Shortly before Jennie Rose purchased Safi, a 14.1hh mare, the strawberry roan needed her left eye removed. She had been suffering from quite a large, soft, irregular tissue swelling in the corner that discharged and looked ‘angry’. It even bulged when Safi put down her head to eat. After her eye was removed, a prosthetic ball was put in in its place and the eye was stitched closed by a surgeon.
“At that point I didn't find out the cause of the swelling, but always referred to it as a tumour,” says Jennie, who went on to have numerous adventures with Safi over the years, including riding her side saddle and trail hunting.
In May last year, though, with Safi now 23, Jennie noticed a small amount of dried discharge…