Taking Care of Horses: Cleaning Eye Goo

Just a quick little video about cleaning eye goo on a horse and how to do it. Mostly it’s just about being gentle. You can use your hand but a wet cloth that is warm is better to just clean off the dirt etc. There’s definitely not a lot to it, but it’s a common thing to have to do if they don’t do it themselves.

Being able to get the near the eyes of a horse is very important as they need to trust you quite a bit. When done enough it can be very bonding as they learn to rely on you to help them out with grooming and making them feel better. Some horses have more eye crusties or goo than others, some may have it but they clean it off themselves and then there are others that don’t clean it off. If it’s not clear then there is likely some kind of infection, but some horses just have slightly weepy eyes due to mild allergies. If you are concerned of course, then definitely have a vet come take a look.

Cleaning is simple but it’s important to be very careful not to poke their eye. Horses are very protective of their eyes, naturally so, and can and will close their eyes very hard so that foreign objects don’t get in. Start on the out edges of the material you want to take off and work your way up, encouraging them along the way. In time they will become very accustomed to this kind of careful grooming and look forward to it as a relief from something they can feel.

Graeme