Today I’ll be writing more about the horse’s eyes, more specifically there line of sight, see rough diagram above of the horses line of sight. As you can see the horse can see nearly all the way around it’s self but has a blind spot behind and just in front of the face. Because of the blind spot in front of the face when you walk straight up to a horse you will disappear from the horses sight, most horses will move there head to keep you in there sight or perhaps step backwards to bring you back into sight.
If you approach a horse from an angle it will keep you in their view, this is also the way to approach a horse to show you are a friend. If you are far away from a horse some may turn their head to catch you with both eyes, you should be able to see where both eyes meet, on my diagram, when a horse uses two eyed vision it is binocular view.
Now if we return to the blind spot in front of the horses face. The blind spot is about six feet in front of the horse, but of course you have to take into consideration where the horse eyes are set on the horse. The blind spot can affect the horse when jumping as most horses must jump from the memory of the jump, so if they lose focus or become distracted in some way you may find your horse runs straight into the jump because they forgot when to jump. But with all that said the position of the horses head and the setting of the eyes can all play a part in it.
Anyway that’s it on the horses line of sight for now, I hope you found this interesting if so you can click the link to read one of my older posts with more about the horses eye.
5 comments:
This is very interesting indeed! - That bottom photo is spectacular, you sure do capture some great shots with feeling!
Very interesting about the line of sight.It makes me think of the trust the horse has to have in its rider while working on the bit for any length of time. With its concentration on the riders instruction it can't be easy for the horse to memorise what it is about to step into. Taking a mesurement from its head to its next step would be approx 6ft!!! That is if it is a 16.hh plus and not a 13hh. pony
Very interesting post Edward. Sometimes I think Spotty has an eye in the back of his head as he can see food at any angle! :) Great pictures as always. Hope the weather has improved enough for you to ride over the weekend.
Kind regards, Abby
I have to be careful when I ask for Pippi to get her headset and that she doesnt lower her head to much, that can really mess with her site. Thankfully she normally fixes it before I do.
I do know this, but I often find myself walking straight up to my horse and touching the front of his face... Silly me. I never thought of them being "blind" to the fence when they jump... another reason to add to why I am not fond of jumping!
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