I recently, unbeknownst to me at the time, acquired a horse who is blind in one eye. He lives in a stall. I’ve never been around or had a one eyed horse. Are there any things you do differently in caring for this type of horse? For example, should I keep a fly mask on him to help protect his remaining eye? That eye is normal. I make sure to talk/touch him more when on his blind side (right). At this point, I just don’t know what I don’t know! I would love any thoughts.
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Are you planning on riding him? I knew and rode a one eyed horse. He rode just like he did before he lost the eye - only difference was that he was slightly spookier on his blind side and you had to let him bend his head a little to the left, even if it was the ‘wrong’ way, so he could watch where he was going out of his remaining eye.
Hugs to you and him, that sucks that you didn’t know he was blind when you got him. One eyed horses can be wonderful, I hope everything turns out well for you both.
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Do you know how/why/when he became blind on that side?
Does he still have that blind eye or was he enucleated?
Horses, in general, do well with just one eye. They adapt pretty easily and don’t necessarily need extra care to their remaining eye.
Of course, being careful with stuff on his blind side is important.
You might not want to set him too straight, for him to clearly see, if you decide to ever jump with him.
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I would seriously consider this, just from the perspective that any injury to that eye obviously has the potential to pose bigger problems. Fly masks do provide some additional protection, with virtually no downside. If you do decide to do this, just make sure you avoid rubbing.
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No, unfortunately I do not know. I imported him as a young jumper prospect with a clean PPE, but noticed he had a solid dark blue eye with a tiny pupil the day of arrival. No squinting, tearing, or signs of discomfort. Had my regular vet out the same week to check it who let me know he was blind, likely from a previous trauma. Saw an ophthalmologist a week later whose also said it appears to have been from by an old blunt force trauma. He is comfortable with the eye and acts ‘normally’ both on the ground and under saddle. No signs of recent trauma either in or around the eye, this did not happen in transit per the ophthalmologist. The eye is still intact.
The seller is offering no remedy and I am now looking for the best ways to care for him going forward.
Thank you! Yes, I put all my non-emergency savings into him and plan to ride him regardless. I don’t have the funds for another and would be selling him presumably at a loss if I tried to find a new home for him now. He rides like a fully sighted horse, you really can’t tell under saddle (so far, only really flatting at this point). He is a sweet horse and more or less everything as described with the exception of the one blind eye, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything turns out ok. Thank you for sharing your experience! It makes me feel much better knowing other people have had success with their one eyed horses.
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All things considered, it’s a « good » thing that it’s from an injury.
Uveitis is way more complex to deal with.
So as long as there is no pain in either eye, he’ll be fine.
A GP rider around here has a horse that’s blind in one eye. Zero problem jumping/competing at GP level.
A friend of mine’s got injured as well and went back to his usual hunter routine after a few months.
Ps : The seller is an a…h…. and the vet who did the ppe over there too.
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Here are some high level jumpers you might find interesting:
WH Luciano (I’ve seen many videos of him competing and did not know he had one eye until I saw a picture of his off side) - currently jumping 1.30+
Ultimate victory - jumped 4 stars before his injury, returned to jumping prelim a year ago
Adventure De Kannan - won the Hickstead Derby with one eye
Global - he has jumped his entire 1.60 GP career with one eye
Cornado NRW - continued jumping international GPs after his eye was removed
Tornesch - personal favourite (so cute!), he also jumped the top GP tracks with one eye
Here are some links, the riders sometimes talk about what it’s like to ride a one-eyed horse:
Adventure de Kannan
Global
Cornado NRW
Tornesch
Ultimate Victory
Honestly I would take a horse with a (traumatic injury) enucleation over one with a suspensory injury.
Almost forgot to mention - I would keep all his whiskers unclipped so he’ll be less likely to bump the blind side of his face.
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@Clover5 's list is wonderful and inspiring.
I took care of a horse who was blind in one eye for many years. He was a Jerk with a capital J, but that had nothing to do with his eyesight. Riding him was straightforward though he had a slight tendency to twist his neck and head on really rough ground to see better. But, really rough, as in backcountry rough ground. Groundwork/care seemed to be where the problems arose.
You might need to be more vocal with him. I think the horse I took care of is where I got the habit of singing/talking as I come into a horse’s space. But, other than that vocal guide, there really wasn’t an issue.
Now, he wasn’t a high dollar horse (to put it mildly) so neither I nor the owner ever thought about what an injury to the other eye might mean. A fly mask might not be a bad idea. The horse in question lived into his 30’s.
- List item
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The vet told me to do this when I found out my horse lost the sight in his left eye. It was hard to get the barn staff to leave it on in the stall sometimes. I evented Novice for years with that horse. The other thing is watching out in case your horse suddenly decides to swing his head in your direction on the blind side. I got smacked a time or two that way. Oh, and I left plenty of whiskers on him for tactile purposes.
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This is amazing, thank you so much for putting this list together!
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@OTTBs what brand fly mask do you use on him? I’ve seen the more traditional ones but also the ones that are more of a bee-keeper type look 
On one hand I feel like the bee-keeper ones are better at keeping fabric away from the eye, on the other hand if there is a bendable piece of metal or plastic in it I worry about it breaking and poking the eye. Not sure if that worry is realistic as I haven’t seen those masks in person.
My mare had her eye removed in 2019 due to cancer. (21 year old white horse, inevitable)
The biggest changes in her routine have been really paying attention to where we’re going - make sure aisles and doorways and gate openings are large enough that she doesn’t hit them when I ask her to walk through them. She’s missing her right eye, so it’s the off side of where I lead and I have to ensure I keep that spatial awareness in my mind.
She wasn’t ever more than a broodmare for me - hopped on her a couple of times as a trail horse, but she doesn’t know much so I haven’t pushed riding. Lunging after the eye removal was a bit weird and we couldn’t figure out how to go left (blind side to the round pen panels) so I tried once and then not again - wasn’t worth it to me since she’s already old and not real broke to begin with. 
Had it been a different horse, I would’ve worked out a solution.
I keep the lycra flymasks on her and leave her whiskers untouched. She’s still the boss mare and losing the eye really hasn’t phased her.
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My AO mare slowly lost vision in one eye over a few years, culminating in total blindness in that eye and a recent enucleation.
Aside from being spookier on that side, you’d never know when riding her that she had compromised vision. And she was still jumping the big sticks even when she had less then 50% vision in that eye.
As far as handling/care considerations:
– I try to lead her from her blind side and keep the lead short under her chin or keep a hand in contact with her neck or head, so she knows where I am. I’m “protecting” her blind side, and I’m careful to lead her through narrow openings or around obstacles with due consideration.
– I don’t turn her out with a bully because she won’t be able to see/get away from a mean horse coming at her from her blind side.
– I generally use a fly mask on her only when I’m using one on all the horses.
– If you board, or have others handling your horse, make sure they’re all briefed on his handicap and how to handle him safely.
– When riding/handling, always keep in the back of your mind what’s on that blind side. If your horse spooks away from the sighted side, they can easily get in trouble (e.g. spooking into another horse or rider, running into an obstacle, or falling off a trail/path/bridge (depending on where you’re riding/handling))
– Consider enucleation. If the cause of blindness is going to cause trouble down the line, get ahead of the surgery before the horse is in pain. We were able to do it at our farm, and cost was about $2K.
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To build on this, its nice to have a way to tell others in an emergency that he’s partially blind and which eye. Depending on where in the world you are, you may never have a need to have your horse evacuated, but if so, consider a halter tag or an ankle bracelet that says “blind in left eye” or whatever. That way, if someone has to evacuate your horse (or god forbid he gets lost during an evac) his handlers have a better chance of being alerted and minimizing stress and confusion for him. Otherwise, at the very least, I would have a note on his stall in case there’s an emergency there and someone who doesn’t know him has to go in.
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I have a one eyed horse who recently became a no-eyed horse (uveitis) and the group on Facebook “Blind Horses” or “Friends of Blind Horses” has been immensely helpful.
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He’s been gone for a while, but I used a Farnam without ears, it’s a stiff mesh. Not sure if that’s beekeeper or traditional to you?
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My very high maintenance horse lost vision in her left eye. I suspect it is also failing in her right. Even as high strung and high maintenance as she is, I don’t do anything drastically different with her care. I try to remember to talk more on her left and I give others a heads up about it. If vision goes in both eyes, I may have to simplify her turnout situation because she is not the brightest crayon in the box. I have actually stopped with fly masks after she lost her vision in that eye because I felt like the mask was further limiting her sight in her other eye based on her behavior.
She is not my first blind horse. It’s amazing how well they can adapt to loss of vision.
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Agree, uveitis is awful.
I rode a one eyed horse years ago. He did fine in an arena, cross country and jumped just fine. He even showed at the Washington International horse show.
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