question about blind horses

[Ashley]

We recently aquired a blind horse. Well blind in one eye. Her eye is all white and much smaller then her healthy eye. Will this eye continue to shrink? Will I need to eventually have it removed? Or is where its at now as bad as it will get?

 

[muffntuf]

Depends on how old she is, what actually happened to her. Have you had your vet look at it yet? The vet would probably be better at advising.

 

[JAX]

Had a mare with one "dead" eye. I was told it should be removed by one vet and he would charge me $800. The next vet said $500 but that if she didn't show any problems with it that she didn't have to have it taken out. Two to three times a year possibly due to dust or dirt blowing around or maybe allergies she would get some nasty drainage and i would have to clean it up real good for a couple days to a week. Each time i thought "oh no here we go", but this lasted like this until I finally put her down at the old age of 33, her eye was perfectly managable the way it was. Hopefully your girls eye will be as easy as this.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

The eye is positioned quite close to the brain and the optic nerve creates a short tract for infections to follow. If something bad happened then it could be quite bad.

With that being said, I have never seen a complication to a damaged eye either major or minor. Horses seem to get along pretty well.

I don't mean for this to be an encouragement to not remove the eye, but if that's not financially possible, then I would presume things will go along pretty well.

Dr. Taylor

 

[LindaL]

I have owned a big horse and now a Mini with eye injuries that resulted in damage/blindness in that eye. Both kept their eye and while it shrank to almost nothing, I have never had to have either removed. They drain naturally and while sometimes looks "goopy", has never gotten infected or needed any veterinary care. Just naturally "self-cleansing" of any dirt, dust, etc.

Here is a pic of Seq's eye...I don't know how long she has been blind in this eye (was like this when I bought her) and she is 16 yrs old now, but she does not let it affect her at all. She runs and plays just like everyone else and is the boss mare in her field!

 

[RescueMini]

I also have a mini mare with an injured eye. She was a rescue and was found in a half collapsed metal building. She must have cut her eye on a shard. When the rescue found her they tried to clear up her eye, but it became infected and 'dead', and had to be removed. This was her right eye and does not affect her at all. She's been blind in that eye now for around four years, and most people don't even notice that she is missing one. She jumps, is started in driving, and is an awesome obstacle horse. I'm not sure how to attach pictures on an iPad, so I will have to upload some from my computer. I know that some vets put a 'marble' in, to make it look like an eye is still there, but hers is just neatly stitched together.

 

[Furlow]

I have a mare with moon blindness in both eyes. She has no problem running with the herd. She has had four or five babies and is a very good mother. She bumps into things if she is in a new environment until she learns her way around.

 

[Ashley]

Shes not very old, I would have to look at the paper to be sure but I am guessing around 5.

The vet has looked at her and even tested it. Several horses were having eye issues and it was determined to be from animal urine in the water that they were drinking (the pasture she was in had a stream through it).

The mare doesnt seem to let it bother her, but she is with horses she knows. This is a mare that I had as a foal but then sold her later then got her back when she could no longer be used because of the blindness.

She will be Miss Mya's riding pony for now (yes she is broke, very well and it hasnt impacted her in that area).

Also to add, she just went blind this year.

 

[Suzie]

I have 2 horses that are blind in one eye. One came to me that way and one developed moon blindness here and went blind in one eye.

The one that came to me that way was blind from an injury as a foal. Has never bothered her one bit. The other one did have her eye shrink in the socket as she recovered from her uveitis bout. Her eye drained some in the summer for a while. I kept her in a fly mask to keep away flies which irritated it. Blind horses do not blink that eye as much as necessary which leaves them as prime targets for insects. I also put her on aspirin for control of the inflammation (which got her off injectable steroids). It worked miracles for her. Her eye stopped draining and the volume of the eye began to increase. I did call and ask about enucleation of the eye (removal) and was told prices were $1200 to $1500. I am glad I waited. Although she is blind in that eye now, cosmetically, you can't tell she has anything wrong. She has been off aspirin now for several months and her eye has never flared back up. Once the volume of the globe began to increase, her draining and exposure issues went away also. You can get apple flavored aspirin online and you can calculate the dose (for my small mini about 3/4 teaspoon a day). You can consult your vet about it. Mine told me about the only thing aspirin is good for in horses is uveitis issues for the eye.

Hope this helps you decide on what is best for you.

 

[Carolyn R]

While I can't answer about whether her eye should be removed, I can say two things on the matter from my own experience.......

One, having the eye removed and stitched shut makes it a lot less intiimidating to to onlookers and owners alike.

Susie, the price you were given is actually cheap compared to what the cost was at Penn Vet here in PA, $2500 for a standing procedure and $5000 for completely sedating and doing it laying down (full size horse).

The second thing, as long as the horse has a good demeanor, there is nothing they can not do, even with one eye. Above all else, as hard as it is, don't pity them or make excuses for their behavior, they see way more than we give them credit for. My one eyed gypsy vanner can spot a deer in thick brush/wooded area at 75+ yards before I even have a clue it is there. There is not much info on horses with one eye having a purpose, trust me, after my girls accident, I scoured the net desperately looking for any encouraging stories I could find. I was devestated. There was insight like "why would you want a one eyed horse" or " they are spooky and you are asking to get injured" and other completely bogus information. The truth is, in a day and age of people treating animals like throwaways, ESP. Those that may have suffered something like the injury mentioned, people may be passing up an animal that is a real gem. They are capable of so much more than we may be giving them credit for.

I did want to ad, having a local vet do the procedure under sedation and a hefty nerve block would likely run much less than a equine hospital. Since my girl was insured, my vet said why mess around, take her to an expert and have them do it.

 

[chandab]

While I don't doubt it, as everything for horses costs more, but the prices quoted for enucleation on a horse just floors me.

I'm sure there are a few differences anatomically, but it only cost us a couple hundred (tops) a few years ago to have a cow's eye removed, she was a Hereford cross with the start of cancer eye, it was painful; so we tried the enucleation, and she went on to raise a couple more calves for us without issue.

 

[Riverrose28]

I currently have three min's that are blind in the left eye. Only one has an eye that is shrinking, and my vet said to leave it alone for now, as it is not bothering him, all are just fine, and I treat them just like horses with two eyes.

Now a story, Isn't that what us old timers do best?

Many years ago when I was still young, maybe should have started with once upon a time, We were showing high strung arabs!

One of my horse show friends was showing paints, on her way to a show driving on the beltway, a car that had missed their turn pulled in front of her and slammed on their brakes so they could get over to the exit. she hit this driver in the rear as she couldn't stop her rig and trailer fast enough. Her precious paint horses were thrown forward and several were injured. She had a lovely black & white paint mare in the front that suffered a severe head injury, and fractured her skull. She had a huge lump right in the middle of the head, between her eyes. My friend knew that I had been admiring this mare, and sold her to me as long as I paid the vet bills. Back then it came up to around 1500. This mare was slowly losing her sight in her right eye and I knew this from the get go. Since we were showing arabs in the ring I used this mare that was trained in western pleasure, for trial riding, and by trail riding I mean judged obstacle trail. She excelled, she would look at everything and could be riden on a loose rain. She won many Championships. The last time I took her out she was starting to stumble, she tripped getting into the step up trailer, ticked logs, almost ran into the brush, well you get the idea. When I got her home I called the vet out the next morning. I was riding a totally blind horse, she had done the whole trail ride on nothing but my trust. She is gone now, but great horse. Moral of this story, although they may have a handicap they will do whatt ever you ask if they trust you.

 

[Ashley]

Im not to worried about her potential. she is a great horse, pretty much unflappable. When she decides she doesnt want to give kids rides anymore she just lays down, where as my past ones that I have filtered through have bucked until the kid got off.