Nice shades! Whanganui horse with serious eye condition gets custom-ordered sunglasses

Cruise wearing his special UV glasses beside horse manager Carla Benson at Whanganui's Riding for the Disabled. Photo / Bevan Conley

A Whanganui horse is sporting a pair of custom shades to help his troublesome eye condition, and restore him as king of the paddock.

Riding for the Disabled horse manager Carla Benson noticed something was wrong with Cruise’s vision in April this year.

Cruise’s eyes had closed up and they were weeping, he could barely see out of them.

He was diagnosed with uveitis — an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation in the eye— which if left untreated can lead to blindness.

To prevent his eyes from becoming worse, Cruise had to be kept out of direct sunlight and locked in the inside arena with a horse buddy and only being let out into the paddock at night.

Vet Grainne Cunningham, who works for Equivets NZ and is part of Southern Rangitikei veterinary services, suggested ordering Cruise a pair of $300 UV glasses from Australia to allow him to go outside in daylight hours.

“When I worked in the UK it was something I’d seen being used over there with horses with recurrent uveitis, I wasn’t sure if you could get them in New Zealand but we found a website.”

Cruise took to his sunglasses pretty easily: “The only time he’ll get them off is when he has a roll in the grass,” Benson said.

It means he’s been able to win back his place as the boss of the herd of eight horses.

“He thinks he’s pretty cool with his sunglasses on, he kind of struts out.”

For six weeks Cruise has been clear of uveitis but his eyes are still susceptible to becoming inflamed again, and he may have to wear his glasses as a preventative measure during the summer months.

He also has a special hood to wear that helps prevent direct light from getting in his eyes.

He was a pretty cruisy horse but very sensitive, Benson said. Sometimes he would get scared of his own shadow and freeze.

“He’s our biggest horse but also our sookiest.”

Cunningham said uveitis could be caused by an original bacterial or viral infection or an overreaction from the body to trauma to the eye.

“Horses are naturally meant to be out and grazing, being able to enjoy life, so that’s the really ideal thing about these sunglasses.”

She said Cruise was a very good patient.

“He’s such a sweet horse, really easy.”

Uveitis is one of the most frequent causes of blindness in horses, but Cunningham said although it was fairly common, it wasn’t a condition vets saw every day.

Centre co-ordinator Robyn Mann said Whanganui Riding for the Disabled horses are chosen based on their temperament and go through intensive training, as they need to be suited to the special needs of their riders.

“They have to be able to stay calm.”

Riders could have Parkinson’s disease making their legs shake during outings, or experience vacant seizures and make loud noises that could frighten the horse.

Mann said their horses often were ridden with side walkers supporting the riders, and it took a special horse to be able to handle the crowding.

“When you get a good horse like that, you want to do all you can to look after them,” Cunningham said.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.