Anybody heard of this before?

[Turn and Burn]

So I came across this today and had never heard of it before. I thought it was kinda strange. Any of your horses had it done? Have any of you heard of it?
What do you think about it?

http://doubleooequinetat.com/

[lisakaye]

OW!! no way would I ever do that to my horses..

[doc_western]

huh.....that's odd. id like to hear from people who've had it done, to see if it's actually benificial.

[Cat]

Never heard of it before. I would think they would provide any supporting literature to this procedure on their site, but they don't. It screams gimic.

[Mercury]

This was actually recommended for a horse I knew. Vets had to remove a cancer area right around the lid. He recomended they tattoo the eyelids to prevent sunburn since they showed the horse a lot and would have to be in the sun. It's hard to put sunblock right around the eyes. Never did hear if they did it or not.

[Miracle Whip]

First of all I think it looks GROSS

Nothing on the website about WHY she does it. No endorsements from veternarians.

I'd rather put that black tar under his eyes, like football players have. I would never mess with his eyelids. Ever. Or get a flymask for crying out loud.

I think that woman is out to make a buck.

[Mercury]

http://www.painthorsejournal.com/archives/pdfs/LinedUp-Aug00.pdf

here is a pretty good article that explains the why. Would I do it? Probably not. There are cheaper and safer ways to do it, but I guess if you have the money... why not?

[prissy18]

never would i do that

[rodeogrl]

I know of a couple paints who had it done. If I had a horse with light colored skin/pigment around their eyes I would do it...It protects them in the long run.

[mare]

I know a couple people who had very light skinned horses that did it. It did stop the skin around the eyes from burning and peeling. They still had to treat the muzzle and tips of ears, but it prevented getting irritating lotion in the horses' eyes. So, I guess if I ever have one that may benefit, I would consider it.

[Remali]

I doubt if I would do that, I'd try to find other ways for UV protection. And, if you ever wanted to show your horse in a halter class, you might get disqualified for that I would think.

[HeartofSteel]

Wow that is really interesting! I don't like the look of how they did it in the original link, it looks very un-natural but the link Mecury posted the tattoo is done alot better and you could never tell it wasn't there own skin color. I wouldn't do it though

[Annasmom]

ow!

[rodeogrl]

its actually rather common in halter and showmanship. Look at some of your paints, some with have the "black eyeliner" look, and its actually the tattooing...atleast the horses i know of that have are primarily used for halter and western pleasure classes

[Annasmom]

is the legal in halter classes? just curious

[Remali]

I wouldn't think it would be legal in halter classes.....

[ProvenPaint]

I've never heard of it...but if it helps them in the long run I might consider it. Or I might just stick to what I was told a long time ago & steer clear of horses that would need this.

However, I just couldn't help but think of how much my ankle swelled up with my tattoo...what about their eyelids? Would you have to get 1 done at a time or does it not swell like I'm thinking it would....?

[rodeogrl]

is the legal in halter classes? just curious

not 100% sure if it's "legal" but a lot of horses in NJ had it done anyways. I could see how it couldnt be cause its unnatural but at the same time if it's in the horses own well-being can they really make it illegal?

[IrisGreen]

A fake tail is "unnatural" that's not the horses real tail and it's there just to look pretty. It wouldn't surprise me if people did this for the look as well as the sun blocking effects.

People get permanent makeup tattooed on there faces. Doesn't surprise me someone thought about doing it to a horse too.

I wish people would just breed a horse that wasn't prone to sun burned eye lids. I know people that breed for bald faces and blue eyes. That's what they want, that's what sells so they breed for it. Most ropers I know wouldn't take a fully trained bald faced horse if you paid them too. Plus, I have heard there more prone to cancer.

They can be pretty horses but I don't think people should be breeding for traits like that. But, people breed what's popular and sells.....

[ImaBronsonBear]

:huh: Well, if i had a horse that had a lot of eye problems due to light pigmentation, i might consider it...

[mare]

Or I might just stick to what I was told a long time ago & steer clear of horses that would need this.



That's what I do.

[Buckpoco]

My girlfriend wants to do it to her blue-eyed horse, for safety reasons. She hasn't done it yet...I guess it's kind of complicated as far as sedating goes...I'm not sure if they have to be totally out, like laying down. It's supposed to help their sensitive eyes.

[Miracle Whip]

The funny thing is, I do have a horse that is almost all white. He has brown ears and a brown cheek. That is it. His eyes are not blue and they are not brown either. They look normal to me, maybe a shade lighter than some. My Bay mare will have more discharge from her eyes than he will. I think the flies cause it somehow.

The white nose will peel maybe once a year. IF that. He is outdoors and can stand in the shade or the building. I have never seen the skin around his eyes look pink or peel. If you are dumb enough to ride your horse, ALL day, in 90 degree heat at a show, then yes, you had better tattoo his eyes.

My white horse has no problems and I don't ride him excessively during hot weather. It takes common sense.

[lacyloo]

Wow horse "eye liner" what next horse blush ?

[elevenelevenxo]

It's my personal opinion that anyone who would consider having their horses tattooed for UV protection is actually quite lazy. My Walker mare was a max. white sabino and as such had pink skin on her face. She was very sensitive to UV rays and sunburnt easily. Our solution was to slather on human sunscreen and I bought a flymask that extended over her nose.

Eye tattooing is really common in the Arab world and QH halter world. It looks downright creepy to me....as does the human permanent makeup. Bleh.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=2639

You have to log in to read that article but it's absolutely free to join The Horse website if you're not already a member on there.

That article was written in 1998 and condemns the practice, but people still do it.

[luv2show]

I've never heard of it...but if it helps them in the long run I might consider it. Or I might just stick to what I was told a long time ago & steer clear of horses that would need this.


Ditto.
It looks horrible, too. Wow, yuck! :( Poor horse.

[Buckpoco]

In all fairness to my friend, she's not lazy. She boards her horse-about ten mares are turned out together. She can't keep a mask on, the other horses take it off. The horse loves the sun and is in the sun most of the day. So her reasons are justified, I think. But she does worry about how to get the job done. I think I would do it in her situation.

[elevenelevenxo]

In the summer when the sun is at it's worst, most people I know turn out at night. Not only does that alieviate the UV rays issue, but insects are also minimized.

-shrug- To each his own.

[luv2show]

Eye tattooing is really common in the Arab world and QH halter world. It looks downright creepy to me....as does the human permanent makeup. Bleh.



I have never, ever heard of eye tattooing being popular in QH Halter.
?

[elevenelevenxo]

I've seen it a couple times on Greys. When I first started riding I took lessons from a girl who raised and trained QHs. She had the big time $10,000 performance horses...and that's where I learned about it from.

I guess I shouldn't say it's popular in the QH halter world, but I do know I've seen it.

[WashingtonBay]

Or Arabs luvs.... they're naturally black skinned.

[elevenelevenxo]

WB - they may be naturally black skinned, but it's to cosmetically enhance. I posted an article about it from The Horse website....and I know there are more out there. Google it if you don't believe me.

[luv2show]

Or Arabs luvs.... they're naturally black skinned.

Yeah, that's what I thought. :)

I googled it... can't find anything really about it...

[WashingtonBay]

Well, it's possible, I suppose, I don't really care enough to go research it, LOL.

They certainly do things like shaving and using way too much oil on Arab eyes, but black skin is natural, unless the horse has some kind of defect or loss of pigment (which does happen).

[luv2show]

Hmm that could be what she's talking about. The "blacking balm" or whatever you want to call it. I'm curious. I thought that would never be allowed in QH Halter. (or Arabs... but I don't know much about them).

[WashingtonBay]

There's been controversy over the years about various surgical enhancements in Arabs... The Boggs horse whose throatlatch had been nip-tucked is one. There may be various forms of cosmetic alterations being thrown into one subject here, not just tattooing.

[elevenelevenxo]

My word choice was poor when I said it's "really common."

David Boggs is a trainer who has been in trouble for eye tattooing in addition to nerving and basically liposuctioning his horses.

http://mediamayhem.blogspot.com/2005_09_04_archive.html

[WashingtonBay]

But it's not "allowed". They were breaking the rules when they did what they did.

[elevenelevenxo]

I never once said it was or that I condoned it. I simply said it exists.

[WashingtonBay]

Just clarifying though, that it's not common or accepted in halter horses for at least Arabs that I know about, those who are found to have made surgical enhancements are banned from the sport.

[elevenelevenxo]

Yes. I apologize for my bad wording choice.

[WashingtonBay]

No problem... we just want to arrive at the right answer, hopefully, by the end. :)

[Remali]

Cosmetic alterations of Arabian show horses is not permitted, and Boggs was suspended from the show ring for quite a few years for his role in it all. Not to say it still doesn't go on, but they are cracking down on it and people are paying the price for showing halter horses that have been "altered".

Elevenelevenxo.......Michael Brown was the man who investigated it, he was the commissioner at the time. Brown did not do anything wrong, he was the one who went after Boggs. Not sure why you would say Michael Brown is guilty??!! He was the commissioner who went after Boggs illegal practices. If Brown was found guilty of some wrong-doing I'd like to see what it was.....I've been into Arabians a long time, even met Boggs once briefly, and I remember that whole mess quite well.....Brown should be applauded for his efforts to go after the people who did that. But if indeed was found guilty of some wrong-doing, I never heard about it and would be interested to know what it was?? Anyway...it was Michael Brown who went after the trainers/breeders, etc., who were performing the alterations.

[elevenelevenxo]

Remali - to be honest, I skimmed that and misread it. I was posting before I was fully awake to see exactly what I was saying (hence the poor choice in wording in a previous post that caused confusion). :)

[Remali]

Oh...lol.....well I sure can relate to not being fully awake at times too.....that's me most of the time these days.
Easy to do. :)

[elevenelevenxo]

LOL, my daily routine right now because I'm on vacation from work is to wake up and see what's going on at Bay Wind Farm.....maybe I should just refrain from posting until later in the day from now on. ;)