The Horse's Eyes

When we humans have a problem with not being able to see well, we can correct the problem with eyeglasses. Since a horse's eye structure and placement on it's head is different than us, horses don't wear glasses.

Even though a horse has far greater peripheral vision than we do, they have two blind spots. One is directly in front of the horse when it's about four feet away, and the other is directly behind it, about 10 feet in length.

When you realize that this front blind spot exists in all horses, the feats of jumpers become all the more amazing. When the horse reaches a point a few feet in front of a jump, the obstacle simply disappears from its field of view. It has to put great faith in the rider who is guiding it toward the barrier, and remember what it saw a split second before it disappeared from view.

How Horses See

Because the horse's eye is different than most animals, the horse can't focus its eyes as we people do. This is why a horse sometimes will raise and lower its head while staring at an object. It is adjusting the focal length between its eyes and the object, until the image falls into focus on a portion of its retina.

And since a horse's eyes are located on both sides of its head, it's a wonder horses aren't in a constant state of confusion. Sort of like watching two things going on at the same.

There is another thing about a horse's eye. The eyeballs operate sort of like bifocal glasses. When its head is lowered and it is looking through the upper part of the eyes, it can continually survey the horizon. If there is something up close that catches its attention, the horse will raise its head and examine the object through the lower part of the eye.

When a horse is startled by a sudden movement just behind or beside it, it is because the horse hasn't had an opportunity to focus on the object, but its peripheral vision has picked up the quick movement.
A horse being led to a paddock on a windy day can be startled even by paper blowing by, even though it is traveling a familiar path.

Night Vision and Colors

Generally speaking, a horse's night vision is better than ours. This is because the horse's eye contains a reflective panel on its retina that pulls in what little light is available at night.

But a horse doesn't see colors as well as its we do. While a horse does see green and blue, it pretty much functions in a gray world.

http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/

NAMIBIAN HORSE

The Horse's Eyes