Night time blindness

Dannii5691

Dannii5691

Owned by Ponies!
Nov 16, 2009
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Can any one tell me about night time blindness, im suspicious about cobby as twice we have had issues catching in the dark.

His field is down a hill, theres a little bit of light pollution but not alot and its pretty dark. First time I put it down to his fly mask slipping down but today he had no mask on and was a nightmare.
He was listening to my voice but when I got close he was trotting off and swinging his bum towards me, flinching when I go to touch him.
He seems pretty aware of where the fences are but was sticking close to the other 2 boys. I managed to get him over with a bucket of pony nuts but he wasnt his usual self. Catches absolutely fine in daylight

He has 2 blue eyes.
 
Dannii5691 said:
Can any one tell me about night time blindness, im suspicious about cobby as twice we have had issues catching in the dark.

His field is down a hill, theres a little bit of light pollution but not alot and its pretty dark. First time I put it down to his fly mask slipping down but today he had no mask on and was a nightmare.
He was listening to my voice but when I got close he was trotting off and swinging his bum towards me, flinching when I go to touch him.
He seems pretty aware of where the fences are but was sticking close to the other 2 boys. I managed to get him over with a bucket of pony nuts but he wasnt his usual self. Catches absolutely fine in daylight

He has 2 blue eyes.
Click to expand...

I thought it was only in leopard spot Appaloosas? Could be wrong though!

Mine are tricky to catch in the dark especially if I have a torch on!

Admin I reported dan is post by accident I thought I was replying...!
 
If he's flinching as you go to touch him I would guess he's seeing you coming, perhaps he's just a little more wary than normal because it's dark?
 
Honestly don't know - maybe ask the vet next time he/she's out on your yard? I didn't realise lovely Womble had both eyes blue, how gorgeous.:)
 
He is listening to my voice, but on high alert, wont let me touch him and shys away, sticks close to the boys but has awareness of fence posts and gates. Ive read things that say only appys but others that say anything homozygous can suffer. Apparently his eyesight is absolutely fine in the daylight as he informed me on our ride this morning

Yes mrs T 2 blues! Well 1 and 3/4 anyway!
 
My guys are on alert at night, if I go down out of routine I will hear them start pacing round and it builds to thundering about if I loiter but jess switches off as soon as she hears my voice, the other two we've only had since October and nov last year so are still more jittery but I guess they aren't as used to my voice as jess is, I've had her 10 years. The boys luckily follow Jess's lead.
 
Ben is much more difficult to catch in the dark. I once wore a hat to catch him in winter (a woolly hat) and he didn't let me near him until I had taken it off! I think that it's natural behaviour for a horse to be more wary in the dark. If he had a problem with his eyesight you would be able to tell during the day.
 
Mine is a few spot appy and tested positive for CSNB - congenital stationary night blindness. It occurs with appys with the LP gene who will always throw coloured foals.

Tobes is very used to me in the dark, but when I first got him he refused to enter a dark stable. I then did a bit more research and had him tested and then it made sense to me.

I am not sure about other breeds, but if it is CSNB, it will have been with him from birth. I just make sure that he knows the field he is in before it gets dark - ie, don't change fields late in the afternoon.

Tobes happily follows me with a torch in the dark, but we have been together a lot of years now, and for many years he only came in when I had finished work which was about 6pm, so he trusts me OK. Horses affected by CSNB see like we do in the dark, not like most horses - there is a good explanation on it on a website called the Appaloosa Project.
 
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