Learning to medicate a horse’s eye can be hard. It’s understandable a horse doesn’t want a human opening its eye and putting something ‘foreign’ in there! In this short video, Christine Johnson, DVM, walks you through some steps on getting the medication where it belongs.

Click on the above image to play the video.

“Administering eye medications can be challenging,” Johnson said. “If possible, grab a partner to help position the horse’s head.”

If you are going to medicate an eye by applying an ointment, she said to gently open the eye using your pointer finger and your thumb to separate the upper and lower lids and expose the eye. Use your other hand to apply a nice line of ointment in the lid margins. Be careful to not touch the application tip to the horse’s eyeball.

If You Have Issues Medicating the Eye

If you have issues getting the medication into your horse’s eye, check with an experience horse friend to see if they can help. Or, you can have your veterinarian teach you how to medicate your horse’s eye when she/he prescribes the ointment or drops.

Make sure to let your veterinarian know if you are having difficulty getting the proper amount of eye medication applied.

(Editor’s note: Watch more videos from My Senior Horse.)