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  Discussion on Heterochromia:Horses having one white, grey,blue eye
Author Message
Member:
sihri

Posted on Sunday, Feb 28, 2010 - 8:52 am:

Hi, I am a new member and originally started posting under the cloudy eye topic. My mini mare recently had a grey?/white pinto colt. He is healthy but one eye is a normal brown he has a grey patch around this eye. The other is white with some possibly blue color bottom inner corner. I thought at first his I was turned in. My vet checked him and at first thought he didn't have an eye there at all but with further inspection his eye is there. It is smaller than his other eye but does reflect light of what might be a pupil we did check for blindness but he was less than 24 hours old (born 2/25/2010 @ 11:58 pm)and did not respond to testing with either eye (vet said he is too young to have a definitive response to the test at this time). This eye has pink skin surrounding the eye,no sign of swelling or infection and was born this way. Normal birth with no complications or traumas. I was present at the foaling and he was given a clean bill of health by the vet(2/26/2010).Member Vicki Z Posted that the description of the eye reminded her of Australian Shepherds Marbled eye and I think she may be right. I did a internet search on australian Shepherd with marbled eyes and wikipedia had an article on animals with heterochromia (causes the marbled eyes): "Horses with complete heterochromia have one brown and one white, gray or blue eye - complete heterochromia is more common in horses with pinto coloring." Can anyone confirm this statement from wikipedia? Do the Horses require any special care? I've included the only picture I have of the colt. Sorry for the poor quality of the photograph.
Amber's Colt
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Feb 28, 2010 - 11:10 pm:

He's a cutie, Nancy.

Thanks for that information about Heterochromia.
Member:
sihri

Posted on Sunday, Feb 28, 2010 - 11:19 pm:

Thank you! I'm not sure how Accurate the information from wikipedia is. I know I still have a lot of questions
Member:
cometrdr

Posted on Monday, Mar 1, 2010 - 3:34 pm:

awe hes adorable - hows he doing now - 4 days later? is he ok in all other respects?
Member:
sihri

Posted on Monday, Mar 1, 2010 - 4:51 pm:

He is doing well and full of spunk!!!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Mar 1, 2010 - 5:55 pm:

Hello Nancy,
Heterochromatic eyes simply mean the horse has two different color eyes. Yes this is more common in paints and pintos but in general does not require more attention than homochromatic eyes. Of course eyes without pigment do often require extra protection from summer sun or else irritation ensues.

But the small eye is not a feature of being two different colors. It would be surprising if this smaller eye has sight. Can we see images taken from the front that allow us to see both eyes at the same time and if not perhaps side views taken from the same distance so we can compare sizes?
DrO
Member:
sihri

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 2, 2010 - 10:58 am:

Dear Dr O These are the pictures I was able to get and upload. They may be different sizes. I tried to get one of each side and front. colts eyes
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 2, 2010 - 5:40 pm:

It's hard to tell here if they are a different size or just look that way due to coloration and background.

You may need to measure them to know for sure.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 3, 2010 - 4:32 pm:

The images do not really help me decide about it being congenitally smaller. Is the lighter colored eye cloudy?
DrO
Member:
sihri

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 3, 2010 - 7:57 pm:

Dr O I've never seen a horse with an eye like this before He does seem to show the ability to see (reaching for your hand, backing when you approach,not walking/banging into things)from both sides. There is some color on the bottom and inner corner. When my vet examined his eye with a light it reflected a clear image of what might be a pupil but it is all white, in daylight it does seem milky, slightly cloudy. I uploaded an image that hopefully will be a clearer.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Mar 5, 2010 - 6:42 pm:

Nancy the image is still out of focus and does not allow for evaluation of the cornea.
DrO
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