One Eyed Bandit - Horse With One Eye
|
|
I met Bandit, a 13.3 piebald gelding at my trainer’s barn two years ago around August 2011. He was a crazily fast half-blind piebald who was a mini-me to a horse named Nippers. Bandit thrived as a lesson horse; he was fit, happy and well ridden at the small barn. No one knows the true story of how he lost an eye, but we guess that someone hosed him on his blind side, he spooked and the cross-tied pinged into his left eye, leaving the vet no choice but to remove the eye.
The school barn didn't want to spend the money on his treatment, so my trainer collected the money to avoid having Bandit put down. After 3 weeks of stall rest, a couple sets of bandages and loads of treats later, he was moved to a boarding barn where I half leased him to get him back to work and help pay for his board. As for the scar that the removal of his eye left, most people don’t even notice he’s missing an eye. If Bandit was a couple hands bigger I would buy him on instant. In addition to his eye injury, Bandit has a locking stifle problem from a injury in the field at the schooling barn, but other than that, and being a bit chubby, he is a healthy pony!
Since losing his eye Bandit has had balloons popped on his blind side and doesn't even flinch. He has even been ridden completely blind by covering his head with a raincoat. Bandit jumps and only has trouble with going in circles because of his locking stifle, and bumping into things and his favorite spot to be itched is actually his eye socket, weird pony.
Recently, all the other half leases on Bandit have stopped and I only borrow him for Pony Club events. Bandit may be sent back to his original home when I get my own horse where he would get better care to live out his life - but until then, I will do what I can to keep him comfortable and happy.
|
|
|
|
14 days ago
• 9,819 views
|
|
|
|
|
Related Horse News
|
|
12th Apr 2011 |
Horse Stories |
Artista
You might have heard of seeing eye dogs before, but what about a seeing eye horse?
Seeing Eye horses (Also called Assistance Animals, Guide Ponies, etc.) aren't a huge trend in the world of assistance animals, but in special ca ...
|
|
31st Mar 2010 |
Horse Stories |
mosquito
There’s a time for every rider when they wonder why does their horse see monsters behind a jump, a tree, or a puddle? What do they see? Well, we can’t actually look through their eyes to know what the world looks like to them, bu ...
|
|
One of the most common eye problems in horses is uveitis or moon blindness. The real name for Uveitis is Equine Recurrent Uveitis or ERU for short. Uveitis is a disease that comes and goes. Uveitis refers to the inflammation of th ...
|
|
I met Bandit, a 13.3 piebald gelding at my trainer’s barn two years ago around August 2011. He was a crazily fast half-blind piebald who was a mini-me to a horse named Nippers. Bandit thrived as a lesson horse; he was fit, happy a ...
|
|
There was a large knot on the side of his head the size of a grapefruit. I iced it for about forty-five minutes. I started crying. I lost it. I’m like my mother, I don’t cry except for extreme occasions. I walked away, dropped to ...
|
|
Equine Recurrent Uveitis (ERU) or Moonblindness can strike at any time and with any horse. Would you know what to look for? I didn't, until recently. ...
|
|
Green eyes occur on horses that are perlino, or cremello type colors. They appear green but might be blue with a gold ring around the outside of the colored area. It is possible for a very pale buckskin colored horse to have eyes ...
|
|
If you look at different horses, you will start to notice that beyond color, markings, height and build, there are many more subtle differences between them. You might think that all horse’s eyes are exactly the same. But, we’ve s ...
|
|
Many people think that animals, including horses see in shades of grey. This isn't true. Horses may not see some colors as vividly as we do, because they can only see two visible wavelengths in the color spectrum, whereas we can s ...
|
|
The simplest first aid treatment for any eye problem is washing the area with a saline solution. You can easily make this at home with cooled boiled water and sea salt. There are lots of recipes online and you can’t go too far wro ...
|
|
More News by RememberMeForThis
|
|
When going to a show you will need a stall card so others can have need-to-know information that will help in an emergency. Also, they can look pretty darn cool. You will want to have some records of your horse. Such as a negative ...
|
|
If you own a paint, draft or another horse with any white feathers, mane or tail, you probably hate yourself for buying that horse when you enter the show ring. Fact is, white gets dirty. This uncommon trick will get them white ag ...
|
|
Your aids are pretty important, but if you ask for the canter at the wrong time, your horse may stumble into the trot (if at a walk) to get up into the canter, or get the wrong lead. That doesn't look pretty. Knowing when to ask w ...
|
|
As a hopeful for a job as a professional horse trainer, I work hard with the horses I ride. But I can't expect to get on a horse as a trainer and immediately have the horse conform to my commands. What I do expect is for myself to ...
|
|
The benefits of free lounging are many. You can earn the respect of your horse, meaning if you have a pushy horse that is always in your space, free lounging will be a step in the right direction for teaching them to respect your ...
|
|
|