# horses pupil has blue haze



## stacysills02 (Sep 29, 2011)

my horses pupil has a blue haze. just in the pupil. yes hes a appy hes only 6 years old. and he spooks alot. in fact i fell off last week cuz he spooked at a finch brid. ive noticed he spooken more and more. in fact he spooks more then any horse at the barn. my question is in horses are blue haze pupils normal or is this a issue. i took a light and shined it in his eye he really didnt blink. and it took a while for his eye to dilatate. i do know horses eyes dilate slower the humans. has anyone had this issuse. ur comments will help. i am planing on calling the vet after christmas to get it checked. just like to know id anyone eles out there has had this promblem


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## Breezy2011 (Nov 23, 2012)

He could be blind


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

I agree, sounds like a sight issue. Don't mess around with eyes, I'd have the vet out ASAP.


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## Breezy2011 (Nov 23, 2012)

I leased a horse once, that was blind in one eye later on in his life.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

If he is loosing his sight I would keep him in a stall or corral until you can have the vet out. Loosing sight is scary for them, as it would be for anyone.


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## Red Cedar Farm (Dec 19, 2012)

Ditto getting the vet out ASAP...


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## stacysills02 (Sep 29, 2011)

i called the vet today but they said theyll have her call me back i know shes coming out jan 3 to do some shots for someone at the barn. he was outside today in fact he seen me coming all the way from the barn. i was looking at his eye out side and they look clearer then they did the day before. so i took alight and shined it in to them thats when u can see a blue haze. is that on all horses or just a issue.


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## Jore (Dec 4, 2010)

I agree with the others about losing sight, our older dog has hazy looking eyes and we're quite certain that his eyesight isn't completely there anymore.. although he's still a trooper and makes out well.


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## Red Cedar Farm (Dec 19, 2012)

Unless you know what you're looking at/for, it's probably best to not randomly be shining the light in your horses eyes and just let the vet take a look when he comes. If he's already coming out on Jan 3rd, I'm confident your horse will be okay until then. Definitely keep us posted on what you find out!


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## Faceman (Nov 29, 2007)

Oh, my. OP, anytime your horse gets what appears to be a blue haze in its eye, you need to get the vet out absolutely as soon as possible on an emergency call. This can be (although not necessarily) a symptom of a corneal ulcer, which is usually a bacterial infection caused by a small puncture - can be from a piece of hay, a twig, or just about anything. This can be an aggressive infection, and if not attended to quickly can not only leave a horse blind, but can result in the loss of the eye altogether.

The picture below is of one of my horses that had a corneal ulcer. Note though that the camera made the blue "haze" appear pink.

Best wishes, and I hope that is not what it is. Look very very closely at it from the side and see if there is what appears to be a "bubble" on the cornea where the blue haze is. If there is a bubble, don't wait till January 3rd. Good luck...


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## TruCharm (Jul 20, 2012)

Sounds like my 20 Year old Arabian. She has it, it comes and goes. 
Vet said it was just old age and probably sight lose due to cataracts.

This is what comes to mind when you say a Blueish hue Just on the pupil, it will look like it comes and goes but it doesn't its there, the light refracting off of it makes appear different.
When they are in the beginning stages the horses can see like they were looking through a thin sheet of wax paper. Gets worse over time as the cataract thickens.

Its odd though, you say he's 6 years old... i've never heard of horse getting them that early. But I have seen dogs as young as 2 start developing them. Sooner or later it both eyes get it. Defiantly get a vet out as soon as possible. Its odd he's 6 years old and may have cataracts... anyway try to lessen his stress, keep him close to the barn, stall him at night. Keep an eye on him and just hope its him being silly or something.

cataract image I found on google that best fits what my mare has.

*Mobile Photobucket


*


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

My nearly 28 year old girl has ERU (also known as "Moon Blindess" - pretty common among Appies/POAS, my girl in an Arab), as well as cataracts, and her eyes are very similar to the picture TruCharm posted.

Just looking at her, her eyes appear 100% normal...until you really look into them. Then you'll see that inside her pupils, it's all blue.

She has very little sight left at this point but is functioning fantastically. She roams a 5+ acre pasture with a pair of goats, is stalled at night for her safety, is friends with the deer that also reside in her pasture, etc. Her blindness does not hold her back at all. She even still gallops and bucks on a near daily basis!
Of course, she does require a bit of special care and needs daily close attention to her eyes (the tiniest bit of swelling can signal a flare up, with quick action it doesn't get bad and she doesn't loose more sight) but otherwise she's very easy to care for.


Anyway, basically what I'm saying is that in the event that the vet does feel like your guy has changes in his eyes, it's not the end of the world. With care, he'll be fine but definitely get him checked.


OP, I feel like this isn't the first time you've posted about your guys sight... What was the vet's opinion then? Or maybe I'm thinking of another poster...


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## stacysills02 (Sep 29, 2011)

vet came out today eyes are fine. im just paranoid i guess. said they look clear and everythinkgs good. i feel so stupid but i guess its better to be safe then sorry.i guess its normal to see what i see in fact she laughed when i show her. my thing now is rather i should sell him or not. i love the horse as if hes my kid. but he spooks alot and ive tried lots of things walking him up to things. i mean you can throw something on his head and hes fine but when were riding and a person happens to walk up he spooks jumps to the side and takes off . im a green rider. i hate to say it but i am. my friend at the barn brought it up to me saying maybe i sold sell him to someone who can handle him a little better. hes had 6 months pro training and he even spooks with the trainer. she said there was nothing to spook at but he finds something. should i get a horse better for me or should i keep him and try to work on this spooken thing i mean hes 6 is he really gonna change much. i fell off a few weeks ago thats when i started thinging something was wrong with his eyes. now that i know hes fine. i really dont know what to do.


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## nickers103 (Aug 10, 2010)

If he's the horse you have pictured in your profile, he's a beautiful animal. Unfortunately, if you feel that he is continually spooking a lot and that he may be hard for you to handle under saddle, I think your friend might be right in suggesting another horse. It will only get worse if you get hurt and your confidence in the horse (and yourself) diminishes. Ultimately you must know what's best for you and the horse. 

I'm glad to hear you called the vet out regardless. Any sort of eye issue is serious and should be taken as such. Kudos to you for that!


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## stacysills02 (Sep 29, 2011)

and see i did get hurt ended up in the er i was fine but hurt real bad for about a week. i just wish hes be different but i dont think hes ever gonna be


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