The good news is Gwen's eyes are fine, BUT she had a very negative initial reaction to the test light. When the vet tried to look in her right eye she LEAPT away. Interesting. The vet said she'd never had a horse do that before. So even though her eyes look perfectly healthy it appears that she's very light sensitive.
This explains a lot. White is very light reflective, if she's light sensitive and a glare came of the Great White Trailer of Death and flashed her in the eye it would have been quite painful- which would explain the bolt and her not wanting to go near it again.
My vet suggested that I take her out with a fly mask on to help cut any glare that might hurt her eyes and I'm going to give that a try. It probably won't help with the Great White Trailer of Death because she's already afraid of it but it might help somewhere else.
In the meantime I'm working on keeping myself calm when she's upset like Racheal suggested. I took the Quarters next door so Gwen could get a look around before they have to go over on Thursday (horse dentist requested stalls and those only exist next door), and she was pretty good about it. There was one moment in particular, though, where I felt her getting anxious about something. I concentrated on keeping myself calm and sort of blank: she looked at me, looked at her brother, saw neither one of us was bothered, sighed and started grazing. It's a start.
Thank you! That was a bit of advice I really needed.
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| Gwen says thanks too |
Love the header photo!
ReplyDeleteWeird about the light sensitivity, but good to know.
I think that is the best advice ever. Clearing your own mind, remaining calm, empty your thoughts. All of these have worked for me so much in my journey with horses.
I'm thinking the fly mask would really help with the light sensitivity, if not you could always invest in a pair of really big sunglasses (just kidding).
ReplyDeleteRemaining calm really threw her a curve. Good for you. I like that she looked to everyone else to see how she should be reacting.
I've been riding with a fly mask lately, too, to solve Cowboy's head shaking. Yesterday he had it on, tied to the trailer, and I approached him and sprayed him with the fly spray before our ride. He pulled back like crazy. Cowboy has NEVER pulled back before and I've owned him for eight years. It has really helped his head-shaking, but poor visibility is causing him to be more reactive and has skewed his ability to judge water crossings--so more balking. I have a riding mask coming that will reduce glare but still give him visibility. It's the one Grey Horse Matters has by Cashel. I can't wait until it gets here!! I hope the fly mask solves your problems, too.
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