Night blindness

[Fiona&Lorenzo]

Hello, this is my first post on here although I've followed it for a while and have found lots of helpful advice - thank you.
My question is: I've recently discovered my horse is night blind. He's an Appy x Knab few spot, so he has two copies of the gene which makes him night blind and he is as he can't find his bucket or see me in the dark. Before I discovered this I was hoping to take him to some evening competitions, does anyone have any experience of this? Can night blind horses see okay in artificial light? We don't currently have any lighting so I've not been able to test this. Thanks in advance.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/animals/horses/inherited-night-blindness/
The link above explains this is more detail. I don't have any experience of this so can't comment but would think its a case of trying out various scenarios and seeing how you get on.

I didn't know that this was the case with Apply x Knab. I used to have a Knabstrupper on loan many moons ago.

How was your horse diagnosed? Was it with genetic testing or an eye specialist? If it was the latter then I'd refer this question to the eye specialist.

 

[ester]

we do have a couple of users with LPLP horses so hopefully they might be able to help. I suspect it might depend on the quality of the lighting, some can be like riding in daylight, others just enough to see by.

 

[Fiona&Lorenzo]

https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/animals/horses/inherited-night-blindness/
The link above explains this is more detail. I don't have any experience of this so can't comment but would think its a case of trying out various scenarios and seeing how you get on.

I didn't know that this was the case with Apply x Knab. I used to have a Knabstrupper on loan many moons ago.

How was your horse diagnosed? Was it with genetic testing or an eye specialist? If it was the latter then I'd refer this question to the eye specialist.

He hasn't been diagnosed properly. I noticed on the times when I have rug changed/fed in the dark that he can't see me or his food bucket. I have to make sure I talk to him so he knows where I am, but he still jumps when I touch him first as he's not expecting it. Upon doing some research online (Appaloosa project) horses with two copies of the LP gene which are the colour: few spot and blanket have two copies of the gene and are apparently all night blind. Lorenzo is few spot so it makes sense he is night blind.

 

[RachaelJC]

Hi Fiona&Lorenzo

My horse has night blindness, confirmed through genetic test after going for specialist testing which showed no menace response in the dark.

In my experience, your horse would be km in artificial light as long as the light was spread well over the entire area he was competing/showing in (i.e. No large shadowy corners that the light doesn't touch that he's expected to perform in, particularly in an unfamiliar environment). I'd definitely try him out walking in relative darkness as long as you are safe and can see where you are going, and then take him along and see how he is.

I used to have access to an indoor school which had very yellow light, albeit no dark areas of the school. He was fine in it through last winter. Walking him to the school was a slightly different matter because there were movement sensitive yard spotlights that didn't really light much of an area, therefore he was more comfortable walking with his whiskers touching the floor so that he could feel his way in what was essentially darkness to him.

I was told that for LPLP gene horses, if we humans would struggle to read a book without additional light (such as at dusk with no torch/lamp), it is darkness to your horse. However, their experience of darkness is present from birth and not degenerative in itself (although perhaps more prone to cataracts eventually) and they really do adapt well.

 

[Fiona&Lorenzo]

Thank you Rachael that's really helpful

 

[Chinchilla]

I have a fewspot mare; she's definitely okay with artificial light as we have stable lights and use torches in the winter, although she seems to prefer white light to that which is more orange/yellow. She's also spookier with light that has low coverage and makes big scary shadows as mentioned above (I do actually have a video of her trying to jump her own shadow whilst being lunged in full day light lol!)
If riding/handling in low light with a horse with CSNB it's worth taking care to give them a good, long slow warm up too as they can also struggle to adjust between light and dark and take much longer to do so than normal horses. Talk to them lots, and use lots of voice commands if your horse responds you them well and honestly there's no reason you shouldn't be able to ride your horse at evening competitions 🙂

 

[SEL]

I have a snowcap who is LP/LP and I've struggled in indoor arenas with very yellow lights - I think the energy saving ones.

One of my old yards had really bright white lights and she was fine until one blew and they replaced it with a more modern yellow one. She just wouldn't approach that corner with the lights on and I'm not sure what she could or couldn't see. She's pretty spooky around shadows too. The sun casting shadows of the fence onto the outdoor school had us trotting over 'shadow trotting poles'!

If you can it might be worth checking out the venue you want to ride at one evening when there is a competition or clinic going on and seeing what the lighting is like, the lorry park etc. I have to confess to not doing much with mine in the evening (I actually changed my work hours so I could exercise her in the morning) because she gets so unsettled in the dark - but there are many who cope a lot better.

 

[SEL]

Oh - and try wearing a high viz yellow jacket around him in the dark. My mare can definitely see that colour after dark. We found out by accident when my OH was fixing fencing one night wearing his big yellow work jacket and she followed him around like a nosy puppy.

 

[Fiona&Lorenzo]

Thank you both, yes good idea! I'll check the venue out and lighting etc. He is really spooky with shadows and out cross country doesn't like going through shaded bits as he clearly struggles with light adjustment. On the up side though I do feel he's bonded with me even better and trusts me a great deal due to this condition. I've had him just under a year and we get on great together