Can a blind horse be driven

[blueprintminis]

O.K. I'm not that stupid, just wanting to get your attention. What if it has normal sight in one eye and very limited sight in the other. Right now it is a 4 month old colt but he has the makings of a great driving prospect. He had a bad eye injury. Lots of hard work and prayer has resulted in saving the eye, but only time will tell how much vision he will have in the eye. Do I cut my losses, geld him, and sell him cheap as a companion animal/4-H project? Or, if it is possible for a horse with loss of vision to safely be driven and shown, I might just hang onto him.

Any suggestions or info from someone with 1st hand experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ruffian]

I know a professional trainer who had a client horse that had completely lost the eye. They put a glass eye in, and he drove him at nationals. I know went top ten or grand or reserve.

Since this is "normal" for the colt, he may be just fine with it.

 

[wildoak]

With normal sight in one eye - and him being young enough to adapt - he should be fine to drive. I've seen big horses as well with sight in one eye who competed and won in various events. I'm getting ready to start a nice 5 yr old mare who had a bad eye infection last year, we think her sight is okay in the affected eye but don't know for sure.

Jan

 

[justanothercowgirl]

I groomed a standardbred racehorse who developed a degenerative disease in one eye and had to have the eye removed. It healed well and after some time off she came back to racing and was never better. An Invitational top race mare before and after! We were careful at first to line her up with her stall door and such thinking her depth perception would be different but she adapted to everything very quickly and was just fine. I would say give him every chance to be what he can be!

Pam

 

[muffntuf]

I show a mare with partial sight in one eye in halter. If you get up close you can tell she had an eye injury (before I got her), but other than that - no problems, have placed as high as Reserve with her. She will be started for driving.

 

[susanminiponygirl]

Interesting topic. We had a tiny colt born on Labor Day and he has Appaloosa Night Blindness. He should be able to see fine during the day, but I notice that he almost seems far-sighted, having to put his head very close to objects to see them. To make matters worse he got an eye infection in one eye and seems to have limited vision in that eye. It will be a waiting game to see how much vision he has as he matures. It sure doesn't slow him down any tho!

 

[Keri]

We had an appaloosa riding mare that lost sight in her one eye due to an injury. We trail rode her and such just fine. As long as the horse is calm and thinks things through, I think you'll be just fine.

 

[MiLo Minis]

According to AMHR rules "complete loss of sight in either eye" is reason for disqualification so according to the rules your horse may not compete in AMHR shows if he can't see out of one of his eyes. According to ADS rules a horse may not compete if there is loss in BOTH eyes so your horse can drive if he has only lost sight in one eye with the ADS. Your fellow has only lost partial sight in one eye so he can compete in both.

I have just recently trained a horse that had an injury as a very young horse and had one eye removed. I wasn't sure how well he would deal with driving as I thought he might be spooky on that side. Surprisingly he gets along great!!! He is actually more spooky on the side that has an eye but not ridiculously so. He has had very little difficulty with driving at all, no more than a fully sighted horse would. The only thing I have noticed is that you must be careful to avoid things on that side as he will accidentally bump into things if you aren't careful. With the blinders on you don't really even notice the eye is missing! Good luck with your boy!

 

[normajeanbaker]

I have a mare here who only has partial vision and has had an awesome show career. I made the decision to retire her after the last show of the year we went to, which was September 27th. She even went Supreme Champion at one show this summer. I've shown her 6 years and to see her perform, you'd never know she was any different then any other horse I bring in the ring. Anyone else who has handled her for me in a class has also never known she was any different. She can not see behind her out of either eye. The benefit...tacking her up to drive at home is simple....no need for blinders

! Out of her right eye, she can not only not see behind her, but what she is able to see is nothing but a blur. Out of her left eye, she can not see behind her and at her last eye exam, had a small cataract forming in that eye as well. Needless to say, in her show harness with blinders, she can only see a very small amount. However, what the mare lacks in vision, she makes up in heart. She WANTS to perform, she knows she's a halter horse and is one of those special show horses who live for the show ring. She jumps, does obstacle(won her final class at her final show in an obstacle class), drives, etc. I've been with her for 6 years, so she trusts me enough that driving her with the blinders on has not been an issue. She has handled the changes in her sight so well that it took us quite awhile to figure out anything was going on. She went undefeated in halter for 3 years, has never pinned lower then 2nd as a driving horse and has been my ultimate show Mini. She's got a heart the size of Texas and she doesn't seeem to understand that she doesn't see like every other horse out there.

Your horse is young. Him having affected vision so early in his life may work to an advantage for you. He wont know any different and you will be suprised at what he's still able to do. If you really like him...give him a chance. You will be suprised how little it'll probably affect him.

Here are links to photo's of my mare at her final show....with limited vision(I have ordered and paid for the photos...just waitng for them to arrive in the mail. All photo's by Michelle Shea)

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage....00031&po=31 Halter

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage....0255&po=255 Liberty

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage....0288&po=288 Jumping

~Jen~

 

[sdmini]

Had a horse some years back that got his eye scratched on a weed, well at least as near as we can figure out. It took a lot of time but the scar tissue did shrink down, did not go away but was reduced. The way it was described to us by the vet was that it would be like looking through dirty glasses.

As long as he has some sight in one eye and normal sight in the other I say you have nothing to lose by waiting and seeing what happens.

 

[blueprintminis]

Thank you everyone who responded and shared their stories. It has given me hope. Also, I am very pleased with the tremendous improvement his eye has shown just this past week. The vet will be back out to re-examine him this next week and hopefully will get a better idea if he has retained any of his vision.

Normajeanbaker - your mare is gorgeous. I especially love the photo of her in the liberty class. What a special mare.

Laura