Q: We have a 19-year-old Appaloosa gelding that is going blind fast from a genetic disease. He is not coping with it well; he stumbles around, runs into things, leaves the herd, then gets confused and panics. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.
A: Horses which become blind quickly often are very panicky. Horses which lose their sight slowly have time to adjust to their blindness and are therefore less concerned about it.
Blind horses generally do quite well in their home environment. Many can be ridden by experienced riders. I think this Appaloosa just needs a lot of time and patience to adjust to his poor vision...
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