Anyone Experienced with a White Foal?

[ohmt]

I have not introduced this one yet as I was waiting for the last of my mares to foal so I could post them all at once, but this poor little filly is having a lot of trouble with her eyes. She is completely white except for a little patch of red on her forehead and a small tuft of red forelock. Her eyes are pink rimmed and then of course crystal blue in color. She is 3 or 4 days old now and has been stuck in the barn due to our freezing weather. Today was finally nice and we wanted to let her stretch her legs. It was cloudy at first which gave plenty of time for her eyes to adjust. As it got sunnier, I noticed she would blink constantly and sometimes lose her dam. She seemed so miserable outside. She is back in the barn and I feel so bad for her-she wants to run so bad.

So for those of you with horses with blue eyes that are pink rimmed-will her eyes eventually adjust to the sunlight? Is there anything I can do for her? We have no pastures that are 100% shade. The one she was in had the most and her mother of course only led her around in the sun.

I think I will keep her play time to the evening hours for now, but I'm hoping she can be outside as much as she'd like to soon.

Here is our little 18" tovero filly, O Henrys War Bonnet, aka: Ginger

Sire is our FWF Little Wardance son, Willow Creeks Im 2 Cool 2 Dance

I have about 50 pictures of her and in 90% of them her eyes are closed

 

[chandab]

Fly mask? [if you can find one mini foal sized.] Some tolerate them well, some don't; they do provide nice shade for the eyes. [And, sometimes mom won't like them on the foal.]

I've seen on full-size pintos with lots of white, where they have tatooed dark around the eyes to help with this; but for temporary help, why not hypo-allergenic water-proof mascara (just on the underside, like football players, to cut the glare). Might help, shouldn't hurt; and will wash off.

I have a cremello filly and she seemed to do fine with bright light.

Here she is just a few weeks old (no outside younger pics on the net):

Edited to add: Congratulations! Very cute filly.

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

what a gorgeous filly! love the name!

the best thing i can think of is to try a fly mask that covers the eyes. i'm sure Ozark sells them in foal size and they will do expidited(sp?) shipping if asked.

 

[Jill]

A fly mask sounds like a good idea, if you can find or make one to fit her. Our double dilutes do seem a little light sensitive, but we have so much shade that it's not really been a problem.

Also, I read that it takes horses' eyes about 30 - 60 minutes to fully adjust to a change in light... so if she's come from a darkish stall / barn, out into the light, it might just be that she needs time and if you took the pictures 2hrs later, you wouldn't have noticed her squinting? But, I know you're not aiming just to get non-squinting pictures

She's a pretty girl! Congrats on her

 

[ohmt]

Thank you, Thank you! For some reason a fly mask didn't even cross my mind. I will begin my search for one and in the meantime try some mascara.

 

[chandab]

Thank you, Thank you! For some reason a fly mask didn't even cross my mind. I will begin my search for one and in the meantime try some mascara.

Be sure to share a picture with her "make-up" on, if it works (don't see why it wouldn't but you never know).

And, I was looking and Ozark does have foal size fly masks in one brand (Triple L):

http://www.minitack.com/lllfm.htm

 

[ohmt]

Be sure to share a picture with her "make-up" on, if it works (don't see why it wouldn't but you never know).And, I was looking and Ozark does have foal size fly masks in one brand (Triple L):

http://www.minitack.com/lllfm.htm

Oh you are wonderful, thank you!

I will definitely share her make-up pictures. I'm thinking even if it doesn't work I'll at least have some funny pictures afterward

 

[lucky seven]

She is so pretty, keep us posted

 

[attwoode]

I'd just let her out in open sun for only short periods of time for the next couple of weeks. She will probably become somewhat less sensitve as she gets older.

 

[Helicopter]

What a pretty girl. She almost doesn't look real............like a toy or a statue.

:wub

 

[Minimor]

I agree with attwoode. Don't expect her to stay out in the sun all day or even a half day at a time to start with. I'm not sure that using mascara will help a lot at this point. Her eyes have to adjust to the sunlight and with her being so young that's going to take some time. I thought mascara or tatooing was more to prevent sunburn on the eyelids? The eyes themselves will still be sensitive to the bright light. And as someone who is extremely allergic to mascara, even the hypo-allergenic, waterproof variety I would use it with caution on a young foal. It coule make things worse, not better, for her.

 

[ohmt]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! She will definitely be staying inside for a while except for in the evening when the sun isn't so bright and that will just be for an hour or so. For the mascara I will make sure it does not get on her eye or on the delicate pink lining. I was thinking just a little bit under like the football players do it. I'm not even sure it really works, but I thought it might be worth a try-at least until I get the fly mask to try out.

 

[Sue_C.]

Instead of mascara, just use some black face "goop", that is MADE to be used around horse's faces.

 

[Relic]

We had a mostly white stallion with pink eyeliner and a blue eye and sun was very hard on that one eye for most of his life while he lived here...what l got was called Eye Black at a sports store it comes in a small tube just like lip gloss does but there are 2 types one is kind of glossy which l didn't like because it does run when it gets hot out or the horse is sweaty the other is the dull type and l never found it to run and it always stayed where l applied it...just apply a strip however big you want under the eye about a quarter inch from the eye itself or ring the whole eye. lt's safe for human eyes and lasts about 3/4 days on the horses if not clipped..to remove you need to use soap and water though or just let it fade away it just gets duller till it's gone with no flakes or anything like that. Another thing l use it for is when showing very easy and clean to use for faces and inside tops of ears and for shine just baby gel on top wella no mess and doesn't smear really good for driving horses without the gel..a baby wipe on shaved faces takes it of real nice when done.

 

[supaspot]

wow I love her !!!

Ive used fly masks with horses with blue eyes with great success , one thing is dont forget the sun block on her skin , she will burn easily

 

[rcfarm]

I had a filly almost just like her. See avatar. I had to use a fly mask and some baby suntan lotion on nose area.

She is so cute.

 

[Becky]

I've had quite a few white or mostly white foals. None have had any more eye sensitivity than other foals.

While I think a fly mask is a good idea, be aware that foals in groups are likely to take it off!

 

[Songcatcher]

Can't help you with the eyes, but she is BEAUTIFUL, regardless of what color she is.

 

[Marty]

I don't think it has a thing to do with her color and I wouldn't be all that concerned. All of my foals who are mostly black or bay took a good 3-4 days for their eyes to adjust. I have good light in my barn but even so, going out from the barn into the super bright sunlight would cause them to "get lost" and stray from their mother's side. I'm going through that again right now so I don't let them outside for their first two or three days. Just like it happens to people! I was in the mall and when I opened the door to go outside BANG I was sunblinded there for a moment. You'll be fine.

 

[ohmt]

Thanks everyone for all of your help! I'm hoping she just needs a little extra time to adjust and that's all, but in the mean time we will do everything we can to make sure she can play outside without the sun hurting her eyes. She has been inside for a few days now, and I think the sudden change from barn to outside may have been the main culprit. I've never had any problems with other foals before so it scared me a little. I now have a bunch of different ideas thanks to this wonderful forum so I thank you all once again!