Horse Eye Supplements

The horse has the largest eye of any land mammal. They see 50 percent larger than what a human eye perceives. This is a great resource for a prey animal to be able to spot predators. Horses typically see in monocular vision since the eyes are on the side of head, but they can see in binocular vision (as humans do) when looking straight ahead. There are not as many well known horse eye supplements as there are for hooves and joints, but there are few out there to help support and protect the eye.

  1. Vitamins

    • For eye health, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C and beta carotene are recommended. You can find these vitamins at any natural health food store like Vitamin Cottage. These would all be in human form, but you can give them to your horse. Up the dosage to something along the lines of two to three pills twice a day (consult with your veterinarian for proper dosage amounts). You can grind the pills (not the gel tabs) in a coffee grinder and mix them in with your horse's grain.

    Herbs

    • The following herbs are suggested to improve eye function and health: eyebright, bilberry, ginkgo and rosehips. Each of these listed is an individual herb and can be found where herbs are sold; for example, natural food stores and/or online. Check out Herbalremedies.com. You can also find them all in one "Eye Support Blend" from Herbs4horses.com. Some herbs come in dried form and some come in liquid form. Depending on which you can grind them up, if necessary, and mix them into your horse's grain.

    Homeopathy Treatments

    • Homeopathy treatments are typically herbs or a combination of herbs in a liquid format. For general first aid and overall relief use Arnica (dry herb) or Euphrasia (also known as Eyebright, liquid herb). You can mix one drop of Euphrasia with 20 mls of purified water to create an eye rinse. Another example is using Belladonna (liquid form) for intense distressing eye ailments. Use the same one part Belladonna to 20 parts (mls) as recommended for the Euphrasia eye wash. The key with homeopathy treatments is to "match the remedy to the patient, not the patient to the remedy." To match the correct homeopathy treatment to your horse visit the last link under the "References" section.