* and will give the go ahead for the removal.
 
I have a one eyed horse and he truly amazes me every day. Although I don't really jump him he used to, hacks out well and is a nice little dressage horse. Sadly his sight in his remaining eye has now deteriorated so his vision is very very limited. He is a still a happy boy who loves being ridden. Please don't worry, most horses adapt very well and with my boy you can't tell when you're on him.
 
My old pony lost her sight but not her eye when she was kicked in the head aged 24, she became harder to lunge and more claustrophobic as she felt insecue but still hacked, jumped and competed and was very happy as long as we let her know we were there. Aged 39 she developed
 
An eye ulcer which perforated. If she hadn't been so old and frail I would definitely have had the eye removed but at her age it was too much and I had to let her go.
 
Thank you all so much - have just got back and the op is being performed this afternoon. i actually feel relieved about it now - i could have been so much worse and at least she has a chance. Am now running around getting things ready - will read any replies tomorrow morning - thanks again for your support x
 
Echo everything said on here about one-eyed horses adapting well. I've known at least three, all of whom have had normal lives. I used to know a one-eyed pony who was a demon to catch - we used to try to sneak up on his blind side but it never worked!
Good luck today and give us all an update when you have time.
 
Whilst he is not mine I know a horse with one eye and he copes perfectly well. We done a doubles Le Trec and he was just as able as my boy.

Don’t give up just adapt your ways to accommodate her until she gets used to it.
 
I'm glad you're feeling better already, thought I'd add quickly that I used to look after a huge 18hh ex show hunter, who had to give up his showing career due to losing an eye. He coped perfectly, still hunted, the only thing I found is he rushed through is stable door and you had to watch if you were schooling him on the rein where his missing eye was on the outside as he could get a bit close to the fence. But he was no more spooky, or worried.
I hope all goes well with the op.
 
I have a pony with just one eye - removed early this year/late last - can't remember exactly when, following chronic injury.

He is only a yearling, and it was a big shock all round.

But he has coped brilliantly - you'd never know he only had one eye. He seems to have totally adjusted to it - even if you're on his blind side.

Clearly at the moment, he is very much a youngster, but I intend to break him to drive when he is older, and cannot see why this cannot happen - he is no different to how he was before it was injured.

I hope all is going well for you.
 
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