one eyed horse? considerations?

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I may be welcoming a one eyed 4 year old cob to the family. He recently lost his eye and its his left thats missing. Before I make a decision any special considerations? words of wisdom? or just treat him like any other horse which was my plan really with just a bit more awareness on his left side?

TIA

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

You'll only need half a fly mask....


I used to ride a one eyed horse at a riding school. Loved him! Treated the same as any other

 

[FfionWinnie]

Someone on here, think it's Ahrena (don't think that's exactly right spelling and possibly not the right name either!) evented a one eyed bay horse.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Wouldn't bother me personally to have a one eyed horse...but I'd think you would have to be mindful of surprising him etc on that side

 

[LeannePip]

Someone on here, think it's Ahrena (don't think that's exactly right spelling and possibly not the right name either!) evented a one eyed bay horse.

This is who i was thinking of too, his name is Squirrel i believe?

 

[Fraggle2]

A friend owns a one eyed Welsh cob. She is treated the same as any other pony on the yard

 

[Nappy Croc]

Treat him like normal just speak to him when on that 'blind' side more so he knows you're there

 

[poiuytrewq]

We had one. Very sadly lost to uvietis in the remaining eye. Find out why he lost the eye and if it's a problem likely to effect his other eye because it's heartbreaking.
Other than that, yes talk if you approach the blind side so not to scare them. We found ours often heard us approaching anyway!
We had no new problems ridden wise when he had the eye removed. Tbh it didn't seem to bother him at all!

 

[Apercrumbie]

My horse of a lifetime had one eye - they are so good at adapting. Definitely find out why he lost his eye - ours lost his to uveitis so had to wear a special mask in summer to protect his remaining eye. Fortunately, he never had it again.

In terms of special treatment, I just talked to him constantly when on his blind side and when I moved from the front to the back of that side, I would move with my hand on him so he could feel that I had changed areas. Definitely not always necessary, I just wanted to be considerate. You may also need to do extra traffic proofing. I was very fortunate that even though he couldn't see the traffic, he wasn't scared.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Ours was actually good about traffic. He was very spooky on the blind side which was his near side, so he used to spook into traffic. We think more down to pain as once it was removed he was better on the road!

 

[Antw23uk]

My friend has a one eyed Welshie and he is awesome. He actually learnt to jump AFTER his eye came out. She hunts him, sponsored rides, SJ, XC and he's pretty impressive in his dressage working at medium or higher (sorry dressage isnt my thing!) all in all he is a complete dude and is treated like all the others.

 

[GirlFriday]

There are even a few blind horses talked about on here who live with a companion they treat like a 'guide horse' Sorry, don't nt recall the usernames though and I think they are all unridden!

Edited to add: having said that, Google found this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...er-patience-teach-blind-horse-ride-again.html

 

[asterope]

Trevor Breen's Adventure de Kannan only has one eye - they won the Hickstead Derby together! I think one of Malin Baryard-Johnsson's show jumpers also has only one eye.

 

[SpringArising]

I had one for ten years and she was the only totally sane one I've ever had. She lost it with me so I knew her before and after and it didn't make one jot of difference.

 

[Sukistokes2]

Hi, there was a one eyed horse at a yard my sister was on, he was competing at BE 100, a really nice chap. The owner found that he found it difficult to work out where the side of the door to his stable was. Very occassionly he would bash his blind side when standing with his head over the stable door. So they taped up foam on his blind side to soften the blow, so to speak. Apart from that he was kept the same as the others.m

 

[ashlingm]

I've a one-eyed cob...blind on the right side! He was 8 when I bought him from a local riding school. He turned out to be totally unsuitable for them (they said he was too strong and too spooky)... their loss was my gain

He's actually a little superstar! I've done pretty much everything on him...including sidesaddle! He's fantastic to hack - I was so worried the firsat time I took him out as the cars are always on his 'bad' side. He's never put a foot wrong! I usually carry a really long schooling whip in my right hand to make sure drivers don't come too close (I also do this with my other horses). I've found him to be fine in regards spooking....no more than a normal horse really. Sometimes if the scary object is on his blind side he doesn't even notice it!

He doesn't like horses cantering up behind him and used to take off in a panic. He's much better now, but I think a lot of that is trust. I don't put him in position where this might happen and if there is a few of us going for a gallop I'll keep him at the back. He can now go ahead of certain horses that he knows.

I've done showing with him and he's also done quite well. As his eye isn't quite a confirmation fault we seem to get away with it. Some judges didn't notice he was missing an eye as his hair is dark that side...so I never tell them. I don't want a sympathy vote for him...I think he's great and can compete against others We've also done a bit of dressage but sometimes recieve the comment "head to outside" or about not being straight coming up the centre line. He sometimes cocks his head a bit to make up for only having one eye.

He's not great at showjumping, I'd love to be able to blame his eye but it really isn't the case. He just isn't careful and doesn't seem to enjoy it very much. He does pick up and is very careful over XC though...He really seems to love it!

I can put on and off rugs either side of him, but I do talk to him when I'm on his blind side or run my hand over him so he knows where I am. One thing I would advise is be careful who your cob goes out to the field with. I had my cob out with our old hunter and he was a complete brat. He would deliberately go up and bite him on his blind side and my poor cob would get such a fright. He tends to position himself when grazing so that he can see most of the other horses....or just the bold ones

I don't know what happened to him or how long he's been blind but I think he's adjusted very well. I can throw carrots to him in the field and he can always find them...whereas some of my other horses get all confused and give up!

If you have anymore questions send me a message...I'd be happy to help Best of luck with your new cob, don't forget to share some pictures of him!

Some pics of my guy

 

[Ahrena]

My favourite topic!

My boy only has one eye and frankly he is the BEST.

He lost his in an accident so I don't have to worry in the same way I might if disease caused it.

I can 100% say it does not bother him. I've evented him at BE novice, he's won sj champs ect.

Hand on heart it doesn't bother him. He knows when you're on his blind side, he doesn't mind horses bumping into him on that side, he isn't spooky (well he spooks sometimes but I couldn't say it's because of the lack of eye).

If I'd passed him up, I'd of lost the chance to have the best horse I could ask for. He's slowed down now at 18 with arthritic hocks but he's given me everything.

Previous owners said it took him 3 weeks to adapt to it on the ground and within 6 weeks of it being removed he was back out show jumping.

 

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Thanks so much guys really appreciated will keep you informed if he comes home

 

[cauda equina]

We had a one eyed pony years ago.

He couldn't cope with hunting (and actually I can't remember if he was huntable before he lost the eye) but apart from that he did everything, and we just treated him as normal