Hi all,

I have a wonderul filly, but there are some things about her, that makes me believe she is blind on one eye.

* When she was born, the white around her eye was red. So I thought, maybe she lie on a straw that irritated her eye a bit.

* Then she is very afraid and subservient and when you are cuddling her, she turns in a lovely, sweet cuddling foal.

* When you walk with the dam, she always walks on the right side of the dam, I thought that a foal was walking left most of the time. And when she walkes and her mother is a bit away from her, she is wheaning a lot.

* In de meadow, the foal always asks her mother to come to her. The filly never runs to her mum. Always the other way around. And if I hold the mother, she just keeps standing where she is and keeps wheaning.

* When I move my hand in front of her right eye, she reacts. If I move my hand in front of her left eye, she is not responding untill I touch her lashes.

I will let the vet check her this thursday, just to be sure.
Does anyone has experience with this?

Best wishes,

Talitha

there may be various degrees of blindness where she sees scary shadows etc i would most likely get vet out to ass her now being blind in one eye doesn't mean you need to euthanize her I know of a aged TB gelding who got Moon Blindness in both eyes at a fairly young age and he was fine to live out his days he even went out in pasture and was ridden ..

My stallion was blinded in one eye as a young colt. I believe he was around four to six months old. He hit his eye on a stall. It progressively healed and he has regained quite a bit of vision in the injured eye, but He still has some issues with it. He did develop a kicking problem as a reflex when he was young due to the blind side but we are working daily on it. He is much better about kicking now. Also oddly he prefers you to work with him on his bad side rather than the good side. Other than that It hasnt caused him any problems recently. They lead relitively or mostly normal lives depeding on the level of blindness.
Gabe

Thank you for your reactions.
This filly will stay with me the rest of her live and I won't put her down because of a blindness when she can still function normal, but perhaps there are some things I need to take extra care of. I don't know how much her mum is helping her now and how much she needs her mum when Its time to sepperate them.
In the meantime I will try to get a relationship with her as good as it gets. Today I was sitting in her stable next to her and she allowed me to touch and cuddle her, but when I enter the stable or stand up, she is totally frightned again.
Well, will try to make the best of it!
She is definately worth it!

Best wishes,

Talitha

just a suggestion don't shave her whiskers that way she can feel her way around and get her a companion that she can rely on when in pasture or out side. a goat or a pony or some kind of smaller animal that can fit with her in to stall and go out with her in pasture

Don't make any sudden movements her reaction to your movements tells me she has some site in her eye ( she 's able to see shadows ) and sudden movements may always startle her and stress her out.

Excellant Idea!

I would suggest you tie a bell to her dam and talk often while near her so even if she isn't aware of you visually, she will hear you and perhaps not fear.

Kathy

I have a 23 year-old blind TB gelding. When I rescued him at an auction (out bidding a meat buyer) this boy had 60/40 vision, his eyes were "scared" from some type of chemical burns, per two vet who gave their opinions. So far, the vets were correct and 6 years later the gelding is totally blind as scar tissue has grown more.

Blind or partially blind horses can and will compensate for that weakness. My gelding cannot live alone, as he will pace and call out for his pasture buddy. Any horse I put him with be it a small pony to my stallion, they all fall in love with the blind horse and take care of him. This is something very special and it warms the heart of anyone who gets to know this horse.

He allows his buddy or rider to be his eyes. His hearing and sense of smell get him through and I make sure no one ever trims his "curb feelers" leaving his eye and muzzle with whiskers to help him 'feel' his way round things. Because his blinking reflex is effected, I keep his eyes wipped clean several times per day.

I also warn every visitor to his pasture to "tell Scout where you are" example if I must walk behind him I say "It's me Scout I'm behind you" and then I touch his hip on either side and he will turn as if to "look" starts licking his lips (sign of being relaxed) and we are good to go. He never kicks out but would kick if I did not speak to him, which is only natural for him to protect himself.

When I describe the "other horses take care of him" somehow, they seem to know that Scout needs them and they will pause when walking for food or water until the gelding catches up. Once he is within a few feet of them they walk on.
It's something that makes the hardest heart warm up and fill with love.

A blind horse can "learn" their pastures, and can do well on trail rides that are on open trails. My horse does not spook and run off, just the opposite, if startled he will stop and wait for reassurance then move on.

The bell idea is excellent, we use bells (small christmas type) to hang on cross fences until Scout learns that new fence. We have kept him safe and ridden for over 6 years, so it is possible for a blind horse to be useful. The owner or rider is the one who needs to be cautious and prepared for a possible spook.

Best of luck
Caszan

Hi,
thank you all! The first thing I will buy is the bell.
Excellent idea!
And I will buy a pony when she is ready to be weaned to help her through.
This is all new to me, so I hope I can help us both!
Don't want to have a stressed out horse at the end, so will try me very best to keep her so "normal" as she is now!
I will let you know when the vet has visit us.

Best wishes,

Talitha & Brasilia

Good luck to you and your filly is simply beautiful, beautiful!!

Caszan

Thanks Caszan for your nice words!
And a BIG thank you to Kathy. The bell works PERFECT.
She follows her mother more easy now. Its just like she is normal again!
Glad we found out in time before she get more stressed out by losing her mother all the time!

Best wishes,

Talitha & Brasilia

So has the vet checked her yet?
What did the check show?
I'm glad she is doing so well!
gabe

I'm so glad she's doing well.

Best of luck with her,

Kathy

Boy, hope you get that beautiful baby girl to the vet quickly, you never know it might be something they can fix or at least keep her from losing any sight she may now have.

Get her checked out or take her to the nearest vet hospital soon and let us know.

Georgia

I too would stress the urgency of having a vet check her NOW as it may be something that can be treated and the sooner any treatment starts the better the prognosis. Did the vet see her red eye when she was born? My colt stabbed his eye when he was three, no idea how he did it, and he spent three weeks at the vets and cost £2500 to put right. He has scar tissue in his eye but his sight is OK although it will not be perfect. Had I not had it treated immediately he would have been blind in that eye and may even have lost the eye. He pierced the same eye out in his field a month ago and now has more scar tissue but luckily the eye healed quickly this time and I could treat it at home and it didn't ulcerate like it did previously; I had a visit from the vet as soon I got him in and saw his eye and a visit ten days later to ensure it was OK. I have never had any other horse do that so was horrified when he managed to do it the second time but prompt action on both occasions saved his sight and his eye.

He can still see out of the eye and has no obvious problems when doing anything from that side so I assume he still has reasonable vision in that eye. He had a big visible opaque area in his eye which virtually disappeared but he has now got another large opaque area. Hopefully that too will almost disappear with time.

Please do get your filly checked as you may be able to save her sight in that eye.

Barbara

Thats basically wht my boy did. He still has some of the opaque area in his eye but his vision has enproved tenfold. I actually have a few photos of the eye that Joe from Rocky Top Ranch sent me when I was looking to purchase him. I'm sure he wouldnt mind if I posted them. Its rather hard to see in both photos but the "blueish' area is what I'm talking about.
Gabe

This is from my experiences and what my vet did to prevent eye loss in a gelding. IMO please Vet check any eye injury or irritation immediatley. It is very important. Eye injuries vary in degree of severity. When dealing with a corneal laceration: Fungal infection can set in and that is far more expensive to treat, lowers success rate. Loss of the eye may be necessary if fungal infection sets in.

My vet did the following: drew 10 small vials of the geldings blood. Sent to a nearby lab to be "spun down for serium"..returned the vials to me to draw out the serium. Using a small cc syringe, with the needle bent off, the eye was flushed three times per day with his serium. Pain meds were given (eye injuries are very painful as we all know) a fly mask applied.

We did this treatment for one week. We also applied Monostat to prevent fungal infection in and around the eye, once per day for three days (we had heavy rain and this horse refused to be stalled). Monostat can cause some irritation but the threat of a fungal infection is far worse.

The eye was healed in one week, no scarring, no loss of sight. Scratches to the eye surface are serious. I am not stating that this is what has happened to the filly. This is just an example of how the body can heal it's self. The geldings own antibodies are what healed the eye. Very natural and it works. This preceedure is common in Europe where my vet was educated.

Please vet check..

Caszan

I have never heard of the "serum" treatment. My boy was treated with antibiotic cream and also had a contact lens put in to protect the eye which he managed to rub out in two days (at a cost of £90+vat). He then had another one in which stayed in for the time required.

Hope your filly is OK and isn't blind in her eye.

Barbara

Well, I'm pretty worried about your filly from what you have said.. she cannot find her dam and the Bell worked. That tells me she cannot see in either eye.

I wouldn't worry about her finding her dam right now, I'd get her butt to a VET.
and I mean that as it's the least of your worries at this time.

I had a mare that punctured her eye on one of our local trees that has thorns. I did not know it she showed no signs until the eye clouded over and she went blind in that eye. In a way it helped this mare, as she was terribly mean mare in the pasture, chasing everyone. After she lost the sight in one eye, she was a perfect mare and no longer nasty.

My Pure Polish mare that I purchased a few years ago, had a serious infection in her eye and would have lost it if it hadn't been for her previous owner getting her to a vet and treating it. It took her one year to get it resolved.

My Stallion got something in his eye that scratched it and Terimicin(sp) cleared it up, you can buy or order this from local feed/ tack stores. Since no longer need a perscription. I also use it if the horses eyes are getting irratated/pussy from flys etc. to keep any problems at bay. But, it is an antibotic, so not something I would use on a regular basis because they can become immune.

I hope the next post is "what the vet" said.

Georgia

Here is just one link of many pages of links on Google regarding the use of blood serum in treating eye injuries, in horses. My point in posting within this thread was to share health care new that perhaps many have not 'heard' about.

Please read for yourself, this option for treating an eye injury has been highly succesful on my farm and over 20 other farms in our area that have had simular situations arise after many accidental eye injuries.

Education is the point, *I AM NOT A VET AND DO NOT GIVE VET ADVISE*
I SIMPLY HOPE TO EXPAND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE BY SHARING WHAT HAS WORKED FOR MANY HORSES. You may be surprised at how many vets have not heard of this either.

http://www.ecmagazine.net/Winter0607/EyeInjuries101.htm

Thank you,
Caszan

I am a vet tech. We use serum for eye injuries quite frequently....especially when nothing else seems to work and/or the injury is such that this is the best option. Simply put we draw as much blood as we can...for cats and dogs I try to get at least 6cc. Let it clot and spin it till the serum seperates. We refridgerate it and the owner puts so many drops in so many times a day. Your vet will properly tell you if this is an option for your filly or not...but I would guess since it has been so long and you don't see any obvious trauma to the eyes that something more internal is going on here....

Hi Caszan

Wasn't meaning that your serum treatment was wrong or suspect, just that I had never heard of it and don't know of anyone who has had it done in UK; maybe there are lots but not that I know of. Hopefully I won't ever need it. I have told him if he does it again I will have his eyes removed and buy him a white stick!!!!

In all my years of horses I have never had one damage an eye before and he manages to do the same eye twice.

I have a horse with one blind eye, born that way, the eye is small and deformed, I got her several years ago, and she manages fine. She is a bit jumpy on her blind side so you have to be sure she knows you are there and you only touch her after she has turned her head to see you but apart from that she is normal.

I do hope the filly is OK and she has seen a vet.

Barbara

Hi all,

sorry for keeping you all waiting. The vet came friday and then I went straight to Holiday and am just back.
Sames that the filly is blind on both eyes.
She has no infection what so ever.
She was just born blind.
If they look in her eyes, they don't reflect, but give a white kind of color.
They can do some more inspections, but they prefer to wait till she is a bit older. However there is nothing they can do to make her see again.

Oh am so sorry to hear that...
She dont deserve it... I hope she will get her vision back oneday... God bless her...

Ehab

Poor filly.
In this instance I would really think about getting her a companion animal. Like a donkey or pony. Good luck with her. I'm sure God has blessed her greatly in other ways. May she be a joy onto you!
Gabe

Well... hopefully they will be something to be done in the future, but if not just remember she was blind from birth, which means, she doesn't know that she is blind and so is not suffering from a loss.

Kathy

Thank you for all your kind words.
I have bought a miniature horse yesterday.
We will bring them to gether when its time to sepperate from her mum..
I will do all I can to give her a normal live as possible!

Best wishes,
Talitha & Brasilia

This is very, very sad to hear in spite of the fact many horses live long, productive lives being blind.

Most foals don't have very good eye-sight when newborn - for perhaps weeks in duration. I'm not sure the age of your foal, so this may or may not be relevant. Another thing to consider is the blindness caused by juvenile familial seizure foal syndrome known to run in SE bloodlines. I'm not sure why, but these foals will often be completely blind or partially blind and sometimes, as they age, their sight comes back.. I don't want to give you false hope, but the fact that this filly could see you stand up and be fearful at some point (which contradicts "blind from birth") and now seems to be completely blind, correlates to my own experiences with this malady. A foal does not have to fall on the ground to be afflicted or diagnosed with this disease. Sometimes, rapid eye movements or running into things are a cue too. There are many other symptoms with this disease that would go unnoticed unless you actually have experience.

Nevertheless, I hope your filly's vision returns or at the very least, am grateful she will live out her life with you loved and happy .

Hi Dieter,
that is the same thing that keeps my mind busy as well.
When I took her to the feelds this morning, a bike was standing next to the stable. Normally this bike is not here and I would swear she was looking at it like what the hell is this?
We will see what the future will bring us. I will give her a second opinion of another vet next month. Maybe he says something completely different.
The mother is straight russian. Her sire is indeed part Egyptian, but their are no problems with his other foals. My vet told me Brasilia was just not finished when born. Time will tell...

love, Talitha

Dear Talitha,

I'm very sorry to hear this about your beautiful filly. I hope that this will resolve in time. Getting her a companion is really very good. In my experience with my blind horse, he always needs his buddy..to be his eyes. His other senses are more keen, hearing, smell, touch.

My blind horse follows voice commands, he seem to really understand what I say to him. I'd work with this little treasure now, she will "know" your voice. Honestly, my boy, when trotting up with his buddy at feeding time, if he is going too fast I can say "Scout, slow down"..and he does! I used lots of touch to guide him, tell him where I am around him. He picks his feet up, backs, turns, stands everything by voice. I'm sure others will give advise I hope they do, it's really common sense applied and I feel you can have success with this little girl.

I hope she did "see" or "sense" the bike by the barn either way she is coping already, adjusting to her enviromnet and will continue to cope. Another vet check is important, that will help you help her.

God bless your heart for giving her a chance at life. Did the vet think she was under-developed? When he said "she was not finished yet"?

Regardless, this foal is truly so beautiful!

Take care,
Caszan

Hi Caszan,

its kind of scary, getting in to this new adventure... Have never done anything like this before. I hope she learns to trust me.. Gladly her mother trusts me very very much, so she is learning from her mother that I am a friend..
Still, I can understand her fear.
The vet indeed ment under developed. Only with her eyes.. But then, she was only 5 days early!
Still a long way to go!!
Best wishes,

Talitha

Hi Talitha,

The mare can and will teach her foal to trust you. That has been my experience with mares with foals that trusted me.

I know it's scary, but if you start to work this little girl just by letting her get to know you, your smell, your voice, your touch. That will do a great deal for the road ahead. She will be less spooky with the reassurance of your voice.

My blind TB gelding rides, by voice or rein. He did have sight until at least age 14 we think based on his race records/papers. He also has learned tricks. He loves heavy metal rock music..head bobbs to it! I taught him to do that by rubbing his nose up and down..in minutes he was "head banging"..it's really funny but the kids who come to see him love it.

He also steps up onto a box (strong enough for his weight) and will "count" with his right front foot. He also, "steals" the blanket as he is being saddled then gives it back. Takes cowboy hats off, he can't "see" any of this it's been taught with a touch here and there..as his cue.

I've tried to give him a useful life..what else does he have to do? Just being funny, but trying to encourage you too.

Take care and hopefully others who may have ideas to help you will share too.
Caszan

Have hope. It could be there is slight swelling around the ocular nerves which can cause temporary blindness. If you note she's acting like she's seeing something when she is more relaxed, then she probably is. With a seizure foal, if they are nervous, scared or too excited, it seems to precede a seizure event (such as temporary blindness, or rapid eye movement) which can cause the foal to panic and injure itself (snowball affect). Low stress is good - no extreme heat, no sudden changes, no new or aggressive horses - the foal needs to feel safe if it is afflicted with this syndrome until it gains confidence in itself and it's surroundings.

Time heals all wounds and in this case I hope it heals you beautiful filly's eyesight

Kind Regards,

Liz Dieter
JEVA Farms.

Hi all,

I don't know if a miracle happened or that I was right all time.
When Brasilia was born, I thought she was blind on one eye.
After a check by the vet, he diagnosed she was blind on both eyes.
Now, two weeks later, the behavior of the filly has certainly changed.

From one day to the other the filly is now not frightned, you can cuddle her, she comes directly running to you when you enter the field, she is running and playing and teasing mum in the fields. She is much more self convident and being just a little naughty girl.

So, I am thinking that somehow, she got her vision back again. It hasnt been confirmed by the vet yet, but...

Can be just one eye, but she doesnt have her head hanging towards one site and she is following every bird, every insect, every dog/human what so ever. So maybe a miracle has passed and she got her sight back again!

Will keep you postet ofcourse!

Best wishes,

Talitha & Brasilia

I really have my fingers crossed for you! It sounds promising!
She is such a lovely filly!
Please let us know what the vet says!

the vet wants to wait till she is older and more relaxed. So he will check her again in a few months. Hope for the best!

Wow wouldn't that be just wonderful, I will keep everything crossed for you and the litlte filly!!

Kathy

awe what a pretty girl .. make sur ethe pony gets the bell after mom weans her .

here's hoping for the best May be she has a condition called moon blindness

http://www.igs.net/~vkirkwoodhp/eru.htm#intro

Well.. lets hope so.. she is beautiful.. loved the picture when the young girl found "THE" spot. how cute.

I have only just caught up with this thread. I do hope that your filly is getting her sight, everyone on this forum will be sending her healing vibes. You must have been very upset; how wonderful if she ends up able to see normally. You could try putting a finger in front of her eye and slowly moving it down to see if she follows it.

Good luck.

Barbara

Hi all,

another break through at our side.
Yesterday we inseminated the dam of Brasilia and Brasilia was kind of borred walking around in the stable.
Then suddenly her eyes where focused on a halter hanging at the stabledoor and she grapped it with her mouth!
Shaking it up and down, dropped it on the floor then took it again and was playing with the halster. My vet and I where like... okay??? How did she do that when she cannot see?
So maybe this is going the right way!!!
ok, just wanted to share this with you!

Best wishes,

Talitha & Brasilia

Like I said get your vet to test for moon blind ness . always good to rule that out

It certainly sounds as if your lovely filly can see, I do hope she recovers completely. Sending healing vibes to her. give her a big hug from me and tell her to get better real soon.

Barbara