Blacky: A horse with only one eye

How to work with an insecure horse

Blacky is an eight-year-old gelding. His eye had to be surgically removed due to moon blindness.

What used to be a very steady and easy horse, was turned into an insecure and sometimes really spooky horse ever since his eye was removed.

He is particularly sensitive to sounds when riding. The left side where he can still see is the most sensitive one.

It's as if somebody you really care for has been in a car accident.

If you’ve got a horse that has lost one eye it can be a very dramatic experience for the both of you.

And trauma can cause insecurity to get even worse. So to get rid of that both you and you’re horse have to let go of the trauma and fear.

If you don’t let go, chances are you will handle your horse differently in a way where you don’t give him enough space. It’s as if somebody you really care for has been in a car accident and you’re always worried and concerned.

Instead, let your horse be a master of himself.

The worst thing you can do to make your horse more insecure is to keep him to close to you, by holding him or restraining him.

The right thing to do is is to give your horse his own place in the space of conversation, where he can stand on his own four feet.

Make your horse aware of his own body.

If you have a horse with only 1 eye, he has learned to deal with this by overcompensating on the side with the eye he still has a vision with.

This causes his body to become unbalanced. And that makes him even more insecure.

The first step you can take to reduce his uncertainty in this is to rebalance his body.

You can achieve this with the awareness exercise, in which you make your horse aware of his own body and senses.

The right order of movement.

When moving the hind legs, you are teaching your horse a good order of movement.

A good order of movement means that your horse knows where he has to put his feet to stay balanced.

You can achieve this with the moving the hind legs exercise.

During this exercise, and especially when your horse is mastering it, you will find that your horse becomes more and more focused an in control of himself.

Watch the full training.

Do you want to know how I got to the point during this training where Blacky became completely relaxed and in control of his own body?

I explain it all in the Types Of Horses Module, which is part of my Reduce Tension Course. Click the link below for more information!

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