Losing eye sight?

HairyBo

New Member
Jan 18, 2009
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Hi,

I am looking for some advice on my horse. I have had him since Feb now and he has come on leaps and bounds but he has always been more "temperamental" on one side. I will explain what i mean.

When i lead him from his near side he sometimes tries to get behind me to change sides and walk with me on his off side. when we lunge he is fine on his right rein but will only do a slow walk on his left and tries to turn around to go the way he is more comfortable. i firstly and perhaps wrongly diagnosed this as "laziness"!
But i lunged him tonight with his buddy in the same field, on his "bad" rein he was good but when his buddy got a little close he walked straight into the back of him even though he could easily see him! so i took him over a couple of poles on his bad rein, just walking and had my OH checking to see if he looked at the poles with his left eye when he walked over them and he didnt.
Didnt think of it before but he only seems to nap in the school when on his left rein too.
So i had a feeling perhaps he has poor eyesight in his left eye. I left him to graze and stood behind him to his right slightly and shouted him and he turned and looked. left it a while and did the same from the left and he moved his whole body around to see me, as though using his right eye to see me.
Does anyone think he could be blind or short sighted in his left eye? i have had a look in the eye and it doesnt seem inflammed but he does have gunky eyes, but he always has done. i had a full vetting done on him when i bought him, which was all clear. Are there specialist ophthalmic vets for horses? Is there anything else i can do to test?
Any help or advice appreciated.
 
The symptoms you describe do seem to indicate there MAY be a problem with his sight on one side. If this is the case it would be intrigueing that the vet missed it back in February since eyesight is one of the basics they check for.

I can only think that it is a condition that has developed since. When you look into the eye does it look clear like the good one? Cateract is not always easy to spot but it is one possibility. I beleive that there are a couple of conditions brought on by infection that can also cause problems with the eyesight.

Having said that don't panic, the important thing is to get the problem properly diagnosed, firstly to confirm it is eyesight and then to pinpoint the condition and whether it is treatable. Regarding a specialist, it should not be a problem finding one. I would start by getting my vet to examine him and take it from there, if he needs specialist treatment your surgery will know the various routes to getting the specialist attention he needs.

I know of two horses that were successfully treated for eyesight problems, one had surgery and in both cases the insurance companies picked up the bill.
 
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