Nevertheless, I was lucky to attend a few. Here are my notes from a presentation given by Equine Bright and Ultra-Tech Lighting LLC.
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Here are my notes of the presentation:
Horses are active during all times of the day and night. This requires high and low light sensitivity. The biological emphasis upon rods within the retina gives horses the ability to distinguish objects at dusk and in the dark. This sensitivity makes horses susceptible to being startled and disturbed by extremely bright light. The retina contains photo receptors, rods, and cones, and is responsible for vision in low light. Horses have two types of cones: Dichromatic Vision. Humans have three: Trichromatic vision.
The eyes of ungulates (hooved mammals) like horses, cows, sheep, goats, moose and deer are unique because they have a reflective membrane called the taptum lucidum that intensifies low light levels:
- Reflects light back through the retina, increasing the light available to photo receptors
- Gives superior night vision
- Intense light gets caught inside the eye
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Important to note:- It is critical to avoid high directional intensities from a light source like LED elements. This can damage the retina. An LED’s high glare is inherently uncomfortable and stressful for these animals.
- Horses need cycles of light and dark, and light similar to daylight spectrum
- Allow transitions from light to dark and vice versa
- Sleep deprivation in horses due to bright lights all night causes stress
- Horses are not as sensitive to the red green light spectrum
- Horses see orange as green, so difficult to see jumps painted in orange
- Fluorescent yellow and white are good for horses to see
- Direct beams of light are potentially hazardous to horses – momentary loss of vision (think approaching a horse in the dark with a bright flashlight or head lamp, use a red lamp instead)
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info on lighting solutions for equines: www.ultratechlighting.com
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