Hi I’m new to the forum but I’m looking for information. My App mare has been completely blind for almost six years due to ERU. With each winter she grows less coat and I’ve compensated for that by blanketing her.
The idea has been that her body is no longer triggered by the change in daylight length so she is “out of sync with the season.”
Now, for the first time ever, she grew winter-type hair in June! I’ve clipped her to keep her comfortable but I’m curious why this is happening after six years.
I’m going to test her for Cushings (she is 19 years old) even though neither my vet nor I think that is the problem. My vet has contacted veterinary ophthalmologists and they have not seen an issue with blind horses and coat problems but then, they think perhaps the horses they treat have some vision left and that even some vision is enough to keep them “in sync” with the season.
Anyone else out there with a completely blind horse? Any coat issues? Anything else to do about this hot and stinky winter type coat?
We have a blind Appy-x (ERU caused) that has a laundry list of health issues at the barn (boarder) that includes Cushing’s, past thyroid problems, etc, etc. He pretty much gets clipped every 3-4 weeks starting in May as his thermostat is shot. His coat grows like crazy, the heat and humidity affects his breathing pretty badly; it’s all controllable but it’s not easy on him.
The funky coat is a classic sign of Cushing’s, so worth checking out.
I would suspect Cushing’s disease. Test and treat according to the results.
It’s great that you have kept your mare.
Just invest in a good set of clippers when they are on sale.
Typical of Cushings, but on the other hand, coat growth is triggered by light, or relative exposure to light. As the days shorten, the brain triggers a signal to grow a winter coat. Light increased or decreased is used to affect other animals in ways such as egg laying in hens, growth in veal calves, estrus in various mammals… So the point is that maybe there is something haywire happening in your horse related to her blindness rather than a disease like Equine Metabolic Syndrome.
Let us know what you discover, please?
I had a completely blind Appy by the time he was about 22. He lived to 31. The older he got, the more hairy he got earlier and earlier. I don’t think it had anything to do with the lack of eyesite. It had nothing to do with Cushings–he was just old.
By the time he was 30 I was clipping in August.
My POA is not completing blind but is headed that way. I had this same conversation with my vet because she doesn’t have delayed shedding or not shedding problems, she sheds constantly. More in summer but all year round.
Because she wears a fly mask everyday (comes off at night) I’m convinced it’s from her daylight sensor. The vet said she never thought about it but thinks it could be possible. So much more research needs to be done on ERU. another vet told me they aren’t even really sure what the true causes are.
My one-time thoroughbred show hunter Gus was blind for the last 15 of his 30 years. I never saw any dramatic difference in his coat over the years. He maybe got a little hairier in the winter as an old man. In really inclement weather, we would use a heavy turnout sheet with, as needed, liner, since he would not move around very much to keep himself warm. But I’m in South Central Texas, so winter weather is usually fairly fleeting. 
He certainly never showed any unusual hair patterns.
