Spot on his iris

Yesterday I called the horses up from the pasture for their morning feeding. I noticed that Hollywood's eye was tearing and semi closed but no swelling. Last night I checked him out again and noticed a tiny white spot (about the size of a large pencil point) on his iris that was still there this morning (his eye was fully open last night). He didn't seem in discomfort nor did he appear to have any vision problems.

I'm thinking that he got poked with something out in the pasture since there was some very high winds and a lot of hay blowing around. Thoughts?

That's what it sounds like to me. I've got some antifungal stuff in the barn that the vet gave me to put on blues eye when he did that. I'll go down in a bit and see what it's called. I'm pretty sure it was over the counter stuff...

I had a horse once that threw a fit in the trailer and injured his eye quite badly. The only indication was a little spot on his eye untill the vet put a couple drops of dye in it and then you could see a long scratch alond his eye. The eye was stitched closed for a couple of weeks and he ended up fine. There are very few things that make me call the vet but eye problems are at the top of the list. Get him looked at ASAP.

Eye injuries should be examined by a veterinarian right away. The fact that you can see a discoloration on the eye is a good indicator that there is damage there and that can become a very serious issue in a matter of a couple of days. This is because the cornea (outer layer of the eye) doesn't have good blood supply so the body's white blood cells that normally speed to an area to fight off invading organisms such as bacteria or fungi cannot get to these wounds on the cornea right away. It takes several days for blood vessels to grow out to the damaged area so that the body can effectively fight infection and heal the area. In those days, the fungi and/or bacteria that have contaminated the area have pretty much free rein to multiply and continue to damage the area. It only takes a matter of a few days for a simply corneal scratch or abrasion to be so damaged by invading organisms that it ulcerates completely through the cornea. Topical medications should not be applied without first having an exam. Certain topicals can actually make matters worse. And besides topical antibiotics or antifungals, there are other drugs that should be used to help aid healing and decrease discomfort associated with eye injuries.

Get a vet out to examine the eye and treat it right away.

I second everything Ryle said. Tears and blinking/squinting are a sign of pain and must be attended to immediately. Never ever put anything in the eye because if you inadvertantly use a steroidal (which many eye creams have in them) on a corneal ulcer, you can make more of the cornea slough off, even causing rupture of the globe in the *extreme* cases. I hope you're able to get the vet out asap, corneal ulcers and eye wounds in general are particularly serious in horses.

Thanks to everyone. I appreciate the advise and the vet will be called first thing in the morning. I'll le you know what they say.

The vet was here and gone. Hollywood had an ulcerated eye but there was nothing stuck in there and he is going to be fine a a few days.

He got a shot of Bannamine, some drops of Flurbiprofen Sodium Ophthalmic Solution and a ribbon of Vetropolycin. I have to continue with all the above for a few days and he should be as good as new.