TE UA'S EYES DEFECTIVE ?

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 78, 2 April 1935, Page 6

TE UA'S EYES DEFECTIVE ?

It is the opinion of J... Ayres,, who trained the unfortunate Te Ua, that it might not have been any display of will ibut defective vision that caused the gelding at times to switch away suddenly ■from his fences when put to hurdle racing. In support of this view it may be .stated that on the two occasions when Te •Ua crashed through the running rail as a consequence of this proclivity the hurdle was erected right at the sharpest turn of elliptical courses (Woodville and Awapuni), so that if he had defective eyesight he might not have seen the fence till almost upon it and then slewed away in sudden fear to avoid it. In a recent issue of the American journal, "The Blood Horse," there appeared an article that is interesting in this connection. It reads: "Dr. Emmons, who now examines the eyes of all horses engaged 'at meetings at Hialeah Park (Miami), believes that horses suffering from poor vision, or unbalanced vision, i have a tendency to swerve, and, from his experience, horses invariably swerve in the direction of the better eye. ' It is his opinion that with proper co-operation ot trainers much of such trouble may _be prevented by a consistent examination of the eyes and by following his recommendations for the correction of poor 'vision, which often is apparent in one eye only. Mr. Widener, head of the Hialeah Park management, is also a believer in eye examination. In his opinion defective eyesight has caused many horsep to swerve, and trainers and jockeys have been punished when innocent o£ inteD tional wrongdoing."