Hi all,
I recently-ish acquired a sweet little young haffie mare. I recently learned that they can have a higher risk of eye cancer, and so of course I’m driving myself nuts thinking about what-ifs. I’ve never had a breed more prone to this type of thing before, is there any benefit at all to turning her out with a UV rated fly mask? Is there any other type of preventative measures I should consider taking?
I tried googling it but got some confusing answers.
I’ve seen horses develop this twice. One was a walker mare acquired by a friend - they hid the fact she had cancer (fly mask). He had the eye removed, but the cancer was quite advanced . I believe it has been 2 years now since the surgery and she was getting quite difficult to keep weight on and I suspect that the cancer is back. My vet said the metastasis rate is low, but not impossible given how long her condition was left untreated. If it had been treated earlier, perhaps the outcome would be better.
Another horse was a 9 year old gelding that was for sale. His tumour was much smaller and I debated on taking him as a charity case but I really don’t need a green broke horse with eye cancer. This horse was in a field with absolutely no shade for the last several years.
Definitely limiting sun and uv exposure is important. I would probably genetic test for it as well if you are that concerned. Fly masks are great but I don’t think they are 100 percent effective so I would probably stall or turnout in a shady paddock during the day.
A UV rated mask is never a bad thing.
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