What could you do with a miniature with one eye?

[Betsy]

I was wondering what could you do with a miniature with one eye?

you couldn't show him could you or would they even allow that?

 

[BSharpRanch]

I don't know about sgowing, but if the horse has a great attitude, there is no limit to what it could learn to do. There was a story of a big horse who was totally blind that learned to do all kinds of things while being ridden!

 

[MountainWoman]

I have a horse with limited vision in one eye and she is fantastic. She gets out and hikes with me and is great company and is an extremely gentle, friendly mare.

 

[Riverrose28]

I ddon't have any new rule books, but seems to me they changed the rule, that a horse that is blind in one eye can now show. I have three all are blind in their left eye. My 22 yr. old brood mare had a chicken peck her in her left eye, and now it has a caterack. One broodmare was kicked by her colt in her left eye, we thought she would lose it, but after extensive vet care that included surgery she still has her eye and limited vision in it. We bought a show colt that was blind in his eye, breeder neglected to tell us, so now he is a gelding and was never shown. I used to ride a paint mare that was in a trailer accident by previous owner, she was a judged ride champion, I never knew she was totally bling till one trail ride and she almost backed into the creek. Vet said she couldn't see at all, but she trusted me enough to let me ride her and responded very well to voice commands, such as up, down to lift her legs to get in the trailer, etc.

 

[Betsy]

• what if the one eye was removed?

 

[amysue]

The possibilities are endless as long as the horse can cope with the limited sight. Many open shows will welcome your horse and I believe with a doctors note you can show the rated circuit as long as the eye was lost in an injury and not genetic. Check the rule book to be sure. You can teach the horse to do anything a two eyed horse can do if he can manage. My friend has a completely blind mare that she rides in the fields. She just tells her when to stop and when to pick up her feet. Good luck the skys the limit.

 

[Minimor]

Makes no difference to the horse if he has had obe eye removed or is simply blind in that eye. Some handle loss of vision better than others. You also have to be more careful about approaching the horse--speak so he knows you are approaching--it's not fair to approach the blind side silently as you might with a horse with normal vision.

As far as showing, AMHR allows it as long as you have a vet certificate stating that the loss of vision/loss of eye is the result of an injury. If the problem is something other than an injury the horse cannot show.

 

[eagles ring farm]

We have a filly who through an accident has lost the vision in her left eye. Vet said no limits as to what she can do halter, even being trained to drive although vet said with blinders on she would probably tend to travel with her head tilted a bit . She is 7 mos old the accident (just hay caught the wrong way in her eye vet thinks) happened 3 mos ago she carries on and runs in and out all our multiple pastures just as good and fast as our other foals. vet said they can see a 75% radius from each eye. You would never know she has no vision in 1 eye as her eye looks normal.

 

[Performancemini]

We showed a little 39" pony in the open shows and county fairs for years. Our competition in the fairs were stiff; a number being very competitive show ponies. He was blind in one eye, just showing a little yellow/blue-gray color in some of the brown areas. It was due to an injury. We actually competed in halter classes and driving. He was very successful. He traveled true and with no head tilt. He was a very trusting and confident pony. We did a lot of trail driving with him as there was no arena where we boarded and the state equestrian trails where just up the road a mile from the farm (the road was the entrance to the trails, so mainly only truck/trailer traffic and he was fine with that too). We exposed him to a lot and he was good with it all. He did parades and we even drove him through some subdivisions and across a few busy roads. We nicknamed him "SuperPony". LOL!

 

[Carolyn R]

Being blind or having the eye removed, either way, it is six in one hand, half a dozen in the other, they equate equally. If they are permitted in shows, which I absolutely think should be permitted if it was due to injury, then kudos to the registries. The biggest downfall to a horse with one eye is their owners pitying them and placing limitations on them, I know, I own riding mare with one eye.

It is a horse by horse basis. There are fully sighted horses that scatter every which direction with a slight breeze, and there are horses with limited sight that are physco and others that are amazingly calm. While I was devistated when my gypsy vanner mare lost her eye, so much so, it took me months to even mention it on this forum, she is amazing. The trainer was awesome, the horse is amazingly calm, one of the best riding horses I have owned. My biggest mistake was pittying her and getting into the habit of allowing her to walk all over me. Once I got over that road block, it was smooth sailing. So, to answer your question, the only activities I would be cautious of, at least until you are very familiar with the horse, is driving and jumping.Only because of the added danger of the injury with the cart parts, and depth perception with the jumping, but then again there are one eyed jumpers out there too. Otherwise, the limits are endless.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Rabbits father lost an eye to a barbed wire fence when he was 12, I just combed his forelock over that side and carried on!! When driving him he did need blinkers- without them he pulled one sided and we went in gentle curves but when I added them he went straight.

 

[Lewella]

Go online to the AMHA website and in a recent issue of their magazine there is an article about a little rescue mini here in Minnesota who is showing who has had one eye removed. The article is writing by her teenage owner and relates all the different things that Aimee and Lulu have done together including showmanship, jumper, hunter, obstacle, and driving.