Bind Weanling

Hey everyone! I have a friend who breeds quarter horses and has a blind baby this year. They don't know if she was born blind or if she lost her sight during an illness when she was a few days old. The owner isn't sure what to do with her but knows that she can't sell her because she doesn't want her to end up in the wrong hands or in a kill pen. She offered to give her to me.. and I love this little baby, she is such a sweetie! And so smart! Does anyone have any experiences with blind horses? Old or young? Any horses that were born blind?

Thanks!

Oh, so sad. I commend you for wanting to take this baby on

And any comments on training and riding blind horses?

Thanks! She is such a sweetie :)

Never dealt with a fully blind horse but have dealt eith 2 half blind. One was an amazing trail/ kids horse the other was an awesome gymkhana/ endurance/ trail/ lesson / kids horse.
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A guide to loving and caring for blind horses

I've never had to work with a blind horse, but just from my experience with other horses I'm suggesting you use your voice a lot, and always use the same vocal cue when you are approaching, and a different vocal cue just before you touch her. That way she will not be startled. This might be a very challenging horse to keep, as she will have lost one of her senses and therefore be a risk to herself and those around her.......Im sure others here have some good tips

Paintedpastures- thanks! I've done a ton of research. Most of the sources only have info about horses that had most of their training before going blind.

BarrelRacingArabian- The same lady owned a mare who was kicked in the eye and lost her sight in one eye. She was still a great kids horse and jumped and barrel raced. But having some sight is very different from having no sight.... and of course, this mare was broke before going blind

I worked with her for a bit the other night. She was very nervous at first because she couldn't see what was going on around her. She gets nervous whenever she leaves her stall- kinda sad :( But the more I worked with her, the more she relaxed. By the end of the session, she was very relaxed and willing to learn. I'll see if I can figure out how to post a picture on here :)

The more she trusts you the better she will get however she will fully rely on you. Use voice commands and when changing her surroundings be sure to make it as safe and simple as possible. I don't have experience with fully blind as I mentioned but had a dog go completely blind she relied a ton on voice / touch and memory. We couldn't switch things up very much without showing her the difference she bumped into stuff a lot but was perfectly fine.
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