Horse Accident

I am still fairly new to the horse forum, but as some of you know I was training for barrels on my horse for this spring. She has had an accident and sliced the cornea of her eye . She is my first horse so I was devestated and felt absolutely terrible bc I called her in the pasture and she was running towards me.....this was two weeks ago and I still am crying about it. I had the emergency vet out right away and then we went for surgery the next morning. He made all the repairs he could, he seems to be optimistic about saving the eye, she has lots of stitches and will prob have little or no vision in that eye. Now that the shock of the whole ordeal is over and I can think straight I am concerned with the "little" part.... Would it be scarier for her to see blurs or nothing at all. And NOW I wonder if saving the eye was the smart choice or should I have just had it removed in the first place??? I am so stressed out!!! On the UP side this happened two weeks ago and it is amazing to see how she has adjusted so quick ... but she is also wearing a guard over it keeping it closed. Has anyone had any experience with this type of situation, any advice would be such a relief???

I'm a little confused on what your vet meant. Usually when they say "save the eye" that refers to the sight, not just the actual orb.
If she is doing well with the eye shut I'm sure she'll be fine without sight in that eye.

Depending on how the eye heals, you might be able to leave it and it might just shrink up eventually. If there are issues with healing, or fluid behind the eye, you might remove it and have the eyelids sewn shut. She will adapt to whatever vision she does or does not have.
My daughter rode her mare, with one eye in barrels and poles and she was fast fast fast in both. The blind side actually was her better side for turning. No issues at all, the injury happened about 10 years before we bought her...
It was almost funny at the barrel racing events, people would stare at her and make comments before she got in the gate, when she got done running, they were open mouthed at her ability and speed.We got to finally joking about people asking" is your horse missing an eye?"... (hmm, lets see, eyelids sewn shut, no "bump" from the eye in the socket, you think???). We would say to each other" Oh heck, she must have lost it in the trailer, it was there when we loaded her up".
Anyway, anything you might have to do in the future will depend on how it heals.Since you did good and got a vet out immediately, there is a good chance there will be a scar on the cornea, and she might or might not lose vision, but you will probably not have to take the eye out.
It was an accident and nothing you did could have prevented it. Don't make yourself sick about it,she was just coming to see you and it happened.

If your horse loss her sight in the eye you will have to work with her to get use to loss sight on that side she will be fine I know a lot of horses that had an eye removed because of injuries and they are great trail riding horses

Wyominggrandma: That just made me feel so much better thanks alot, I have seen horses run barrels with one eye, I haven't even slowed down long enough to think about the process they went thru to get adjusted as well. Its just a waiting game now....I know you said that she had lost her ten years ago, but do you happen to know of an estimated healing time by any chance? I know it probably depends on the cut and I'll ask my vet when we go for a check up this week But i'm just curious.

I would think she'd be spooky for a while but once she adjusts to her new vision it shouldn't bother her.

Natisha, with the horse I think the vet actually meant save the eyeball. Many times w/ these types of injuries they actually have to remove it. I know there is a horse that shows in the hunt circuit (jumps beautifully) that has only one eye. The other side is a hollow impression where the eye used to be. The owner calls him Private Eye... Very cute....

Also ....anyone with any experience with a horse that still has the injured eye?? As far as sunlight bothering it or anything strenuous being an issue later on down the road??? I just hate to keep forking out for the eye itself when ultimately its going to have to be removed. I want to save it but is it worth it to keep trying?