Vet query- why blindfold a horse?

[dozzie]

I was talking to someone today who told me about their friends horse who had very suddenly lost co-ordination in his back legs for no obvious reason. I dont know the horse or owner and know no more than what i was told. Horse was taken to the vets. I was told that the vets blindfolded the horse and he started staggering on his front legs. The vets think it is neurological and to do with the spine from the neck down.

I was really wondering why they blindfolded the horse. What could they have been testing for? Can anyone explain this to me?

Im not asking to know what was wrong with the horse as it is not my horse and tbh I dont know all the information, although it would be interesting to know if anyone else had had something similar and what it was. It did sound very distressing for the owner and the horse

 

[Bossanova]

To test whether the horse was relying on its vision for its balance.
Generally a bad sign if it staggers

 

[carthorse]

I'm afraid I can't answer the question but we had a pony fall xc once and the vet blindfolded and asked it to back up.There was nothing wrong with the horse, thank goodness.
Hope your friends horse is ok

 

[Bananarama]

blindfolding? Hmmm that sounds strange. Maybe it was so they wernt distracted? or perhaps so it would do exactly as it was told, ie. will walk forward if it cant see anything ect. Perhaps to stop its eye coordination? Well that was a bit of guessing

 

[Judziah]

I knew a horse that used to be blindfolded to be loaded, she was an angel in the lorry and unloading...but panicked on the ramp. Blindfolding her meant she'd have to trust her handler and just follow, which she always did.

As far as veterinary procedures go, I would assume it would be blocking off sight to check natural balance...if you can see you're lopsided or likely to fall, you can stop yourself...if you can't see, over you go.

At a guess!

 

[dozzie]

So if it staggered it was relying on its vision to balance itself? Is that what you mean? That is possibly how the vets then decided that it must be something from the neck down rather than brain. I must admit I initially thought neck injury as it sounded rather like wobblers.

Sorry it's a bit vague as I only heard it third hand!

 

[kerilli]

yes, ditto what boss said.
i had a new livery horse who behaved very strangely from the start. turned out, when it was examined by my vet, that it had a major neck injury. they sedated it lightly to examine it, it closed its eyes and promptly fell over... it was pts that day.

 

[Llwyncwn]

Testing probably foir Wobblers. If it was very sudden onset, very probably concussion, get them to check.

 

[dozzie]

I honestly dont know them! Just was interested to know why they blindfolded the horse!

I would definitely not go with wobblers though as the horse is 9. Neck injury showing symptoms of wobblers but not true wobblers. But wobblers is compression of the spinal cord in the neck vertebrae, hence why a neck injury could be described as wobblers!