I LOVE the "Baby" pic w/ your hubby! AWESOME. I didn't get pics of my non-horsey hubby when he used to "pair around" with our first Shetland mare while puttering around doing farm work. He'd drop a hammer and Patty would pick it up and follow him then drop it when he stopped at a new spot and just hang out with him.
I was "flummoxed" when you stated that your little stallion couldn't go outside and get around and that he was bumping into the stall wall. I was having a hard time understanding - until you gave a lot more detail(s). When the tree "blew up" - could he have had his balance affected - by proximity (Sound/pressure wave) or by being struck by flying debri? Did he have an actual head injury besides the eye injury? Is the medicine still affecting him?
Time is one way of healing. I found that making too many changes to the "normal" care routine caused our mini/shetland colt to sink into a depression that affected him as he learned to cope/accept... I've copied what I sent to another poster on another forum - minus the pics. It explains some things we did w/ a colt and some background...
Our yearling colt, last year, got lice (think he was ground 0 for that). The vet thinks it was while rubbing on trees that he poked his eye - there were over 10 puctures. She wasn't sure what would happen and we opted to wait and see... Treated him for pain and possible infection - keeping an "eye" on his eye. We kept a flymask on him almost 24/7 for quite a while - until he showed a decided dislike of it and we were afraid he'd do further damage while rubbing it off. Kept it off for a while - until he "decided" he was ready for the fly mask again. When it drained and the flies, gnats and squitters were driving him mad - he allowed me to put it back on and left it alone. Got to the point he almost seemed to sigh in relief when I'd put it back on every morning... The eye shrunk and flattened out (very weird looking) and unlike the one on the right, didn't change from the light blue that it was to the amber/flecked that the right one became... Sometimes wish I'd had the eye removed.
He retained sight for almost a full year. Earlier this spring - right around the "year mark" from when the injury occured he became really spooky and was just irritable. Turned out, he was losing/lost the sight completely in the eye. It took several months for him to "come around". He still runs in the same paddock/pasture that he was in when got the injury - there are 5 boys in the "Boys Paddock". We never removed him from it - other than to bring him into the barn for grooming, vet, farrier work. As his eyesight got worse, he developed a very WEIRD way of moving with his head cocked to the left - wholly using his right eye to see everything with. But now, with the sight gone, he's straightening out his body and moving better. He's re-developed a sort of decent trot and has returned to dashing around with the other boys (as opposed to standing and just watching them run like twiddiots). I'm going to be working with him this fall - and will be trying out a surcingle and balancing side reins to see if can return him fully to moving more balanced and start ground driving him. I really think that he'll do fine now with driving - might have to do most outside driving in an open bridle to not restrict his one remaining eye - we'll see how that goes. Might not be a problem at all. We'll see!
The eye still weeps/drains occasionally - I clean it and have spent part of the summer putting his fly mask on in the AM and removing it in the PM. I can approach him now from either side when catching to feed him (for a while, he didn't want anything to do with anyone and it made it difficult!) - I just speak to him when I move up on his blind side. He's "scootched" under himself a couple of times when startled from the left - but has never kicked (I've not seen him kick out in the pasture either).
When I worked for the vet clinic, I was on hand to help with the removal of two different mares' eyes that came into the clinic. Both only had one removed, but one owner had an "eye marble" made and it was fitted to the eye socket and can't really remember how it was "kept in". It looked great - you couldn't tell physically, that she didn't have an eye at first or until you were up close (didn't blink, didn't have all the white schelera etc). Both required time to heal and to accustom themselves to being sightless. Both had been trained to ride (one was an OTTB - retrained for plearsure riding). One had been a broodmare and returned to both riding and broodmare duties with nothing special being done - she remained on pasture and was only stalled right before foaling (she aborted the foal she was carrying when she injured her eye originally). The other went home and returned to normal routines of stalling and paddock - though think she was kept by herself - at least while treating the empty eye socket until she learned to get around. DIdn't find out anything else about her...
**********
If you'd like, I can add the pictures.
In reading the rest of your story, I'm sorry to hear of it. That's very stressful and trying. I'm glad that he has returned home. I'm sending healing vibes and "jingles" your way. Take care of yourself, too...
I'm sorry. Our old mare went blind and she had a couple foals that led her around for years. He will be happy!! I love the foal pic!!
