Dennis Brooks, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVO, is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Florida. He opened his talk at the AAEP's Horseman's Day with a short video of an upper level dressage horse and rider. The horse is competing in fourth level completely blind. This unusual case was caused by the horse stepping on a nail and resulted in a systemic infection that got in his eyes and resulted in glaucoma.

"I always dedicate my lectures to the horses that I couldn't fix," said Brooks. "When I first got in practice, I failed often because we thought horse eyes didn't heal. The horse eye heals tremendously. We just have to learn."

He stressed that horse owners should begin to watch their horses' eyes because the sooner you see something wrong, the sooner your vet can get there and the sooner the horse can be healed