I read the other replies, and felt they offered some very good advice. Cody said to have your horse checked out by a vet...I would also recommend this with special attention paid to the eyes...

I once had a horse I was putting some time on for my farrier...a very nicely bred and built QH gelding...He was very sweet and good one minute and very weird the next, spooky, breaking lead lines etc...after expecting him to do some very simple things...like walk over ground poles, which he miserably failed hitting everyone, everytime...I realized this horse had a vision problem...It was nothing that I could see myself...so we called in a vet. When she examined him closely, it was revealed this horse had cateracts...they were so bad it impaired his vision where she thought maybe he only saw shadows, and thus caused the bad behavior in which normally would be a good horse. He was only 6 years old.

I have since come to believe that horses like some of us humans need eyeglasses. If he were mine would have his eyes checked thoughly. The two responses a horse has is to fight or flight. If a horse cannot see what is scarey to him, of course he will run...maybe this is why your horse keeps bolting, and is fearful of his back legs being handled...

Horses with eye impairments that can't be surgically resolved, can be still be useful as long as you restrict his riding to a level arena with good footing. If he trusts you he will do well with sports that require your cues...horsemanship, western pleasure, english pleasure, western riding, and even some limited reining if his vision impairment is mild.

I would never take a vision impaired horse out on the trail, expect him to do a trail course,jump, run barrels, poles or work cattle. All of these activities could lead to disater for both horse and rider. I would also handle him with extreme caution and patience when grooming, clipping, and loading in and out of a trailer... I hope this helps

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