Horse science
How Far Can a Horse See?
· 1 min read
A horse's field of vision covers about 350 degrees, but there are blind spots directly in front of its nose and directly behind it.
A horse's eyes sit on either side of its head, giving it a field of vision of about 350 degrees. Of that, the range it sees with both eyes together is about 65 degrees. The rest it sees with one eye only.
The wide view comes with two blind spots. One is a narrow cone-shaped area extending about 90 to 120 cm in front of the nose. The other runs from directly behind the head to behind the tail.
For this reason, approach a horse at an angle from the shoulder, not from the front or from behind, and talk to it as you come. When you need to pass behind a horse, place a hand on its hindquarters to let it know where you are.
Horses tell blues and greens apart well but have difficulty distinguishing red. In human terms, this is similar to red-green color blindness.