I recently did a trail ride where there was a congenitally blind horse
- both eyes with cataracts. It appears that as long as trust is built
between horse and rider that the relationship can be great for both. This
horse went where ever, did whatever, and was calmer than most on the trail -
even when we got to the last pasture on the ranch that included 1000 ft+ (felt
like a mile on mine!) of either stepping in ant hills or stepping on
cactus. All the horses were getting...well, antsy (sorry for the pun),
Holly was getting pissed and this horse just walked on and waited as patiently
as possible for the others to proceed through the gates....Holly eventually
opted for going through the low hanging oak tree to go stand in water to
get them off, regardless of what I had to say about it : ( I did stay on, just
added to my collection of bumps and bruises.
I
had a good friend who bought a hunter jumper who was blind in one eye. Some
crazy teenager at a show stuck her finger in his eye at a show while he was
stalled because he was too hard to beat. He did fine even at jumping. I think
they can do incredible things if given time to adapt to their
problem.
Susan
-----Original Message----- From:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
Susan_Bothern Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 4:41
PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] Blind in
One Eye Horse
This group has, by far, some
of the most experienced voices around when it comes to horses. I am
thinking about taking in a horse who is blind in one eye. She appears
to be well trained, in good health, etc. What has been your experience
in handling a horse like this and riding one? I doubt that she'll be
an endurance prospect, probably a trail horse around home.
