Cataracts?

nicolawx

nicolawx

Legends Never Die
Aug 7, 2008
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Sorry if this is in the wrong section, but i wanted some advice asap :)
How serious is Cataracts? One of the horses from my old college was £4000 and now he is apparently only worth £1000 and i am considering buying him.
He was my favourite horse from college and he gave me so much confidence, he would be my ideal first horse as i know him so well.
How much is it likely to affect his ridden career, according to the vet it's only a tiny bit.
I wouldn't be doing anything like big competitions or anything, just schooling and the odd small jump.
Thanks for your help :)
 
Storm has cataracts and according to our vet they're not a problem. I don't know if there are varying degrees / types - but the ones she has aren't going to affect her ridden career.
 
Thanks :)
My family aren't horsey at all so it's up to me to show them that they shouldn't affect his ridden career.
They are considering putting in an offer for him, so fingers crossed they don't change their minds.
 
Depends on the type of cataract, if he has them in one or both eyes and if they are likely to get any worse. Some cataracts can be operated on.
Horses can live with cataracts just fine and can be ridden as any other horse. (You obviously have to sensitive to the fact that the sight may be limited due to them). The problem would be if the cataracts got worse and the sight deteriorated. If the cataracts are just in one eye it won't be as much of a problem, however, if they are in both and they get worse, you could find that you see many changes in the horses temprement. I own a horse who is blind in one eye and he is just fine, a friend of mine has a horse that she rides that has cataracts again the horse is fine. This is because they both still have sight.
If both eyes were badly affected, then the horse could potentially become dangerous. When I was 16 I had a TB who lost his sight in both eyes quite rapidly (not through cataracts). We saw a change in his personality and decided to get the vet out. He became clingy to other horses in the feild (especially mares as he could smell them easier), he would panic if he was not near other horses and race around the field (nearly knocking people over), some days he would just be very depressed and stand still, head down not moving for fear that he couldn't see where he was going. Sadly he had to be put down.

If the horse you are interested in has given you confidence and you get on well then it's a brilliant start. Its always advised that you get a potential horse vetted by your own vet before pruchasing it. A vetting will look at all aspects of the horses health and if you let the vet know there are concerns about the horses eyes, they can make sure they can check them thouroughly.

Good luck!
I hope it all goes wel for you :)
 
Thanks Hack-Tack that was really helpful.
As far as i'm aware it's only a very small amount of cataracts in just the one eye.
I was shocked when they said he's only worth £1000 now because of it, he is a genuine schoolmaster and loves his jumping, problem is, i know someone else is very interested so i'll have to see what happens.
 
hack-tack said:
If the horse you are interested in has given you confidence and you get on well then it's a brilliant start. Its always advised that you get a potential horse vetted by your own vet before pruchasing it. A vetting will look at all aspects of the horses health and if you let the vet know there are concerns about the horses eyes, they can make sure they can check them thouroughly.
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Totally agree with this. You MUST get a good, independent horse vet to look at him & tell them in advance that there's a problem. You need an opinion on the longterm outlook not just how his sight is now, so make sure that's what you ask for. Then be guided by what they say even if it isn't what you want to hear. Don't be rushed just because someone else is interested, I know it's tempting to try & get in first but it really isn't worth it if it could end up costing you thousands & still leave you wth an unrideable horse (or no horse at all). Also be aware that any vet insurance will exclude the cataracts as they're a pre-existing condition that you must declare.

If his value has dropped from £4,000 to £1,000 then I'd suspect that a vet has already given an unfavourable or very guarded prognosis, but that could just be me being cynical.

My personal opinion would be to give it a miss. There's enough goes wrong without buying known problems.
 
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