Hi, just had one born, super everything, except one eye is not really there.
She is perfectly fine with only one eye, and I am wondering if she is legal to show this way when she is of riding age?
T IA
Yes! We had a one had horse, who lost an eye when her mom kicked her and she was very successful in the hunter ring. We just kept her out of model and conformation classes!
I have had two ponies with one eye. They were just as good as the ponies with two eyes. Maybe a bit more careful!! Go for it. Glad your baby is doing well.
Yes! There’s even an amazing one eyed GP jumper in Europe. Glad baby is well 
When I was a kid there was a one eyed pony who had been fitted for a glass eye for horse shows
Under Equine Canada rules, horses competing in the hunters must be serviceably sound in eye, wind and limb. Under USEF rules, judges are allowed to penalize, but not necessarily eliminate for structural faults, defects and blemishes.
Just because people “have” shown a one-eyed horse in the hunters doesn’t mean they can or should. 
Sometimes, they get missed by judges. Some judges won’t pin them, others will. Depending on the division, sometimes judges look the other way.
A horse riding blind in one eye is seen as an unsoundness, unfortunately, judges really deduct. A gorgeous hunter my barn owns is blind in one eye, making his eye blue, and never wins anything because of it.
Show them in the jumpers! A horse or pony blind in one eye can show in the jumpers without any problems. Of course, you can show in the hunters, they will probably not win though.
[QUOTE=twisted;8760028]
A horse riding blind in one eye is seen as an unsoundness, unfortunately, judges really deduct. A gorgeous hunter my barn owns is blind in one eye, making his eye blue, and never wins anything because of it.
Show them in the jumpers! A horse or pony blind in one eye can show in the jumpers without any problems. Of course, you can show in the hunters, they will probably not win though.[/QUOTE]
One blue eye can just be genetic. It is not necessarily blind.
Thank you for the responses. I am only interested on rhe legal “can”, not in the moral, ethical or any other type of “can”.
Only for hunter ponies, as well.
So I guess the buyer would have to decide on the risk… sounds like some judges won’t penalize, whereas others will.
Thank you.
It is quite common for a horse to have a blue eye totally unrelated to any vision issues. If a horse has a big blaze/apron face that often goes along with blue eyes. How uninformed for a judge to assume that because an eye is blue, it is blind. I guess half the world’s APHA horses are blind?!
[QUOTE=vxf111;8760438]
It is quite common for a horse to have a blue eye totally unrelated to any vision issues. If a horse has a big blaze/apron face that often goes along with blue eyes. How uninformed for a judge to assume that because an eye is blue, it is blind. I guess half the world’s APHA horses are blind?![/QUOTE]
I think what twisted is saying is, due to trauma to the eye, it has turned into a cloudy eye, which is much more noticeable by a judge that something is wrong with the eye.
[QUOTE=vxf111;8760438]
It is quite common for a horse to have a blue eye totally unrelated to any vision issues. If a horse has a big blaze/apron face that often goes along with blue eyes. How uninformed for a judge to assume that because an eye is blue, it is blind. I guess half the world’s APHA horses are blind?![/QUOTE]
It doesn’t even have to be a large white marking. I have a horse in my pasture with a conservative star, stripe, and snip with one blue eye and unimpaired vision.
[QUOTE=Daventry;8760471]
I think what twisted is saying is, due to trauma to the eye, it has turned into a cloudy eye, which is much more noticeable by a judge that something is wrong with the eye. ;)[/QUOTE]
A cloudy eye and blue eye aren’t the same and don’t look the same?!
[QUOTE=Daventry;8760471]
I think what twisted is saying is, due to trauma to the eye, it has turned into a cloudy eye, which is much more noticeable by a judge that something is wrong with the eye. ;)[/QUOTE]
Realistically, would a judge, sitting halfway down an arena, be able to tell what kind of eye the horse has anyway? Unless they are judging a model or conformation class where they come out of said booth and actually approach the horse to look at conformation???
[QUOTE=eclipse;8760803]
Realistically, would a judge, sitting halfway down an arena, be able to tell what kind of eye the horse has anyway? Unless they are judging a model or conformation class where they come out of said booth and actually approach the horse to look at conformation???[/QUOTE]
As an EC Senior and USEF R Hunter judge, and having sat with a lot of judges over the years, the answer is yes. Of course they get missed sometimes, of course they get highly penalized sometimes, of course some judges will look the other way in the lower USEF divisions. Under Equine Canada rules, they are very clear in regards to rules regarding eyesight in the hunters.
Daventry there is a very competitive hunter horse showing in the A division here in Ontario that only has one eye. The “hollow” in the eye socket is quite prominent. A Judge would be hard not to miss that. Nice horse…seems to pin OK.
The EC rule is actually “serviceably sound” in eye, wind and limb, which I suppose can leave things somewhat up to interpretation on the judge’s part?
USEF rated Pony Hunters jog and Model so the judge is likely to notice.
I know, and have ridden one, but they all lost the eye after they knew how to jump…and you still needed to be sure to plan your track so they could see and judge their fences, it does limit them. I don’t know how starting one from scratch intended to safely jump a child around over AA size and width fences would go.
Certainly limit resale…the ones I am familiar with leased or sold well below market, very difficult to sell.
Maybe switch disciplines, especially if the athletic ability is there? My youngster just lost an eye a few months ago. He’s now starting to show in hand as a dressage prospect, onto Materiale next year. I wasn’t ready to give up on him.
After almost losing my mom last month to Cancer, I’ve decided… Just try anyway, what’s the worst thing that can happen.:yes:
[QUOTE=Small Change;8761460]
The EC rule is actually “serviceably sound” in eye, wind and limb, which I suppose can leave things somewhat up to interpretation on the judge’s part?[/QUOTE]
Thanks for for pointing that out. I forgot to include that word. And yes, it leaves the rule open to interpretation.
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