I need help

[vickisminis]

I let my horses out to pasture yesterday and when calling them back in one was very reluctant to come back in. Every time I would call her name she would take about ten steps and stop. After a lot of yelling she got about 10 feet from me and then turned and walked right into the fence.

So long sorry short, we just got back from the vet and they said she was blind in one eye and almost completely blind in the other. It was like it happened over night. The vet said that a horse can adapt to losing their eye and you will never know. They said see would lose what little sight she has now. She is only 5 years old. I am terrified because she will foal within the next two months.

So my question is............ How do I keep her so she will continue to have the quality of life she has now? How will she do with a new foal? Any suggestion and help would greatly help.

I am already have an appointment with an eye specialist but he is not coming to the area until next month. Does not look promising. Thanks, Vicki

 

[Kawgirl]

Yes, blind horses can adapt and live comfortably. Always keep her in an area that she is familiar with, don't change things around so she knows where things are. If she has a another horse that she is good buddies with, keep them together. Often the buddy horse will become the blind horses "eyes" and will help it get around. And always keep her area well maintained and free of hazards!

 

[dannigirl]

I have two older blind mares that live with the rest of the mares. They get angry when I confine them to smaller areas by themselves. They go through the barn with voice commands and lots of patience from the main lot to the pasture. We feed them seperately and watch that the others don't take their feed, but they stay close to each other and follow the herd around the 6 acre pasture. If one gets confused, i just walk out and talk her in. It is slow work, but they were never handled and we only have had them the last few years and they are nearing 20 so they don't want to be touched. Since you care for and about this mare, she will be fine. When she first has her foal, you will want to keep them in a closer space a few days till they bond closely. After that, she will know the foal's smell and sound of hoofprints and whinnies. They will be fine.

 

[muffntuf]

Buddy her up with a friend and put a bell on the friend's halter. That way if she gets out of her comfort zone she can hear the bell of her buddy.

She'll be fine. Hope they figure out what happened so quickly.

 

[Ferin]

My mare, Sierra, was the eyes for her blind pasture buddy at her previous home. Sierra wore a bell at all times in the pasture so that the blind mare would know where she was. Sierra somehow knew that this mare couldn't see. She would whinny to her anytime the mare would get too far away from her. This mare adjusted fine to being blind and has gone on to have foals. If your girl has a good buddy you might want to try the bell on that horse. A bell may also be a good idea to have on the foal so that your mare knows where her baby is. Best of luck to you and your girl.

 

[SSMFarm]

I totally agree with all that has been said. I have a mare that was kicked as a foal in the middle of a mare fight. I was unaware of this until I had owned her a couple of months. She was weaned and went directly to the trainer. She was in training and doing fine then one day started running into panels, buildings, fences, etc. But, she had heart! At that time she still had a little vision in one eye. She actually went on to win several Reserves in area shows. We had a eye specialist to look at her and he said that her cornea had actually detached. She arrived home with little to no vision in either eye in a completely new area with new horses etc. She held her own. Since your horses have been in that pasture and know it she should be fine. We put up new fencing last year and my horses have to come in a large paddock to eat. The first few times I would walk beside of her and command her as to when to turn. But, now it is simply amazing to watch her come down the fenceline and turn at the gate at feed time. It looks very methodical to watch and I sincerely think that she counts her steps to know when to turn. She does fine and does NOT get run over in the fields. She will stand up for herself to anything or anybody. Good Luck to you and your mare. She will find her "set of eyes" in the field. The walking and stopping will stop. I am sure that she is just confused and a bit frightened but as time goes she will settle right in. When folks come to my farm they always comment on my mare and I wait to see if they notice she is blind. NO one ever has.

 

[bevann]

I had an older mare who lost her sight.Her buddies took care of her.She was in a familiar pasture with several other mares.I showed her where the water was and her pasture buddies made sure she came in with them at night or during a storm.It was amazing to watch them as they took care of her.Sometimes we don't give them enough credit for things they can do.Put a bell on her foal so she will know where it is.good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Leeana]

I had a mare injure her eye a few weeks ago, went out to the pasture the next morning and she had a catarc covering the left eye, not a thing she could have poked it on so im just guessing one of the other mares gave her one good kick in the right spot. Antibiotic creme ...the catarac cleared up but she is still blind in the one eye. She is out in the pasture now, kept her up in the barn for a week or so but you could not even tell anythingnow just looking at her. They really could hurt them selves in a padded stall.

 

[mylilgirls]

I agree with everyone two. My rescue pony is the one who got me started. She is blind / has very little sight. Put a bell on her foal, What we did for our pony is, put up wood fence this way she can see her area, if she can see just a tiny bit a board looks larger, and more for the wiskers to touch & sence. when you are around her all ways talk, she may kick out of fear if you come up on her..... just because she cant see or cant see well and evrything is now new to her in a different way. She will depend on her ears. We use red buckets for water & keep them in the same spot.

Good luck - she should do well and still live a happy life,

 

[backwoodsnanny]

As everyone or most everyone knows we had a foal born blind going on three years ago and though many said to put her down we went a different route because that was the only thing wrong with her. At first we put a bell on her mom but it soon became evident she didnt need it her mom became her eyes. It was'/ is amazing what Helen is capable of she and her mom went to a forever wonderful home last fall and they are doing great. They have four adoring children who faun over them and groom and braid and take care of them. Helen and her mom have their own little barn and are living a life of leisure. I really believe if it werent against the rules Helen could be shown she is perfect other than that she has no eyes. Her lids are sealed shut. The kids stage their own horse shows and Helen of course always beats her mother. You will learn so much from your mare about the herd she is with and how they will take care of her and how well she will do with her baby. You didnt say if she was a maiden or not but if so i would be extra careful the first few days so that the foal doesnt scare her as circling is a defense mechanism for blind horses and she might injure the foal if she gets scared. Speak to her or whistle and shewill be fine. Helen has her own whistle and knows it as well as her name. She will do just fine with a little care. You do have to remove hazards from her paddock area we always made sure there were no holes even small ones because she couldnt see if they were there and could injure herself. She will quickly find water and food. I was warned if we put them with the herd to be sure to make sure they got enough to eat as they lose status in the herd. Some will continue to let them eat and some will try to drive her off but it really does pay to be involved with a blind horse and realize how very resourceful they are. Helen gave us many blessings and lessons and is doing the same for her new family and anyone else who has seen her.

Nita

 

[Allure Ranch]

[SIZE=12pt]I have a friend of mine who's mare is blind and when she foals they put a tiny bell on the foal so the mare will be able to distinguish where the foal is at all times when up and about. They also keep the mare contained with a smaller paddock and keep everything consistant for her so that she has the ability to be aware of her surroundings within that area. [/SIZE]

I've personally watched her get around within her area without any difficulty. The only time she seems to get stressed is during thunder storms and then they place her in her stall in the barn to help calm her. Otherwise, she just fine.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

I would just like to add that you dont want to put her in too small of an area but a smaller one will be easier for her to memorize but just make sure that she has plenty of room to avoid stepping on the foal when it gets here. All of the advise you have already is great I just wanted to add

 

[~Lisa~]

We have a mare here who like yours is not totally blind but headed that direction. She foaled in Nov due to a accidental breeding. I was very concerned about how she would do but she has managed just fine. Before foaling I kept her in the stall she would foal out in. I keep her with the herd and always have with the exception of 1 week just after foaling. She is able to tell if anything is happening with the herd around her. She does quite well finding and taking care of baby. Now that he is old enough to wander around and be naughty she does scream at him a bit more but I think she feels a bit more comfortable knowing he is out with the usual herd?

The biggest problem I have had with her is not so much not finding the foal but more so that she circles like mad. The baby was bothered at first by it but he has managed to make her stop when he needs to nurse and now just goes outside when she decides to circle in the stall.

 

[Kendra]

I work at a vet clinic that does a lot of breeding each spring. We've had a couple blind mares come in with their foals to be rebred. They did fine, even in the new environment. They were kept in a private run, so they didn't have strange horses to worry about, and the foals had bells tied in their tails so their momma could always find them.

Did the vets say what happened to her eyes? My gelding was suddenly blind once, but with treatment to dilate his pupils and time to allow the amino acids to clear, his vision came back. Has she been seen by an opthalmologist?

Good luck with her, I hope she adapts quickly.

 

[Kendra]

double post

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I owned a blind pony mare for a few years, until I gave her to her forever home (she lives in the lap of luxury!). I would always walk the fence line with her before turning her loose in a new area. Horses are very smart and can memorize terrain by the way it feels on their feet. I would walk her along the fence line and stop every few feet and say "Fence" and push her nose until she touched the fence. After doing this three times, she was reaching out her nose on her own to touch it with her nose when I said "fence." She knew where things were well enough to run with the other horses, and never hit the fence, no one could tell she was blind until they got up close and saw her eyes looked a little funny. I also never touched her anywhere without first saying "touch" out loud, it just seemed like a courtesy to her since she couldn't see me approaching, and I would also talk when I was moving around her so she wouldn't mistake me for another horse. I learned that after one time she kicked me at the hay feeder because she thought I was another horse coming up to her spot. Her policy was kick first, so she always had plenty of food! She was a sweet mare, sometimes I'm still sad I gave her up, but I keep in touch with her new owner and she is doing great!

Best wishes, your mare will adjust and do just fine, I'm sure!

 

[Floridachick]

I would be more concerned with the reason for the blindness not the actually blindness its self. We sadly had to put our mare down from a Brain tumor and she had gone "blind" overnight. It was swelling on the optic nerve. I am not saying that is your problem, just that I would be concerned to find the cause. Have they tried Dex? What are their reasons? goodluck

 

[Charley]

Here is a website that should help you out.

blindhorses.org Info

And a video of the ranch

 

[love_casper]

All good advice. I have a mare that lost an eye when she was very young. She's been used as a broodmare since, just fine. I have her trained with voice commands - her name, back, left, right, step up, and step down - in the event that when she gets older something happens to that other eye.

It's a mostly normal lifestyle. They adapt quite quickly, I find it's actually more difficult for us to learn how to work with them than it is for them to live with it. Example, I'm not typically a very vocal person around my horses, mostly body language. My other horses see me coming and all come up for pets. And my half blind girl does too, when she sees me. But I have accidentially snuck up on her blind side a couple times and scared her. And I have to be extra cautious about the stall doors. I have left the one across from her stall open a few times on accident and she has bonked into it. Just this morning I was opening one of the stalls from the inside and flung it open, saw she was there but forgot about her blind side and it hit her. So I would assume with a completely blind horse you'd just have to be careful about open doors or misplaced buckets or things that although she's used to she won't expect to be in her way.

Also for vet/farrier work, I have to be extra careful that she gets to know them before they start trying to work. It's uncomfortable enough to have a strange person around you when you can't see them, let alone jabbing you with sharp things or making you stand on three legs.

Good luck with your girl, I'm sure she'll be just fine.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I do not think I would deliberately breed, or allow to be bred, a blind mare.

I realise this was not the case of the OP, BTW, just saying, in this day and age there really is no need to do this, or to encourage it.

I have dealt with blind children with learning difficulties, and we used to put different textured floor coverings on different places, I did suggest this once before when this question came up, and I believe it worked out well.

Thus you might put carpet in the doorway, perhaps AstroTurf in the doorway to the stall, bubble wrap (industrial strength) on the gateposts, etc.

I also suggested putting different textures on posts in different places, water trough, doorway etc.

And the bell on the foal works really well, that one is tried and tested!!

You could also try small bells tied on twine just before the fence itself, so she rings the bells by nudging the twin, or even the chimes off a wind chime, anything that makes a soft noise.

Horses do adapt really well to blindness but as has been said I would be looking hard at it's cause, all may not yet be lost!!