Blindness :,(

[MysticOakRanch]

I have two here. One developed horrific cataracts at an early age - he was 8 when diagnosed. At that point, I did contact a specialist and was told there is really nothing we can do except… Remove the lens cap - which means the horse’s eye must be protected at all times, risk of infection very high, blah, blah, blah. I rode him for about a year after that, but he just got spookier and spookier. I tried riding him with “blinkers”, but finally gave up and retired him. He has partial vision, and is out in the back pasture with a companion rescue horse that has foundered multiple times. They are best friends and have a happy life.

Second horse is not mine, she just boards here. Uveitis and is about 98% blind - has very limited vision in one eye. Owner did continue to ride her for a while - she is a very trusting mare, and very smart. But eventually retired her. She functions fine - anytime I need to mover her, I walk the pasture fence with her, walk her to the water, and she does fine. I try not to move her too often. I got her a goat companion about two years ago - they are BEST friends. Every once in a while, she runs into something - she gets more then her share of scrapes on her head, but all in all, she functions quite well.

I don’t know if either of these stories helps you or not - neither horse is a riding horse anymore, but they both live happy lives.

[Huntertwo]

[QUOTE=zpiper;8650839]
Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry you had to go through that. I do believe in not ever letting an animal suffer - and constant fear imo is suffering. I am hopeful that his “good eye” stays good at least long enough for us to have some more quality days together. I actually rode him today - with helmet/in ring! He was wonderful…until the wind started whipping and nasty crows starting squawking. He was nervous but did very well considering.[/QUOTE]

Just to clarify, it is only his left eye?

My 17 yr old POA mare developed Uveitis years ago…To make a long story short, despite making many, many visits up to Tuft’s and several surgeries (Cyclosporine Implant), she is completely blind.

One eye was removed several years ago and last spring, her remaining eye was removed.

We are trail riders, and when she was first diagnosed, I started teaching her voice commands while trail riding, such as “Up” “Down” “Easy”, etc.

I was advised to keep her as a “Pasture Pet”, but I knew she’d be miserable. She loves the trails!

Today, we trail ride all the time. Albeit, not as difficult terrain. She trusts me, and will cross water without a fuss. Dogs, Deer, Turkey, not a problem. We even Canter in the arena!!!

Since you and Zipper also have that special bond, I’d recommend doing the same. Honestly, our bond got even deeper. Horses don’t have the woe is me attitude.

Since he is blind in his left eye, he depends on you to keep him safe. Give him a wide berth on the left when entering his stall, entering and exiting the barn, turnout, etc. You don’t want him to catch his hip, or bump his head, as you want him to maintain his trust in you.

Keep his life normal as possible. Although, you know him best and what is his comfort zone.

I rode my mare within 3 weeks of her becoming totally blind. People at my boarding stable cannot believe that she is blind.

You may want to invest in a Uveitis type of mask instead of a normal fly mask. Much more UV Ray protection, thus, the eye or eyes will be much more comfortable.

Good luck! You’ll be amazed what adaptable creatures they are…

[zpiper]

[QUOTE=Blumeroo;8655012]
I’m so sorry for what you are going through zpiper. I have gone though the loss of vision with my mare as well.

Long story short…she poked her eye years ago out in her pasture. Small scratch on the cornea that was treated and was fine for many years. Eventually, that same eye was causing some problems and I had several vets and opthalmologists look at it, and they couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was happening, except that she was losing her vision. She was roughly 14 when this started. She was spooky and unsure for about a year. It was a rough year but we go through it.

I found that doing a lot of ground work again, taught her to trust me fully and how adjust to her new field of vision. Eventually she adjusted and now she’s 19. We do trail riding, small jumps for fun, cowboy challenge etc… She’s pretty much a normal horse now except she does turn her head to check things out with her good eye.

I’ve been lucky in that her eye does not seem to cause her any pain or discomfort, so I haven’t had to do an enucleation.

My advice is to take everything day by day and be a good leader for your guy. Horses are amazing creatures! :)[/QUOTE]

Wow! Thank you soooo much! That was very encouraging. We’ve done a lot of Natural horsemanship over the years-mainly Parelli. It’s really helped him trust me during the stress of his injuries. He’s a good boy and definitely wants to please. I’ll just need to go back to some basics and adapt some of the body language cues with more vocal cues. He’s very willing to please and of a calm nature so hopefully we can progress to where he regains confidence.

[Beentheredonethat]

What Huntertwo said.

Get a good diagnosis. But blindness is the “best” lameness you’ll have. Look at my profile picture. He was probably 18/20 there and almost 100% blind.

I discovered my Appy was about 80% blind at 16 and had no clue. The only reason I had the vet look at him was he was there and he had just walked right into a tumbleweed the other day. I took him to Davis and did everything needed. He had non-symptomatic uveitis. I didn’t change anything. I still trail rode him, did dressage, and jumped. He was mostly blind in the right eye, so no right turns into jumps. (That explained the issue with that.) I rode him and kids took lessons on him.

Over the years he lost all of his sight and was completely blind, probably 21 or 22. About 25 his eyes finally looked like he was, getting white and smaller, but before that you couldn’t tell. (By that time, it was legal to show dressage blind.) He lived in a pasture and used his buddies as seeing eye dogs. On the trail, he learned “up, over, and easy” to deal with obstacles, and would gallop dead out, trusting me to steer him. He continued going up the levels in dressage blind, doing I-1 until he died at 31. He was a great school horse because you had to tell him exactly what to do.

They really can do very well. An equine companion is helpful. Just don’t lunge them–they get dizzy and fall down. It sounds like he has the personality to be just fine. They like being ridden because they can trust you and have more freedom to move.

[zpiper]

[QUOTE=Huntertwo;8655773]
Just to clarify, it is only his left eye?

My 17 yr old POA mare developed Uveitis years ago…To make a long story short, despite making many, many visits up to Tuft’s and several surgeries (Cyclosporine Implant), she is completely blind.

One eye was removed several years ago and last spring, her remaining eye was removed.

We are trail riders, and when she was first diagnosed, I started teaching her voice commands while trail riding, such as “Up” “Down” “Easy”, etc.

I was advised to keep her as a “Pasture Pet”, but I knew she’d be miserable. She loves the trails!

Today, we trail ride all the time. Albeit, not as difficult terrain. She trusts me, and will cross water without a fuss. Dogs, Deer, Turkey, not a problem. We even Canter in the arena!!!

Since you and Zipper also have that special bond, I’d recommend doing the same. Honestly, our bond got even deeper. Horses don’t have the woe is me attitude.

Since he is blind in his left eye, he depends on you to keep him safe. Give him a wide berth on the left when entering his stall, entering and exiting the barn, turnout, etc. You don’t want him to catch his hip, or bump his head, as you want him to maintain his trust in you.

Keep his life normal as possible. Although, you know him best and what is his comfort zone.

I rode my mare within 3 weeks of her becoming totally blind. People at my boarding stable cannot believe that she is blind.

You may want to invest in a Uveitis type of mask instead of a normal fly mask. Much more UV Ray protection, thus, the eye or eyes will be much more comfortable.

Good luck! You’ll be amazed what adaptable creatures they are…[/QUOTE]

THANK YOU! Question: I’ve been reading all I can on the subject but haven’t found anything about extra light sensitivity…with cataracts is that the case? I’ve been letting him graze without his fly mask.

[zpiper]

Thank you!!! This is all encouraging news:) I noticed when I rode him the other day that he was much more at ease while I was on his back than he was once I dismounted. He’s always had the most awesome ground manners. I used to say I could walk him through a china shop and he wouldn’t break a thing…he would always stay exactly by my right side, never rushed, let me choose the pace, direction, etc…staying just the same distance to my side w/ no pressure on the lead line…it’s delightful and made all the therapy hand walking we did during his tendon recoveries actually enjoyable. He even grazes on command! It was just in the past few weeks I noticed him rushing ahead a bit or lagging directly behind me so I think he’s trying to find his comfort zone. It makes sense to me that I would continue to lead him as I have his entire life…on his left bc then I can be his left eye but if he wants to change that up, I don’t mind. I just prefer not to be directly in front of him in case he spooks as Im not sure he sees directly in front of him and I’m not a fan of getting run over. We’ve started back reviewing some of Parelli’s 7 games. He’s really enjoying the “friendly game” I can feel his whole body relax. I’m at a busy barn and have little control over the traffic, tractors, noisy visitors, etc. and may consider moving his stall to a less congested area. I’d also like to have more turnout time as that is when he is definitely the most content. I’ll give him some time to adjust to this first though before I make any big change ups. I have another vet coming next week and will have a more thorough exam of the good eye as if I do make any changes to his environment, i’d want to do it while he still has good vision in one eye.