A horse who was so close to death after a tumour was found in his eye has exceeded expectations by taking the championship title in the hunter trial.

The affected eye was treated and the tumour was removed allowing him to pull through and achieve the unlikely.

Kate O’Shea from Cork is the owner of the 16.2 hands high, part - bred Connemara Send Me On named Hudson. They went on to win the advanced intermediate championship at the national hunter trials championships at Anna Harvey Farm in Co. Offaly, Republic of Ireland.
They won the title on the 31st March 2019. Kate and her horse beat 30 other contestants to take 1st place, with just three seconds separating the top three combinations.

“Cross-country is his favourite, we mostly event during the summer but our season hasn’t started yet so we’ve been doing hunter trials.”

Kate has had her horse, Hudson, for five years now. She said she noticed his eye becoming cloudy at the beginning of 2016 which prompted her to call the vet.

“We got the vet who originally thought he’d been pricked by a thorn or something out hunting so he diagnosed an infection of the cornea and we were treating that for two weeks, the vet came back again and gave us strong drops to try but when he didn’t improve he wanted a second opinion.”

Hudson was then seen by a specialist who diagnosed a melanoma tumour in his left eye.

“They ultra-sounded his eye and found a tumour growing rapidly against his cornea and said his eye would have to be removed. We were obviously very upset and had to decide what to do.”

“My family are very into horses and my aunt used to work in a racing yard and knew two horses with one eye – one didn’t cope. He became very nervous and anxious and lost weight rapidly, it just stressed him out so much. No one wanted to put Hudson down but we had to consider what was best for him and whether he would cope with one eye.”

Kate decided to go ahead with the surgery on 23 January 2016.

Hudson adapted well to having one eye as soon as Kate picked him up, following the surgery. He returned to hunting in no time.

Article taken from Horse Mart

NOTE: the picture is NOT the actual horses eye (generic photo of a horse eye only).

If you have any concerns or worries about your horses eye/s, contact your veterinary practice immediately for a consultation.