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amanda
New Member
8 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Mar 2009 : 4:45:44 PM
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I am after any experience of thoughts of how to help horse cope with eye loss.
My horse has been diagnosed with a melanoma behind his eye. At the moment it is not causing him any pain or affecting his sight.
His eye has been ultrasound scanned and the vets have advised me that because of where the growth is ( directly behind the eye) the best option is to wait util it becomes a problem and then have the eye and tumour removed.
Any thoughts on what, if anyhting I can do now to help him cope with this. He is only 18 and is used for light hacking. He very polite and sweet but stresses easily about things. As an example I have had him two years and can only now get leg wraps on all four legs without major hysteria.
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Timbercroft
Gold Member
Wales
936 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2009 : 5:11:00 PM
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Hi
This is such sad news for you both.
I have a mare that we brought being blind in one eye and she has now lost sight in the other eye. We are trying our best to help her cope with this. I posted on here too, for any help info and lost of people had good ideas ...so this is the link if you want to have a read...
http://www.arabianlines.com/forum1/topic_new.asp?TOPIC_ID=32466&SearchTerms=assah
our mare Assah is in foal ...so we are just hoping all will go well, she is coping very well at the moment!
We talk to her all the time!
Good luck with your boy.
Linda |
      
www.lma-arabians.co.uk |
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tamila
Platinum Member
England
2532 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2009 : 6:58:26 PM
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| They usually adjust very easily to having one eye. Pat Smythe's brilliant pony had lost an eye but still managed to compete in showjumping. Ludomino also only had one eye. |
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BeckyBoodle
Gold Member
Australia
795 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2009 : 7:38:35 PM
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A friend of mine has a Clydesdale which had to have an eye removed a year or so ago. He has adapted fantastically and you would hardly know at times. He still goes jumping and cross country, and looks at you on his blind side sometimes like he can still see you.
I think the hardest thing was her accepting the loss and in a way that her boy wasn't perfect any more. I think it is a bit like when my cat lost a leg. He just got straight on with life once it had healed and never looked back. You would come across him a mile or so away from home, he just hippety hopped his way around. At the start I got really hung up about him being ok, imagining what it would be like for me. I guess animals don't analyse they get on. I didn't like to see his bad side to start with, then you stopped noticing he was any different.
Hope that helps.
B
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Pauline
Platinum Member
England
3185 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2009 : 8:45:12 PM
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I have an advanced endurance horse that is blind in one eye.We think he damaged it before we bought him and the then owner knew nothing about it.
He copes very well and his hearing is very acute so hears things well before we do.
He also jumps well and his sight has not made any difference.
We talk to him all the time telling him what is happening (I think for our sake not his)
Pauline |
Pauline Higgs
Equine & Human Holistic Therapist
www.thegentlestouch.co.cc
www.endurancegbmidsouth.co.uk
Berkshire / Hampshire Border |
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angelarab
Platinum Member
Wales
2876 Posts |
Posted - 27 Mar 2009 : 10:26:47 AM
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| I sometimes ride a horse who lost an eye later on in his ridden life, and he seems ok, i just make sure by voice and touch around his body he knows where i am if i am going onto his blind side, he hacks and jumps fine |
 "Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened."
www.northwalesarab.co.uk |
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Crusaders Angel
Gold Member
England
531 Posts |
Posted - 27 Mar 2009 : 10:58:48 AM
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My old horse lost his sight in one eye due to corneal scarring when he was whipped in the face by another horse's tail. He coped really well and even managed to make it down really complex showjumping grids that just looked like a mass of poles to me 
I've bought a 3 1/2yr old arab gelding in September who has a white film over part of one eye due to an old injury which wasn't treated properly (I was told they didn't even get a vet out to look at him but just wiped the gunk away with baby wipes  ). He is less spooky and peaky than my 17yr old Advanced Endurance arab mare  . He has very good hearing and so far (turn around, touch wood etc) always seems to know exactly where I am.
I think we tend to over analyse stuff and think about how we would feel but, as has been previous said, animals just seem to get on with life.
There is a connemara mare at a stud where my friend keeps her horse who has a huge melanoma growing out of a tearduct and that mare was regularly ridden until a couple of years ago and adapted really well. She is now 32 and is still bossing the youngsters round
Lucy |
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Nicky F
Silver Member
England
289 Posts |
Posted - 27 Mar 2009 : 12:00:35 PM
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Rossi only had sight in one eye after a corneal ulcer - it didn't seem to affect him at all, other than sometimes if he wasn't sure of something he would really stare at it and turn his head to the 'good' side, bless him. |
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Grey Girl
Platinum Member
England
1554 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2009 : 11:16:01 AM
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Oooh, this is good timing, I've just been to a lecture by my vets about horses' eyes. Your horse will cope amazingly well; and it's great that your vets can handle such an op. If you want a second opinion or anything give me a PM and I'll give you my vets' phone number: turns out the practice I belong to is one of the few specialist centres for equine opthamology in the world - and I'm sure they'll be happy to chat things over with you.
A friend of mine used to team chase a horse that only had one eye (other lost in a stable accident) - and she said the mare never had a problem. |
 Said the little eohippus, "I´m going to be a HORSE"  |
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Danielle
Silver Member
Wales
355 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2009 : 5:31:35 PM
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Hi!
My Arab gelding Storm had a tumour in his eye, the first I noticed was a white patch very small to begin with, on his eye, we called the vet who diagnosed a tumour.
He had the eye removed at the age of 6 a month after diagnosis, and has been great ever since. He is not spooky and is good in traffic etc. He was good to jump before but since having the eye out is even better.
I did alot of work with him from hacking to jumping etc and didn't realise he was almost totally blind in that eye at the time, so now I look back and think how good he was to have done all that with only one god eye.
The only thing that happened was right after he had the eye removed, he didn't like being stabled as he would bump his head sometimes on the wall, but he got used to where things were. He is not stabled anymore though. He was only spooky straight after having the eye out, but after a month I started working him gently again and he was great.
I always used to do everything from both sides anyway as I think that to do everything from the near side can make some horses one sided in certain things, just my opinion, but I have always tacked up from both sides mounted from both sides, chucked rugs on from either side and then gone round to do surcingles up etc. I will carry on with my little way with whatever other horses I have next as I think they should get used to having stuff done from each side. It was beneficial for Storm then and now, so he doesn't worry about me being on the blind side etc.
His socket took some getting used to at the time, they sttich the dressing in and the eye drains through the nose, yuk! But once the dressing came out he was fine, he had it done in summer and I had to be careful of the flies, so now would be a better time to have the op in your horses case. I hardly notice the socket now and I don't treat Storm any different, all the horses are treat the same way and handled the same.
It really was no big deal for Storm having his eye out, wishing you the best. |
   
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amanda
New Member
8 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2009 : 3:51:14 PM
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thanks for all your advice and good wishes.
My vet seems happy to do the removal which is great.
I am sure he will adapt beautifully - a lot of it is me getting my head around it - its just if there are any good ideas out there of anything I can do before it happens to increase his confidence in me it would be good. I have only had him two years and whilst we have taken huge steps forward he is a naturally worried but very sweet horse. AS an example of his suspicion - a year ago he had an abscess in his front fore - on changing the poultice I managed to freak him out totally and it took several months for him to trust me again to pick his feet up. |
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MinHe
Platinum Member
England
2927 Posts |
Posted - 12 Apr 2009 : 12:18:41 AM
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My boy Roupert lost an eye in an accident 18 months ago, and frankly, it has been way more traumatic for me than for him! The only change in his behaviour is that he occasionally bumps his head on the blind side in the box doorway, and if anything, he now seems more laid back about life!
So I shouldn't worry about your boy, he will certainly adapt ASAP (and without needing any help if my experience is anything to go by), but you will need some very supportive friends and lots of hankies while *you* get used to it  ...
The thing is, equine eyesight is very different from ours: horses switch from limited binocular vision to a much wider field of vision from either eye all the time, so when they lose an eye, they are just stuck in 'one eye mode' which is far more natural to them than it is to us. That is why they can adapt so easily.
I doubt there is anything you can do to help him adapt before the op, but afterwards, just talk to him more and give him more opportunity to look at 'odd' things when out riding. You'll soon forget he can't only see on one side 
Keren |
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barbara.gregory
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4531 Posts |
Posted - 12 Apr 2009 : 09:46:43 AM
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I too have a horse with a blind eye and a stallion with limited vision in one eye. The mare who is blind in one eye was abused as a youngster and is very jumpy on that side unless she knows exactly where you are but as I talk to my horses all the time it isn't a proglem as she knows exactly where I am all the time. The stallion is no different from any other horse and the only time I remember he has limited vision is when I read a thread like this. He has never been badly treated and and I have to stop and think which side is his bad eye if anyone asks.
Your horse will be absolutely fine. Just make sure you get him very used to having his feet picked up on that side before then. I teach my horse to lift their feet when I say "give foot" so make sure he knows voice commands.
Barbara |
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ashquar
Silver Member
England
281 Posts |
Posted - 13 Apr 2009 : 05:40:43 AM
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| I had a horse who lost an eye and still lived a happy healthy life until 32. It didn't stop him from doing his usual trick, jumping five bar gate because he wanted to move fields or letting himself into anywhere he wanted to go. He was a cheeky pony until 32 and had him pts nothing to do with the eye just old age. |
  
www.arabianrosettes.co.uk |
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