Premier Horse Agistment

Split Rock Mountain

Horses have the largest eyes of any land dwelling mammal. Their eyes are not only larger than ours, but they are also very different.

As horses’ eyes are located on the sides of their heads, they have a 350 degree view. In other words, there is only 10 degrees, of the 360 degrees surrounding them, that they cannot see. As prey animals, horses need to scan their surroundings as effectively as possible. 

Horses are extremely aware of any movement in their peripheral vision. A shadow changes shape, something moves in the grass and they are instantly on the alert. Horses have evolved to use their speed of reaction to survive. Leave first, ask questions later.

However, there are two spots where horses cannot see. The first is directly behind them. This is why it is unwise to approach horses from behind, without being sure that they know you are there. If they do not know who or what you are, they will assume predator. Sneaking up on horses from behind is a life threatening activity. 

The second blind spot is in front of horses’ heads. Horses cannot see treats held out to them in our hands. Instead, they feel them with their lips and whiskers. To horses, a fingertip can feel very like a carrot.  Hence treats are best offered from a flat hand!  

 
If horses are wary of an object, they prefer to approach it from the side. They cannot see it well approaching head on and when they get close, the object disappears. For this reason, it is always better to approach horses from the side.

Horses may have much greater peripheral vision than us, but because their eyes are on the sides of their heads, they have less binocular vision, resulting in less depth perception. It is harder for horses to determine the relative distances between objects ahead of them. 

Horses do not see fine detail well. Compared to humans, horses need to be closer to an object to see it clearly. Holding out a carrot from 30 metres away is unlikely to evoke interest. (Although if you snap it, they will smell it.)Even on a sunny day, horses’ view of fences or grass will be flat and hazy.

Horses have better night vision than humans, which is useful in the detection of potential predators. However, horses’ eyes are slower to adjust to changes in light levels and may take several minutes to adapt. Horses may appear reluctant to enter an indoor arena on a sunny day, because initially they cannot see where they are going. 

Finally, contrary to popular belief, horses are not colour blind. They have dichromatic (two colour) vision. They can distinguish the blue and green wavelengths of the spectrum, but not the red. It is believed that red appears green or yellowish to them.