WHAT HORSES SEE WHEN BEING RIDDEN

While being ridden on a contact with the horse’s face vertical, he will predominantly be looking down at the ground, but when jumping, the horse switches between binocular and monocular vision.

■ On a cross-country course

When we relate this to a horse on a cross-country course, the horse has much more in his field of view than the rider does, which can be what makes it more tempting for him to run out at a fence or take off for home — he can possibly see the car park where his lorry is parked!

■ Approaching a fence

When approaching any fence, the horse may lift his head to assess fence height and depth, using binocular vision. When jumping, in the final approach to a fence, the horse’s ability to judge exact distances from the fence is limited from around two metres away. There is a moment when a horse approaching an obstacle won’t see it, but this is only for a very short period of time — their perception of depth is very good.

■ Light to dark (field to woods, for example)

Jumping from light into dark can also be a concern because, as mentioned previously, horses need time to adjust their eyesight to changes in light — around three strides’ worth of time. It could also be why some horses are more spooky jumping ditches because, initially, it may look like a bottomless black hole in the ground.

■ Spooky showjumps

The horse’s dichromatic vision means that they can’t see the full spectrum of colours found in showjumping courses, which can be why some horses spook or back off at certain coloured fences. Because of the way the horse’s eyes are placed on their head, they need to keep their heads low to focus on objects close beside them. If they are not allowed to drop their heads low and tilt them sideways, this is often when they’ll jump sideways to see the object better, which may be seen as spooking or shying.