Why LEDs harm horses đ´
Dichromatic vision | Equine-Brightâ˘
Hereâs what weâll learn in this article:
1. Why are LEDs especially damaging to horses?
2. How does light impact mood & fertility?
3. Why is flicker dangerous to riders?
4. How is magnetic induction lighting more economical than LEDs?
âA horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!â
~ William Shakespeare
If the eye is the window to the soul, then horses may give us the privilege of peering into a vast heavenly realm unseen. Anyone who says animals donât have a soul, havenât looked deeply into the eyes of a horse. Humans and horses have a mystifying relationship, developed on farmersâ fields and battlefields of yesteryear. Yet through all this time, have we pondered how our partner witnesses this kingdom of Earth? Have we taken a moment to put ourselves in their iron shoe?
The equine eye is one of the largest of any land mammal, and can tell us a lot about how our spiritual animal partner, the horse, experiences this realm. When one of us looks at a bright light and sees spots in our eye, we have the luxury of turning away. Horses, on the other hand, canât unsee the ghoulish glare of intense LEDs. Since horses are much more light sensitive than we are, bright lights will often invoke fear and stress. In this article weâll explore why horses are more light sensitive than we are, and will also provide a solution for horse owners that want healthier lighting.
Weâll start with a story. A horse walks into a bar. Well actually, the horse walked into a barnâŚ
Recently an owner of horses contacted a vet, because she couldnât figure out why suddenly her horses werenât feeling well. Her horses would migrate toward the corner of the barn, and all they wanted to do was stare at the wall. When the vet came in, he asked if there was anything that had recently changed in their diet or lifestyle. The lady couldnât think of anything, other than proudly proclaiming that she had recently modernized the barn by installing new LED lighting. Luckily, the vet had a clue about lightingâs impact on health, and advised the lady to replace the lights.
Horses have highly unique vision that is particularly well suited for low levels of light. They have less cones than we do, and rely more on the rods for vision. Cones see color, whereas rods work at very low levels of light. Rods are used for night vision because only a few bits of light (photons) can activate a rod. 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 same sensitivity makes horses susceptible to being startled and disturbed by extremely bright light. This is why the recent use of intensely-bright LED lighting in equine settings has proven problematic, as it causes nervous reactions among horses from its excessive glare.
The eyes of ungulates like horses, cows, sheep, goats, moose, and deer are unique because they also use a reflective membrane called the tapetum lucidum that intensifies low light levels. This membrane reflects light back through the retina so that the horse can see at night, using low levels of light reflecting off of the ground. For an animal that needs to graze at night, see predators, and escape quickly over uneven terrain, this is a useful adaptation. For an animal thatâs surrounded by blue laser beams reflecting off surfaces, itâs an immediate danger. The discomfort of high glare from LEDs can translate into the horse being even more skittish around people. This is also why vehicle LEDs will only make deer become more of a âdeer-in-headlightsâ and not be able to respond effectively to on-coming traffic, as the intense blue light blinds more than it illuminates.
Although horses can distinguish colors, their vision is dichromatic, meaning they only have two types of cone cells in the retina. Human sight is trichromatic and in rare cases tetrachromatic:
How do horses see?
Horses see in varying shades of greys and whites, but the colors they mostly see are blue and green and the bluish-green hues in between. Oranges and reds arenât part of their color vision, which can play an enormous part in their everyday awareness. There isnât much point in waving an orange stick at a horse, or creating an obstacle course with red hurdles. If you want a horse to see an object that stands out, use blue or green instead.
Conventional lighting like metal halide, incandescent, fluorescent, and LEDs donât address the specific characteristics of equine vision. When designing an artificial light for horses, itâs critical to avoid high directional intensities from a light source like LEDs, which can actually damage the retina. Full spectrum lighting with full coverage that doesnât create focused âhotspotsâ like LEDs is a better solution.
A horseâs field of vision is very different from people. As vegetarians, horses are defensive animals meaning they are prey for carnivore hunters like large cats and wolves. Eyes on the side of its head provide a wide defensive visual field. Horses can be easily startled by motion at the edge of their peripheral vision. This is a defensive mechanism. Experiments show that points of bright light like a lamp, or motion from a moving car can be highly distracting. This is why blinders are used to direct a horseâs visual attention forward.
Like other ungulates, horses are active during all times of the day and night. Similar to humans, their cones function best in sunlight. Studies using electroretinogram (ERG) flicker photometry have been used to measure spectral properties of cones in ungulates, including horses. Based upon the research, horses should be treated to simulated sunlight with a balanced spectrum from 428nm (nanometers) through 539nm when indoors. Stables, barns, stalls, and common areas should maintain sufficient light intensities within the horseâs visual sensitivity to provide appropriate comfort and visual acuity. If you own horses, a healthy indoor living environment should mimic what we experience in nature.
This video by equine trainer Rebecca Golden concisely sums up horse vision:
Healthy lightingâs impact on mood & fertility
Proper lighting levels within a balanced spectrum can also relieve stress and lead to happier animals. If youâve ever felt down on a rainy day, or happier when walking on the sunny side of the street, you know that light directly influences mood and disposition. On the contrary, if youâve ever scrolled endlessly through social media or binge watched the podcasts of The Power Couple, itâs because the blue light from the screen is increasing the reward chemical dopamine. The reason long-term screen use is harmful, among many others, is due to the fact that this blue light is not balanced by other wavelengths, such as red, that exhibit regenerative effects upon our nervous system. Thank goodness horses donât have Facebook. Their faces are too long for selfies anyway.
Luckily for animals and their caretakers, healthier lighting has been designed with the horse in mind. Tesla Induction Lighting has designed Equine-Brightâ˘, which evenly diffuses and disperses light from the fixture to decrease the perceived intensity at the light source. Unlike an LED that may be comprised of many extremely intense diodes, this large format bulb spreads the intensity over a wider area. Workers, riders, and horses can directly view an Equine-Bright⢠fixture safely and without discomfort.
Equally important, a horse can turn its head 180 degrees through the light field without becoming startled or apprehensive. This means a horse can move from monocular to binocular vision without encountering sudden lighting intensity.
Equine-Bright⢠breeding technology is also the first lighting technology to apply the science of seasonal perception modification for horses. By concentrating and custom-tuning wavelengths of light that influence luteinizing hormone production, ovulation is stimulated. If considering using lighting for this purpose, one should consider that horses tend to give birth in the spring.
By increasing luteinizing hormone, melatonin is also decreased. Melatonin tends to be highest during the winter, when mammals and humans are regenerating and preparing for reproduction in the spring.1 If birth is forced during the winter, natural hormonal cycles may be shifted, creating a cascade of harmful biological effects.
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Ride into the full spectrum sunset
As the horse and rider move from light pole to pole, the intensity within the visual field changes. This causes the eye to constantly adjust. The bright-to-dark cycle of most modern lights can even have a hypnotic effect. Using Equine-Bright⢠technology, indoor training areas can be properly illuminated to substantially increase safety and comfort.
Since most electricity throughout the world is Nikola Teslaâs alternating current (AC), lighting is subject to âflickerâ at the AC cycle rate. In the US the rate is 60Hz while in Europe and some other countries it is 50Hz. A 60 cycle strobe will generally remove .7333 feet per second from a static object at a viewerâs acuity of 60 frames per second. If the object is a horse traveling at 45mph, the conversion is 66 feet per second causing a loss of 1 foot.
To make matters worse, the high frequency flicker of LEDs is associated with major human health issues that include strobe epilepsy, migraine headaches, nausea, impaired visual acuity, poor concentration, sleep disorders, mood swings, eye strain, and a lack of eye/hand coordination. There is no reason to believe horses donât suffer the same fate.
The problem is serious enough for the IEEE Standards Working Group to take up âRecommending practices for modulating current in High Brightness LEDs for mitigating health risks to viewers.â This process has been put in place to advise the lighting industry, ANSI/NEMA, IEC, EnergyStar and other standards groups about the emerging concern over flicker in LED lighting. The objective is to develop electronics and associated standards that either eliminate flicker, or mitigate biological impacts by raising the frequency to levels that are imperceptible to the brain. If we stop to consider the dangers of flicker upon a riderâs perception, along with the drastic effects of LEDs on a horseâs nervous system, changing out the light may in fact save a life.
Light pollution has also become a major issue for communities across North America. Regulations and guidelines have been established, or are being considered to limit the amount of light that can be used for outdoor areas. These regulations and guidelines are called âDark Skyâ rules, pertaining to the level of âdarknessâ that is preserved or protected by ordinances. What started out with good intentions has become a nightmare for some equestrian venues that rely upon nighttime lighting. Equine-Bright⢠for equestrian venues is neighbor-friendly and can be focused away from surrounding buildings and homes.
Energy efficient, forever.
Unlike LEDs, Equine-Bright⢠lights are not affected by temperature. They have an extraordinary 100,000 hour life cycle, which lowers maintenance costs by as much as 600% compared with conventional outdoor lighting. LEDs also exhibit what is called in-rush current, which is the initial surge of electricity needed to power their electronic components. Since Equine-Bright⢠are magnetic-induction bulbs without the same electronic architecture, their in-rush current is negligible.
The modern version of Nikola Teslaâs âForever Bulbâ, Equine-Bright⢠has a rated lifecycle of 100,000 hours. Although some LEDs claim 50,000 and 100,000 hour lifecycles, the technology has not been deployed in the real world long enough to prove the claim. As the installed base of LED expands, consumers are discovering that LEDs fail far sooner than their ratings. Equine-Bright⢠lighting also retains more than 85% of its luminosity over the 100,000 hour lifecycle while LEDs rapidly deteriorate from the first moment they are installed and turned on. This means the âefficientâ performance you think youâre getting from an LED bulb may be far less and not what you paid for.
Like humanity, the horse is under attack from all sides. Wild horses are being slaughtered by the Bureau of Land Management to âpreserve the healthâ of the land, while the mainstream cattle industry tramples over the dust of a land once free, no longer brave.
Our electronic age, like the Iron Age, will soon meet its fate upon the throne of doom if we are not careful. Let us ride into the lightning of Heavenâs magnetic fire, bracing our steeds for battle, emerging victorious evermore.
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Great information! Thank You!
I believe you are 100% On Point!
I have voip too, no other choice in this 5 yr old house in the country (which of course, due to privacy concerns, is not ideal) - but i have a router with no wireless capabilities which uses the cabled comcast phone/internet connection - so nothing wireless. If the power goes out, my router works for several hours, esp if the computer is not on.