Has anyone had eyeliner tattooed on their pale faced horse?

Question

I have a yearling tovero paint colt. He has blue eyes, one has dark skin (natural eyeliner) around it, the other has pink skin. The pink skinned eye waters a lot. I've heard you can have the pink area around the eye tattooed (while the horse is sedated of course) by a veterinarian and that will help the horse be more comfortable. Has anyone had this done? Did it work well? Would you recommend the procedure? Please no smart alec answers, this is a serious question from an educated horse owner.
Thanks!

Research the procedure, it is done. Don't criticize me, I'm not doing it for cosmetic purposes.

My veterinarian is respected in the community. She is the one who recommended it.

Answer 1

I do not know a terrible lot about horses, however I would like to say to the ones that are criticizing and treating this person like some sort of retard that you have no right to do so.

This person wants nothing more than to make their horse more comfortable, and was asking about a procedure they heard might work. Nothing wrong with that.

You could have kindly stated you thought it was a bad idea, and then suggested another solution to this problem. You didn't need to accuse them of animal cruelty and act like you're so far above this person.

Now as far as the question goes, again I know little about horses. But, I'd just call up a few veterinarian offices and get a few different professional opinions on the matter. Best of luck with your horse.

Answer 2

I realize what you're wanting to do - reduce the tearing that Blue-eyes experiences.

I can't think of any licensed vet who would stand for it. However, I CAN name a number of organizations who would protest this as cruelty - even take you to court. Despite the fact that we tatoo race horses' lips.

Best bet - talk with your vet as to a good remedy for your horse's eye problem. It could be an allergy to certain grasses. It could also be sunburn. It could be that this is the way the colt was born and what you'll have to put up with. But talk with your vet. And don't be disappointed if she nixes the whole tattooing thing. There are too many ways a tattoo that close to the eye can get infected.

Answer 3

I have an appaloosa who has the pink around the eyes. We use her dark colored fly mask as sunglasses sort of, so on a sunny winter day shes standing out there wearing her flymask

Answer 4

You're obviously not that eduacted of a horse owner. As a veterinarian I've never heard of another vet performing this nor performed that type of tattoo procedure on an equine. (sorry, I meant that type, have tattooed lips and ears.)
Horse's marking's are the way they are for a reason. Try appreciating your horse's natural beauty more and not concentrating on a quack procedure. And yes I've heard of the procedure and am appauled as an APHA member that APHA would approve of horse's having this done. There are other way's to protect your equine against U-V rays, cataracts, and cancer. There have been cases you know of inexperienced cosmetic tattoo artist's botching this procedure and causing permanent damage to equines. You'd be hard pressed to find a vet that does this- but there are people who specialize in permanent cosmetics that do this. As an owner of paint horses, I wouldn't get caught dead having any of my horse's go under this- and I have several blue eye'd pink pigmented horse's at my ranch. With a little extra care- they have had no eye problems.

And for future reference- the eye is one of the most sensitive organs on a body. Even most Human's that have had the tattooed eyeliner develop eye problems such as chronic pink eye, ulcerations on the eye lid, and yes, even blindness.