watery eyes

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SOB

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Over the last few days I have noticed my lad has had watery eyes, mainly when coming in from turn out. I have checked for any unclers etc and there is no gunk just clear tears equally in both eyes. Could this be pollen related and what can I do to help?
 
i think it can just be an overactive tear duct too... one of my fillies has a watery eye, the vet checked it, put that bright green dye in it, couldn't see any damage. i think i might get it checked again though, as it's still a bit watery at times.
 
thanks
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Chalkychicken, take enormous care over anything to do with eyes. When you say you've checked for ulcers, did you put the fluoroscene in - the green dye that vets use? Coz corneal ulcers can be impossible to spot without it until they are very far advanced. I doubt if it's pollen related but if it's the same in both eyes it's likely to be an indication of minor damage such as irritation caused by a strong wind, or dust from a strong wind. But there's so much that can go wrong with eyes that I'd strongly recommend watching ned carefully for a day or two and if the condition persists, get the vet out. My horse came to me with chronic conjunctivitis that his previous owners hadn't bothered to clear up in literally years. Within weeks, in one eye it degenerated into an autoimmune disease and after a heartbreaking 6-month battle, Sunny had to have one eye removed. One of the most important things I learnt from this is how easy it is to terminally damage a horse's eye just by putting stuff in it. You stand there with the sharp, pointy end of a tiny tube of ointment a millimetre away from your horse's eye. You pull his eyelid down and you advance the tube as close as you dare so that the ointment goes in. At exactly that moment, the horse jerks and whammo, the end of the tube scrapes a huge zig zag CUT across the cornea. Whatever you were trying to treat has now become a medical emergency. It is best to NOT put anything into a horse's eye but if you have to, wipe around the eye with clean water and a tissue, wash your hands thoroughly, then apply the ointment to your FINGER TIP. Then squish your blunt finger tip into your horse's eye. Even if he jerks, you will cause far, far less damage. Sunny lost his battle because the yard staff stabbed him in the eye with the ointment they were applying to SAVE the eye.
 
Thanks for your reply and I am sorry to hear about your incident and horse
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Yes they have been checked correctly for ulcers. He had an ulcer in his eye before christmas so I have been careful to rule this out. Maybe in my original post when I said I had checked for ulcers I should have been more clear in that I had them checked properly and did not just decide there weren't any.

I was thinking along the lines of something to flush it out with or to stop them being irritated in the first place. I have flushed them with saline this morning and whacked a cold tea bag on them (no laughing please
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) he has his mask on this morning and I will see how they are doing tonight. If they are still watery in 48 hrs I will not hesitate to get the vet out again.
 
the barrier cream has that die in it so you will tell if there are ulcers scratches etc. just put the stuff on cotton wool and wipe over eyes!
 
Thanks for all your responses. I put him in his pen this morning with his mask on... no runny eyes.
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It must be that I have moved his mini prison onto some longer meadow grass..something definitely bothering him.
 
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