VetOnIt clinical notes
How horses see: field of view, blind spots and acuity
A client-question primer from Vet On It's Introduction to Equine Ophthalmology course: the nearly 360-degree visual field, blind spots, the narrow binocular field and visual acuity.
Updated · VetOnIt
A nearly panoramic view
Horses have a nearly 360-degree visual field. Their only blind spots are directly behind the tail and directly beneath the nose. [1]
Their binocular visual field is narrow, so a horse turns to bring something that catches its attention into that field to study it, which matters for a prey species that needs to know what is around it. [1]
Better acuity than dogs and cats
Horses' visual acuity is good by companion-animal standards: better than dogs and cats and not much worse than humans. [1]
Related lectures
References
- Introduction to Equine Ophthalmology (lecture recording, May 8 2026) VetOnIt lecture transcriptLecture source retained by VetOnIt.