Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-13
ARE BLiNKERs HURTFUL?
Reasons Why They Harm Instead of
Benefit Horses that Wear Them.
From Public Opinion.

From Public Opinion
When a horse is used for the saddle no one
thinks of meddling with his eyes, and we al
low the animal to use them freely, as nature
has directed. But no sooner do we put the
same animal into harness than we think our
selves bound TO fasten black leather flap over
each OF his eyes, SO as to prevent him from
seeing objects at his sides, and 10 limit IN
view to those which are in his immediate front
This is done with the very best intentions, the
object being 10 save him from being frightened
by startling and unwonted sights and only TO
leave q suficiency Of vision wherewith TO guide
his steps. Herein, and IN feeding and stabling
the horse, man judges the animal by himself
forgetting or rather having failed TO notice,
that the eyes Of the horse are exceeding unlike
our own. Our eyes are set in the front Of
our heads, SO that il blinkers were fastened TO
our temples our range Of vision would be but
slightly limited. But the eyes Of the horse arc
placed on the sides of the head and are rather
prominent SO that the animal can not only see
on either side, but by rolling his eyes back ward
as we see In vicious horse, can see objects al
most in his immediate rear. The effect Of the
blinker is both physically and mentally inju-
rious to the horse. In the first place, especially
when large and brought near the ewes, il has
the effect Of heating them and hindering the
free passage of air over them. In the next
place, IL causes the eyes to be always directed
forward and thus produces a most injurious
strain on the delicate muscles. We know how
painful a sensation is felt when we are obliged
TO strain our eyes either backward or upward
for any length of time. and the horse suffers no
less Inconvenience when il is forced 10 keep its
eyes continually strained forward
The worst examples Of the blinker that I
have ever seen were in the United States,
where the blinkers (or ''blinders," as they arc
there named) are often brought so closely to-
gether in front by means Of a strap and buckle
that mere narrow strip, barely half an inch
in width, is left for vision. This again ID
done with the best intentions, the object being
to save the animal from being afflicted by snow
blindness. Now the horses eyes are in many
respects different from our own and are not
affected, as is the case with ours, by the vast
expanses Of dazzling snow which are rendered
even more dazzling by the clear atmosphere
and brilliant sunshine of America. One of its
safeguards lies in the remarkable structure
which is popularity termed the "haw" and
scientifically the ''nictitating membrane" This
is a sort of third eyelid set beneath the true
eyelids and capable Of being drawn at will over
the eyeball, thus performing the double duty
Of shielding the eye from the direct glare OF
light and clearing its surface from dust or any
other foreign substance. This membrane 10
seen in perfection in the birds Of prey, so that
the proyerbisl statement that the eagle trains
itself to gaze at the midday sun has some foun-
dalton in fact.