Question about Arab horses that might offend Arab-lovers, BUT...

PapaFrita

PapaFrita

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is a genuine query...
There is a rather sweet 2 yo Arab colt on the yard. He can be very calm and affectionate, and then suddenly very, very spooky. F and I suspect, from his behaviour, that his eyesight might not be all it should be.
So, basically my question is whether Arabs are just like that, or if this could be possible with a very dished face???
His left eye is rather weepy too....
 
In a nutshell Yes it isn't unusual. Perhaps, if he has a very dished face and wide forehead his eyes are set more to the side than with other types which could mean he has a larger than normal blind spot infront of him. Does he spook at things infront more than to the side or back?

I'd get his eye checked, has he been kicked? Run into anything? (My arab went blind with sudden cataracts bought on, the Vet thought, by trauma to the head - he ran into a tree and knocked himself out, the horse, not the Vet)

You haven't got an opthalmascope (sp) tucked into your First Aid box as well have you PF? I got one after the cataract incident and check all my horses eyes so that I will notice any changes.
 
That's Arabs! I wouldn't have them any other way!
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I don't know much about Arabs, but he DOES seem to have a VERY dished face and his eyes are rather bulbous. He seems to spook more from the front, I think, and in his stable much more so.
His owner is an eejit and cheap to boot, so won't do a thing about it, but F and I were wondering...
 
I don't have an arab, but a friend is a big fan, and says they are 'quirky'. They have surprising reactions to some things that are quite different from the way other horses react.

But I think it could be to do with their eyesight/face shape, as people have said above!
 
I have a yearling filly and yes they are spooky. They tend to be extremely alert and have the fight or flight response more than anyother breed I have known. Its just a case of training and getting them used to things from an early age. The weeping eye may be caused by a long forlock. I tend to keep my fillys forlock tied up, away from her eyes, as they get sore from it.
 
Well, my Anglo Arab was the only horse I fell off. She was very good at noticing moving objects in the undergrowth while at full gallop!!! Many a time I would be in the forward seat position in mid air with no horse underneath me!!
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I think it is prob just the fact he is young and it is his breed. I've owned my arab since he was 6 and he was very flighty to begin with. However now that he is nearly 17 he is one of the most bombproof horses on our yard. It just took me a while to convince him that everything wasnt scary and gonna get him. :O)

You may have a point about the dished face and not being able to see as well. Arabs seems to be being bred with more and more dished faces and smaller noses which I personally dont like. My boy is polish so only has a slight dished face and a massive nose. (more like my friend Troggy Welsh Sec D) LOL.
 
we've got a 4 year old gelding on our yard thats got really bad eye sight in his right eye, he had a kick in the head as a yearling.
hes been broken to ride but looks really wierd sometimes (like a bendy bus) his body bends one way and his head the other to compansate for the bad eye.
 
When we found out Ty was blind in one eye I knew deep down this was why he was a loon if you approached him (without talking to him) on the off side!

Try waving your hands gently in front of each eye and see what happens......although you've probably done that.
 
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