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HORSES
From page 25
No one knows for sure how far horses can see , mainly because such tests are impossible to do accurately . Horses see primarily by monocular vision , meaning that they see different things out of each eye . Horses have a wide monocular ( panoramic ) view of the horizon and can see about 340-360 ° around it . Binocular vision ( seeing the same out of both eyes ) is used on a limited basis and primarily when the horse is looking straight ahead . Having binocular vision in
front of 60-70 ° means the horse needs to move the head to see where it is going . It can only focus fully for a short distance ahead - about 2m . This is a problem in jumping - it focuses then must remember and trust it ' s memory of the object . As the eyes are on the sides of its head , the horse does not normally see objects in depth . It sees them like we do with one eye closed . It sees them with less detail than humans but is more sensitive to movement . Blinkers , therefore considerably dull a horse ' s visual sense and limit its ability greatly . Eyes are perfectly placed for cropping pasture , which it does for half its life , so the horse ' s visual area is more towards the ground than the sky . The horse can raise its head quickly and focus on objects at various distances away
Horses have a well-developed sense of smell . from it . A horse ' s vision is its primary detector of danger . Colour vision is still debated . Some work shows the horse can see colour starting from yellow , green , blue and red in that order . Nevertheless , the bright colours used to paint showjumping obstacles are more likely to startle the
Horses ’ ears rotate , and flatten , to attenuate their hearing rider than the horse , which will see less of the colour and more of the light-and-dark contrast between the colours used . A horse needs time to adjust its vision between light and dark , which becomes a consideration when expecting a horse to enter a dark horsebox on a bright , sunny day . ( Hint : Never paint the inside walls of your box in a dark colour or obscure the windows , and turn the box so that the sun is behind the open box when loading to maximise the light flooding the interior .) The horse has a blind spot behind its head which increases when the head is lifted . Soitisimportantto allow the horse to move its head to see objects in its way . Horses are generally reluctant to enter dark enclosures but quieten down when in there and feel safe looking out into the light . Horses are often blindfolded to quieten them . Don ' t look a strange horse in the eye . It ' s a threatening pose . A horse will habitu-
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