Our Horse\u2019s eyes are so beautiful aren\u2019t they. My piebald cob has the most gorgeous blue eyes, I love them! When we got our big girl Ellen, I thought I might find it weird having a horse without blue eyes. But I love her eyes, big and soft. A good representation of her.<\/p>\n
At this time of year, flies are all over our horses\u2019 eyes. My cob hates having her fly mask on, if I\u2019m honest, I hate putting it on. The lovely blue eyes are hidden. And then there\u2019s the task of trying to find a mask to fit Ellen. Ellen is a Dutch Draft Horse, and she has a truly huge head.<\/p>\n
On social media, I see a lot of posts about how eyes are being irritated by the flies, and people asking what they can do. Now I\u2019m no expert, certainly not a vet and I really don\u2019t have a clue how effective a cold tea bag is. But you know your horses, and if you think there is a slight chance it isn\u2019t just flies or dust from it being dry, please don\u2019t ignore it.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Ellen was still rather new to us. But her eye was overly gross. So, I took a photo and I went to my vet. They also thought probably flies, and we were given cream. This actually seemed to help, until we run out. In the end, the vet had a look and found a tumour on her third eyelid. Now, Ellen is pretty much my mum\u2019s baby. So, when the vet found it, he seemed completely unfazed. But I\u2019m sure my mum was gutted. TUMOUR. That word strikes fear doesn\u2019t it. We thought the worst, obviously.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, my vet was brilliant, and we had to book Ellen in to have the third eyelid removed. She then decided on our dreaded day, that she wouldn\u2019t load. 16.2, nearly a tonne draft horse deciding not to load, isn\u2019t fun. I\u2019m sure we are now known at the vets as the big horse than never turns up. But once again, my vets were just excellent, and they came to our yard and removed it.<\/p>\n
We still had to wait for tests, and hope that it had a good margin so that it hadn\u2019t spread to her eye. These thankfully came back as fine although it was a stem cell carcinoma. To add to that, she then had the same thing last year, and we had to go through it all again.<\/p>\n
If we had ignored the first time, Ellen may not have an eye now, if any eyes. The process of removing her third eyelid was really quick, it\u2019s not a large removal and wasn\u2019t nearly horrific as I had imagined. Bless her, she probably doesn\u2019t agree with me.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not trying to scare people into rushing to their vet every five minutes, but I do think we know our horses. If you think \u201cactually I\u2019m not sure\u201d, or \u201cmaybe it isn\u2019t just flies\u201d then go to your vet. I have a fab vet clinic not far and it doesn\u2019t cost you a thing to just walk in and ask to speak to a vet.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t ignore their eyes, they are such a big part of them.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t added gory photos, and I have to say a big thank you to Bell Equine Veterinary Clinic for being so brilliant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"