Progressive Blindness in one eye...help

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BellaBoos

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My dressage mare has been diagnosed with progressive blindness in one eye (off side) due to a previous eye trauma. The vet has said it could take up to 5 years for her to go completely blind but she has blurred vision and is extremely spooky. He has advised me not to ride her as he doesn't feel it is safe and to seek a home for her as a brood mare due to her great breeding. At the moment I am just keeping her in a routine leading her to and from the field talking to her constantly, and building on the trust we already have. She is still very spooky even though nothing on her route changes and this morning she had bumped her face in the stable during the night. I am devastated but obviously want to do whats best for her. Does anyone have experience of this? Is this really the end of our competitive career? I have also been told if I hack her and she causes an accident the insurance won't pay as I know she has an eye problem and is spooky??? Most people I have spoken to have only experience of a horse already blind in one eye, not one that is going slowly blind. It appears it would be easier to cope with if she were fully blind. Removing her eye is not an option, this has already been discussed with two different vets. Advice please?
 
Hmmm... I've seen horses that have lost sight in one eye, i.e. eyes were removed or so, and they were still being ridden after a bit of training (de-sensitizing).

Haven't seen your horse being spooky, so can't tell, but about 75% of vets I've encountered in this country are very, very risk-averse and on the pessimistic side, I have to say.
 
No experience with progressive blindness but we had a pony that got a tumour in her eye & lost her sight. Daughter still rode her - daughter was 6, pony was 13 - infact she still jumped her competitively & did mounted games & pc. We just altered the way we handled her ie, did everything from her offside (it was her left eye she lost) so as not to spook her but she soon adjusted & was back to her normal self in no time xx
 
Just to add, we didn't remove her eye either, it just kind of shrunk away into the socket. Some people complained about her looks when we were at shows but I just told them not to look at her then!! The vet said removal would only be for cosmetic purposes so we didn't feel the news to put her through that xx
 
My old mare had cararacts and was slowly losing her sight, she got to the point that she was bumping herself in the stable at night. I happened to have some of those solar powered garden lights that stick in the ground and there was also a spare tie ring in the stable near to her haynet.

I'm pretty sure that it didn't throw out enough light for her to see her way round but it did seem to give her a reference point and the bumping stopped,... except when the battery went down.

The lights I used had batteries that could be removed and charged up indoors, with the lack of sunshine at the moment or come to think of it anywhere in the UK you'd be pushed to re charge them outside.
 
BellaBoos said:
My dressage mare has been diagnosed with progressive blindness in one eye (off side) due to a previous eye trauma. The vet has said it could take up to 5 years for her to go completely blind but she has blurred vision and is extremely spooky. He has advised me not to ride her as he doesn't feel it is safe and to seek a home for her as a brood mare due to her great breeding. At the moment I am just keeping her in a routine leading her to and from the field talking to her constantly, and building on the trust we already have. She is still very spooky even though nothing on her route changes and this morning she had bumped her face in the stable during the night. I am devastated but obviously want to do whats best for her. Does anyone have experience of this? Is this really the end of our competitive career? I have also been told if I hack her and she causes an accident the insurance won't pay as I know she has an eye problem and is spooky??? Most people I have spoken to have only experience of a horse already blind in one eye, not one that is going slowly blind. It appears it would be easier to cope with if she were fully blind. Removing her eye is not an option, this has already been discussed with two different vets. Advice please?
Click to expand...

I have allot of experience with this subject. Have you thought about having either 1 or 2 leather blinkers sewn to her noseband?? This way it will protect her eye(from sticky out objects if she cant see clear) and also she will be less spooky.



Its important you don't trim her whiskers. She will need them to stop herself bumping into things



This is a cheaper option
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quality-S...Horse_Wear_Equipment&var=&hash=item1c28e5cb3f

My first mare through cataracts and moon-blindess ended up with only about 20% vision in one eye and none in the other. She never really bumped herself.


My mare trusted me 100% when leading. If she ever had to walk over something I would either walk her up to it till she lightly touched it with her canon bone or foot,or she had to step up over pavement or yard step. I trained her to lift leg up when I said "hup".

I still hacked her out and galloped her was just very careful on uneven ground. To ride her you would not think she was per blind. As she trusted me fully when I had a good contact on her mouth she changed into this steam train who wanted to gallop every time she felt grass. lol

Personally I would go with the blinkers made a huge difference to my mare.
 
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Thanks for all your responses. We have now worked out she is worse on dull days and not so bad in bright light. It's really just a matter of how safe or unsafe she is going to be. She trusts me I know that, but she's a worrier and a bit sharp anyway. We have also noticed she seems a bit "lost" in the field and is relying on her stable mate a lot more and wants to come in when he is fetched in whereas before she didn't give a monkeys.
I can't compete her in blinkers that is my main problem. I am considering loaning her to a good friend as a brood mare until she is fully blind and then decide from there.
The vet is adamant the eye does not need removing and I've had a second opinion. Basically saying it's a trauma and not cancerous or infected etc... Told me to get another horse (I have a youngster just broken) rather than end up in a wheelchair! Very plain speaking.
 
Hi there!. I had a horse who used to be a harness racer and the sukey flipped over and caused damage to the eye socket before i brought him. When u stood back u could see the lines from where the harness had gone tight. My parents brought him for me when i was 14 and he was diaganosed with cataract in is near side eye not long after.

As said above he went blind slowly over 8years! and his eye sunk into the socked due the muscle/tedons around the eye not being used and i have servals vets over the years check it and none of htem wanted to remove it as was causeing any problems just got th odd infection and i would bath it everyother other day with a cold tea bag and that seemed to help.

He was very spooky at first and took a long time to settle and always had the odd spook but over time and changing the way we handled him he trusted me and even went on part loan in the end.

Do u lead her from the side she is blind in? maybe put foam padding on door frames around tie rings and anything she can bang her head for a while? Do u know how much she has. I was told it was like looking though a frosted bathroom mirror and the sun going down?
You might have to go back to basics for a while with her while she gets used ti loosing her sight and regain her trust. If she was mine i would ride for a while and she if she settles or if being a brood mare is the best thing for her.
Overall i would give her understanding and time

Feel free to Pm if u want any more information!
 
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