my 17 year old paint gelding has watery eyes.the stuff crusts on the hair under his eyes and l have to wash his eyes with a warm cloth. The vet told me this was just due to dust. However, there is no dust now!This is the same vet that told me a horse ''absolutely can not founder on alfalfa hay''.Any opinions about Heath is eyes? None of the other horses have this problem. He is had it as long as I've had him.
the blocked tear ducts sounds most like his symptoms. he does not seem like they itch or anything, and with all the snow I am sure there is no dust to get in his eyes. the crusty stuff under his eyes gets pretty thick though. the vet said there were no injuries or anything like that... maybe l need to find a new vet.

A couple possibilities:

-A dust allergy, that makes him extremely sensitive to even a little bit of dust.
-very sensitive eyes that do not adjust well to light.
-Herpes. Horses can get herpes in their eyes. Get the vet to do an ocular exam. They will put a dyestick under the horse is eyelid & then shine a light on the eye to see any abrasions on the surface. Small, circular sores could be herpes. It is perfectly treatable with eye medication.
-Could just be regular discharge. Nature is way of cleaning the eye.

my mare had the same thing, no big deal!. he probably tore a tear duct by scratching his eye on somthing or bumping it on a ride ect. ( wich may make the eye have a heavier flow of tears) also he may have some dust or some kind of small object upsetting it. just keep it flushed out and put some antibiotic ointment in the corner of the eye(s), and if you do see somthing just pull it out.
hope this helps good luck

Sounds like blocked tear ducts.

In the normal horse, the tears form continuously & drain out through the tear ducts, down the nose & out.

If a horse gets a blockage, whether from confomation, inflammation, or some object stuck there, the tears can not drain & have to go somewhere. So they overflow out the eyes, & down the face.

This is usually easily cured; the vet sticks a small tube up the tube from below, through the nose, & flushes it out.

If that can not be done, u can uses some vaseline to protect the fur & skin around the eye & to make removal easier.

my best guess would be allergies we have an ex race horse at our barn who had the same thing and he actually had eyedrops for it for a little while. if he has had it this long then l would not say there is really anything to be concerned about since it does not seem to be bothering him.

with the alfalfa hay im not really positive about it but it would seem that since it is so rich it would make sense that they wouuld

l would put a face mask on him for a while and see if it improves.

My trail mule gets crusty runny eyes also but we have nuclear winds and it is from dust here.

Do you live in a windy area?

A face mask will help narrow down some issues such as those.

My pinto pony has a lot of white on his face and one of his eyes is totally surrounded by white, so has pink skin, and that eye gets runny, too. l think they're more sensitive due to to the pink skin.

There is still dust, though - shavings, hay, straw all are dusty, and so would be an indoor arena.

l do not worry too much about it. If it looks gunky at all, l squirt some Clear Eyes (for horses) in it and it seems to clear it up quickly.

Yes, u need a new vet. that said, plugged tear ducts r a good possibility, & allergy would be my next guess if it is not the ducts. Also, there is often dust in barns & barnyards just from the feed & bedding that is around. But since none of the other horses have a problem, the tear ducts or allergy r more likely the cause. The fact that ur vet has done nothing to get at discovering the cause after all of this time does not speak well for his level of inspiration in representing the well being of ur horse.

sounds like blocked tear ducts. wash them several times a day with warm water. and massage very gently under the eye.

they can take weeks or months to clear. so just keep at it.

it can be made worse by dust. do not forget the dust in the bedding, and dust in the hay

allergies?