It was fun as a kid, but it’s not so great now.

As we age, we don’t see like we used to. It’s hard at first to accept this. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t read the menu in Taco Bell. I kept blaming the curved signs for me not being able to read them. Then one day I walked in with my driving glasses on, and wow! it wasn’t the sign. When I went to get my eyes checked a few years before, the doctor asked if I could see while I was driving. I said sure, I can see just fine. He asked how I knew I was seeing fine. Good question.

So when I notice horses snorting at things that never bothered them before, the question came up, can they see?

Usually when they get cataracts, changing from the light to the dark or dark to the light bothers them. They come into the light and start blinking.

With the new horse that came in a couple of weeks ago, the owner warned me that he didn’t see well. He’s only 14, so I did have my doubts. She told me that he wouldn’t go into a dark stall. Well she was right. You have to put the light on, or once he trusts you, he will follow you in, but he will not enter it by himself. He will also not enter the lean to in the dark. He cannot find his way through the gate. Once he’s in there and has to come out, it scares him and he will bolt and hit his hips on the 6 x 6 on the way out.

Are you paying attention to your horses eye sight? It’s funny. At the eye specialist I bring my dog to, he has an eye chart for dogs. Instead of letters, it has a dog house, a hydrant, a cat, dog bone, ball, and various things that dogs love. Of course they don’t read it, but it is cute.

As far as horses go, I guess it could have a carrot, apple, bucket of grain, or whatever you could imagine. The thing is, they can’t use it either. So it’s up to us to be aware of when their eye sight starts to fail. You can’t beat them for being afraid of something they can’t identify. They can’t help it. You have to ask yourself – is he afraid, is he yanking my chain, or is his sight failing?

Please be aware and understanding of their needs because of failing eye sight. You may be there someday too. Of course we have the option of glasses, they don’t.

Everyone talks about the Body Mass Index for women and men. We’ve become so conscience of different things in our lives, especially about weight and our health. Not that by going to Wal-Mart you can tell that anybody is really interested. Oh my, the bodies and the outfits. Do these people have mirrors? Don’t they care? Freaky!!!!!

But do you pay any attention to your horses BMI?

Their bodies are constantly changing. This is due to many factors. Amount of work, age, amount of food intake, conditioning, (have they been to the gym? lifting weights??). BUT are we taking notice?

When I was up north, I always wanted to put extra weight on my horses before the winter. If they shiver, they lose weight. Their bodies will burn up fat to stay warm. They were also going into full swing Hunting Season. The weight will change to muscle. They would become “racing fit.” There is a big difference between a thin horse and a fit horse. Pay attention folks.

Down here I run into a different problem. Spring and late fall present a weight change for pasture horses. I try to fatten them up before time. When winter comes, they don’t want to give up the pasture and switch to hay. Weight loss. Come spring when the grass firsts starts coming in – “we don’t want hay anymore.” But then grass dries because we’re not into the rainy season yet, so “we’ll take some of that hay now, thank you.” Then the rain starts and it’s no more hay. But with all this bouncing back and forth, we always have weight loss. Nothing much, but I keep a close eye on it.

It’s very hard when you see a horse every day to see a slight weight change. Now people who haven’t seen them in a while will notice.

It’s the same with muscle. They may look – not so filled in on all the right places. This will also happen if they aren’t getting enough water. They’ll look sunk in.

This can also mean your tack won’t fit them quite the same. You may notice your saddle sitting down too much. Watch for those dry spots under the pad when you’re finished riding. All of a sudden your girth is too big or too small. Yes they may stretch out, but it’s up to you to know the difference.

If you look at them and it seems they don’t look like you remember them, maybe they’re not.

It’s a simple correction once you notice the change, but sometimes getting them to accept more hay, or even grain for that matter, may be a problem. I have two horses that will only eat X amount of grain. Then you have to go to an extra feeding to trick them. And like the old saying goes – You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. (Except my neighbors horses – she says DRINK! and they do.)

Just really look at your horses bodies, and carefully monitor them.

I’ve known several people who didn’t notice their grain wasn’t working for them, and they got highly insulted when it was mentioned.

Look for those nooks and crannies on your horses that they mention on the English Muffins ads.