# Help - one eyed horse



## Alwaysbehind

Welcome to the forum!


I have dealt with several one eyed horses in my life. Most horses adjust completely after loosing site in one eye and go on to do whatever they did before. The two that jumped before the eye issue continued to jump after the bad eye was removed.

One pony was very skittish on his blind side, which makes total sense.


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## rms1

Alwaysbehind said:


> Welcome to the forum!
> 
> 
> I have dealt with several one eyed horses in my life. Most horses adjust completely after loosing site in one eye and go on to do whatever they did before. The two that jumped before the eye issue continued to jump after the bad eye was removed.
> 
> One pony was very skittish on his blind side, which makes total sense.


I can second that. Many years ago, we actually bought a horse (Jonny) with one eye. We bought him because he had been one of the best horses in the hunting field. The owner wanted a larger horse. We never hunted but Jonny did everything we asked him to do and we kept him for several years till his retirement. He then spent another 4 years in a paddock down the road before he died, I think he was 24.


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## juniormylove

Odd timing! The horse I rode last week and today is blind in one of his eyes. It doesn't seem to affect him THAT much...I mean he's been blind in that eye for over a year now, but he's still the same horse he was before. I know that last Friday, we jumped a 2'6" course [not sure the cm?] without any problems. The only things I've noticed are that he has some issues leading because he often panics slightly if you're trying to turn him left [left eye is blind] and he's hard to get straight when riding because he's trying to see everything with the one eye. He also needs a little more guidance when riding because he doesn't know where the wall is.

Wow, I digress a little. I dunno if that helped at all...but good luck with your gelding! I'm sure he'll adjust just fine to one eye.


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## CharliGirl

"Hook" was the one-eyed horse at camp when I was younger. Completely bomb-proof, and a safe trail mount. You had to be pretty precise when steering him though, especially with rough terrain since he couldn't see from the one side.


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## Heartland

I had a horse who lost an eye when he was 7 years old in a barn accident. Prior, he had sight in both eyes. It did not affect him at all. I wasn't convinced until I started riding him again. When they're older and lose vision, they're already accustomed to what goes on around them- especially when being saddled, ridden, etc. There was no change in my horse from full sight to only one eye. Best of luck, and keep your chin up. You'll be surprised how quickly horses adapt to changes like that.


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## cecillover

AWW!!! That is so sad!! i have ridin a horse that has had one eye he could see out of and one that was blind and thy function right! But it is terrifing for you! Because You never no what could appen to your baby boy or girl! i always worry about a horse with good seeing because you never Know what is going to happen. But you should always love the horse that you have even if they have a disabilty! i treat my horse like a humane , because they are no diffrent so just stay calm about it and treat him with respect!


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## wyominggrandma

My daughter rides and competes on a one eyed barrel/pole horse. Amazing that she runs without issues and her missing eye side are her best turns.
She has been without an eye for about 10 years and she is about 18 now so she was 8 when she lost the eye and never looked back. 
We always make noise when approaching on her blind side, but she doesn't startle or anything.
The vet who removed her eye did a nice job, she still has her lashes and just looks like her lids are closed together.


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## ErikaLynn

I've ridden a one eyed horse and he would jump the moon, all I had to do was turn his head slightly so his good eye could see it and that was it. You just have to always be conscious that he has one eye.


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## Carleen

I used to ride a lovely little arab mare who was blind in one eye. To watch her work, you'd never know.. she wasn't spooky at all and she tried hard at everything she did. You just had to make sure to watch her blind side and keep her way from the wall, etc.


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## SilverSpur

I have a trick riding horse who is completely blind in one eye, you wouldn’t know it by her great attitude. She sees EVERYTHING! Lol.

But I one piece of advice is not to moddy coddle your gelding because he cant see in that eye. Treat him the same as you did before, but just be aware when you are leading him or out on a trail that you need to be his eyes.


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## LoveStory10

My gelding Bishop has only one eye, and he's taking my friend to Nationals with showjumping. All we have to do is when turning for a jump on his blind side is take him abit wide so that he can see it and adjust.

(look kinda close) First three are me and him in 2008, last is Jess last May:


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## juniormylove

LoveStory10 said:


> My gelding Bishop has only one eye, and he's taking my friend to Nationals with showjumping. All we have to do is when turning for a jump on his blind side is take him abit wide so that he can see it and adjust.


Yes...with Scooter you have to be careful with your turns, as well.

Here I am jumping him about 2'6"...can you tell he's blind in one eye?





[sorry about the video...I can't get it to be just the link


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## equineeventer3390

One of my friends has a one eyed horse. She events him at training level and he does just fine. Sometimes things will spook him and when schooling new things she tries to approach in a way that allows him to see it with his good eye first, but they do really well together!


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