Horses: Eye coloration temperament relation?

Question

Is it true that if you can clearly see the whites of a horse's eyes that it is flighty, unpredictable, or aggressive? What about if a horse has blue eyes? Is there any sort of genetic link between eye pigmentation and temperament at all?

What I meant was if the whites can be seen at all times, not just if the horse is stressed. In other words a "bug-eyed" appearance.

Answer 1

I don't have time to look this up but I remember reading that excessive white in an animal tended to mean that the animal was more reactive. As I remember the research had been on cows but was felt to apply to horses as well. I know that when the article started talking about horses they mentioned blue eyes but I can't remember in what context exactly, but it wasn't seen as good.
I have an old farm magazine from the 1860s that talks about buying a good riding horse and condemns horses with too much white to the point of calling a 1/2 white 1/2 colored paint a worthless horse.
Now I love pintos and have 4 of them but these people lived and worked with horses all the time and must have had good reason for disliking too much white. Remember the old poem; One white foot, buy him
Two white feet, try him
Three white feet, deny him
Four white feet and white on the nose
Knock him in the head and feed him to the crows.
(My best mare is a pinto with 4 high white legs and a big snip on her nose!)

Answer 2

No it makes them appear more reactive and unpredictable because they 'look' spooked or stressed all the time. However I have known many horses whose whites can be seen all the time that are not aggressive or spooky.

No genetic link between pigmentation of the eye and temperament has ever been found.

That said, a spooky horse will often show you the whites of its eyes, so if you do not know that this is an all the time occurrence or are not VERY GOOD at reading horse body language it may be best to pass on such a horse.

Answer 3

I think it's more of an old wive's tale, but I've heard things like that before about the eyes of a horse, not only the color, but also the set of them.

I've heard that blue eyed horses are more spooky, that horses with all that white ("pig eye") around the rim are dumber (really!), horses with harsh set eyes are dangerous, and horses of course with soft eyes are sweet and loving.

I've never found any of it to be true. I've met plenty of horses that have black eyes and all the negative qualities you could imagine, and I've also met plenty of horses with white scleras or blue eyes that did or did not act like that.

However, many of the "pig eye" horses are Appaloosas, and in general (sorry Appy people), Apps are stubborn and nasty, and have serious attitude issues. It is not a breed I like at all, and I've never ever ever met one (or a cross of one) that I've had a successful relationship with at all.

Likewise, with blue eyes - many of those horses are paints, and some of those paints have more white than colored areas (which also "means" that they are crazier horses). I've met & seen plenty of paints that are minimal color and not crazy, but I've probably met an equal amount that are mostly white and insane, and some have blue eyes.

Personally, I don't like the "pig eye" look, and I don't like blue eyed horses. I would not buy a horse with those features, but I don't mind that "hard eye set" some horses have - I think it reflects intelligence, not agressiveness... and I think horses with a soft eye, while they do look sweet & kind, also seem to reflect the innocence that all horses have.

I serisously doubt that genetically pigment of eye or body & temperment are in any way related, but it is sometimes uncanny how many horses do fit the stereotypes.

Answer 4

I owned, showed, bred and raised mostly quarterhorses for 28 years. I owned a few horses in the beginning of my horse career, that had alot of white in the eye and one with a glass eye (blue eye).The first thing I learned to look for when purchasing a horse was it's eyes. Don't know if it just came natural to me, or was something I learned, however, if the horse had alot of white in it's eyes, found it to always have some spook and tended to be a little dangerous in unexpected situations moreso, then others. I always prefered the big, yet, gentle eyes. Seemed they always had alot of sense and intelligence. The smaller eyed (known as pig eyed), horses seemed to be very quiet, but were usually doubt. This is strictly a personal opinion, but I also, helped many people throughtout my life find perfect mounts and also, helped alot of children.

Answer 5

I think there are two reasons why horses show the white schlera of their eye.
First, because they are nervous and bug-eyed. Obviously that sort of horse is going to be more reactive and flighty.
Secondly, because they have a certain color genetic that causes more schlera to show, this is fairly common in Paints and Pintos, and very common in Appys.
It is unfair to assume that all horses that have a certain color genetic are going to have a certain personality. I have seen many, many, many show Paint horses with one or more blue eyes that are so calm you could do anything with them. I've also seen tons of horses with brown eyes that are goof-balls. My current show horse has one eye blue and one brown, she is much calmer and less reactive than my other Paint who has two brown eyes.
I would concentrate on purchasing horses from calm, quiet, sensible parents. The dam especially influences your foals mind, both genetically and through training. Buy a horse from a calm dam, and don't worry about the color of eyes.
And one comment. Studies have shown that true albinos do not exist in the horse world. What we consider albino is actually cremello or perlino, and actually does carry pigmentation. You do not see horses with the red/pink eyes that you see in rabbits and other true albino breeds. Instead a cremello will have pale skin and blue eyes.
Hope that helps from a Paint owners persepective.

Answer 6

There are actually some breeds where it's normal for the sclera (whites of eyes) to show. I've known saddlebreds that the whites showing is normal, and they weren't scared - it was normal.

As far as blue eyes - I think this is a wives tale. But I have heard that blue eyed horses are more moody. I personally don't like blue eyed horses, I just don't feel the warmth from them, and don't seem to bond with them.

I guess it's more of a personal preference. Just my opinion, I did not do research to validate this. - Just personal experience.

Answer 7

Usually when a horse is calm their lids are relaxed, covering more of the eye, and of course when they are startled or extremely agitated, they tense up including the eye lids, and this allows you to see more of the white.

As for the blue eyed ones,,, lack of pigment in any animal is a mess up of genes ( not meaning they aren't desirable to alot of ppl) it is still a mess up that causes it. Albino animals rarely survive in nature, so the 'bad' genes are weeded out. I've never,and I mean never met a blue eyed animal of any kind (including many horses) that did not have an instability of some sort. Owners may chalk it up to being babied, or spoiled, etc., but numbers and studies don't lie.

Actual problems can include but are not limited to, problems with eye sight (maybe that's the cause of bad temperaments?) sunburning on areas that are not covered heavily with fur. (like an albino horses face,nose,around the eyes,ear etc) The percentage of hearing problems also are higher with albino animals.

I'm sure some one, some where has an albino animal that is just perfect, and only gets spooked because it was frightened as a colt (hmm) or only bites because it is protective ,Just as I am sure I'll catch it from them all, but I can only give my personal experience with them, and the few easy to look up facts.

Out of hundreds of albino's, horses (includes paints with one or both eyes blue) dogs (including husky's etc with blue eyes) rabbits, and guinea pigs I've never met one that was both physically healthy and/or mental stable.

Note: Red eyed animals do not seem to have this same problem.

Answer 8

I have heard of that, but have never experienced it myself. I have seen, however, that when a horse is tired or stressed, the whites of their eyes get red, just as humans do. But as far as detecting when a horse is unpredictable or agressive, watch the ears. Straight forward means they are paying attention to you, moving around means they are distracted, and back means they are aggravated. These go for the same for blue eyes, as well. Hope that helps!

Answer 9

I don't believe eye color has anything more to do with temperament than where that little swirl of hair on the face does.
I remember hearing folks say that if the swirl is low, then the horse is lazy. If the swirl is high then the horse is going to be a bucker. You want that little swirl right between the eyes....
I have never found that to be true....

Answer 10

My hubby's Appaloosa eyes show white all of the time, and though she's an alpha mare, she's not flighty or unpredictable. My paint mare has blue eyes, and is one of the sweetest, smartest, calmest horses if I've ever had. I know some people are nervous around her because of the blue eyes, they say they're too spooky.