Our Horse has lost her eye today

amiacat

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There was a horse at a hunter trial I went to a few years back and that only had one eye, flew round the course with no problems!
 

LankyDoodle

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My husband rides a friend's one-eyed ex-racer, and so long as you don't put a horse on the side he can't see, he is fine and doesn't stress out. No insurance implications like your vet speaks of either.

Sorry to hear about the eye, but sounds like you made the right decision.x
 

brighteyes

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I am very sorry to hear this devastating news, but really, your mare will be fine
smile.gif
She'll adapt quite quickly and feel much better for the op than she has been of late.

I too have known lots of horses from happy hackers through PC ponies, a showjumper of quite a high standard affiliated and a dressage horse, all of which coped perfectly well.

I understand your disappointment and sadness, but you will still have your lovely Poppy and many more wonderful years of fun with her.

Get well soon Poppy! xx
 

DuckToller

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My friend's pony was blind in one eye when she bought him and he coped brilliantly, although we learnt a few lessons when we first handled him, so will pass them on.

He would load better if we approached the ramp left of centre (his blind eye was the left one) so he had a clear view with his right eye. He wouldn't load into the right-hand side of a trailer as obviously he couldn't see enough of the ramp to be confident but we could load him happily from the other side.

He hated being led on his good eye side, so we led him from the right. Guess it was frustrating for him having a large human blocking his only view!

He reared up the first time we took him to a gymkhana, but we hadn't thought, we stood on the far right of the line and he could hear the others charge off, but he couldn't see them at first, just thundering hooves - poor chap! After that we always positioned him so he could always see what was happening to the right, no matter where or what we were doing.

He jumped very well, but didn't like jumping when the light was poor and he needed considerate riding in jump-offs - obviously no silly tight turns as his jockey found out quite quickly.

In the field he paired up with another pony and would often graze with this pony on his blind side, so he felt protected. Has your mare got a best buddy? Keep her with someone she knows as much as possible to start with, hacking out with that person on her blind side perhaps. This little pony did everything and went everywhere, although he did have a slight head tilt which was his way of improving his view! Try to let her stop and turn her head to see things when she needs to, and once she gets used to the change and you build up some trust, she will not need to keep turning her head as much. Obviously not always possible in traffic but you get my drift.

Think you will find that your mare adapts quite quickly, and don't panic if you have a few set-backs - it just takes commonsense and a bit of trial and error to see what she is fine with and what she might need a bit of help with.
 

amandaco2

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i know of a horse with one eye
he was spookier on one one(blind side) but could jump etc perfectly well
ive also known 2 completely blind mares who have been fine living as pasture ornaments for many years.
they adapt well
big hugs it must be devastating but be encoraged there are plenty of horses with one eyes that are ridden just fine
 

SillyMare

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Lots of horses have very productive lives with one eye - Tristram Owers took Briarlands Blackberry around Burghley I believe! Think that horse lost it's eye in the same way as yours when it was a novice.

See if you can see a video of him riding it - he had to set it up really well for jumps on a curving line on the blind side. Otherwise you wouldn't have known it was blind on one side.
 

JACQSZOO

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Geogie has limited vision in his right eye and the only thing I've noticed is out hacking in company he prefers to have the other horse on his "blind" side. Other than that it doesnt affect him at all.
 

blackcob

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My horse is blind in one eye - please feel free to PM me with any specific questions you might have.
smile.gif
It has never, ever, ever affected any aspect of her life, and I say that with hand on heart. It really is not the end of the world. Best of luck to Poppy for a speedy recovery from her surgery.
smile.gif
 

rascal

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Sorry to hear about Poppy, our old man is 25 and lost the sight in one of his eyes, also due to uveitus 6 yrs ago. He hacks out on the chester road with my youngest daughter (im just on the edge of Walsall) and weve had no problem with insurance. He is covered by the pet plan veteran plan. He cant see much with the other eye now but seems happy enough. He went to a show on August bank holiday and was second in the ridden veteran class. We dont jump him, or stable him as he cant see the walls but is happy in his field. He is quite happy to go to unknown places as long as you take it slowly and let him listen to what is going on. He is in no way spooky or i wouldnt let my daughter ride him on a very busy main road. It depends on the horse, most adapt given time.
 
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