Pale-faced horses, like fair-skinned people, need a little extra protection from the sun. While sunglasses and sun screen might be the obvious solutions for fair-skinned humans, they’re impractical for horses. Protection from sun glare, however, is as important for horses as it is for humans, because horses with little or no pigment in the skin around their eyes can suffer from squinting, watery eyes, sunburn, cataracts, and even cancer.

An old-timer’s solution to this problem was to paint black shoe polish around the horse’s eyes. The polish prevented sun glare, just like the black makeup football players wear under their eyes. A more modern solution to the problem, however, is the application of permanent tattooed eyeliner. Tattooed eyeliner is a measure that can help prevent eye problems in horses, says Teri Reid, a registered nurse from Filer, Idaho, who specializes in permanent cosmetics for people (tattooed eyeliner, eyebrows, and lipstick) and eyeliner for horses.

Reid detoured from humans to horses when a friend and fellow nurse, Holly Akagi, asked her to tattoo permanent black eyeliner around her pale-skinned, blue-eyed filly’s eyes. The filly squinted and her eyes always watered, says Akagi. Constant watering of the eyes can cause swelling, which then attracts insects, leading to increased infections. Reid agreed to do the procedure, performed with oversight by Bob Monroe, DVM, in his Twin Falls, Idaho, clinic. Reid says she performed the procedure on Akagi’s filly the same way she does on her human clients–"I just made the lines wider," she says. The eyeliner made the filly more comfortable, says Akagi, and, "She sees better in the sun and no longer squints."

Reid and Akagi, who now works as Reid’s assistant, have since performed the procedure on many horses, most of them Paints. Demand for the permanent eyeliner spread by word of mouth and through veterinarian referrals