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Re: [RC] How Good Are your Horses's Eyes? - steelsidedownHmmm.. interesting ....
I competed on a horse for many years that only had
one functional eye. The other was obviously "blind", blue with a
solid cloud, pupil/iris could not be found. If anything he was more
brave than before. He would never have passed the hand position test, but
would have taken the obstacle with flying colors. I was always amazed
by his attitude "I can do anything, get out of my way, and don't bug me with
your suggestions". Well, he was a good boy, and did have it handled 99% of
the time, so I quit bugging him!
Overall, the big thing I noticed with him, was that
he could pick up on moving things 100 feet away easy, but stationary things
he wouldn't catch until very close, or not at all if on his "bad side". Of
course, the closer it got before he noticed, the harder the spook. As a
rider you adapt pretty quickly, "pointing" things out and verbally
warning, wasn't a problem once we worked out the "teamwork" part.
So, of course there have been many horses since
(he's still around, old, retired, and getting fatter by the
minute). It took me a bit to adjust to not trying to see everything on the
left and "tell" the horse, a few patient independent horses cured
me... then it happened, I bought a huge, big boned, endurance prospect to die
for .. and he did it .. same behavior ... but out of both sides .. I tried to
cope, but too much for me .. I returned him to his breeder/owner. Years
went by and I was tempted by another prospect... brought him home ... rode in
the pasture great .. on trail same thing...
These two prospects were both directly related to
one horse (with hundreds of offspring), one a son, the other a grandson.
Anyone ever heard of poor eyesight being hereditary? I have heard
people say that line is "spooky", it really makes me wonder if that's not
why.
I know it "could be" other things, but after riding
a one eyed horse for 10 years, you kinda know the ropes. These two horses
were kind, willing, quick learners, and seemingly as frustrated as I was
with their handicap.
Jen
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Huston" <donhuston@xxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 12:17 AM
Subject: [RC] How Good Are your Horses's
Eyes? > thought it would be a good thing to see if there are some "layman" > type tests one can use to check their horse's vision. The following > link has 3 very good tests http://www.americanarenapolo.com/MAGAZINE2.html . > > Don Huston at cox dot net > SanDiego, Calif > > > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > > Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. > Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp > Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp > > Ride Long and Ride Safe!! > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >
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