The Guide Horse Foundation and miniature horses as service animals
Posted: Saturday, October 08, 2011
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
I have recently become interested in The Guide Horse Foundation again. Some time ago, I watched a short news feature about an adorable miniature horse
with a mighty big job – it was her duty to safely guide a visually impaired individual in the home, on the street, and even back and forth to a job. The fact that a little horse can be taught to perform such an invaluable service to a human is of immense interest to me. Likewise, I have always been fascinated by Guide Dogs, Service Dogs and Fidelco Dogs.“The Guide Horse Foundation is committed to delivering Guide Horses at no cost to the blind, relying on unpaid volunteers and charitable donations to pay all travel and housing expenses for the blind handler's on-site training.” Being the horse lover that I am makes me all the more interested in the work of The Guide
Horse Foundation. Perhaps I can spark some interest in others, too.According to the Foundation, horses have been helping humans for countless years and giving them the additional responsibility of guiding is natural task. In the wild, if one of the horses in the herd is sightless, another horse takes up the duty of guiding him. This has been demonstrated in pasture situations as well – if one of the horses has moon blindness, another stablemate will guide and guard that horse. Cavalry horses have guided injured riders to safety. Blind riders compete in competitions, depending entirely on their horses.
The Foundation has identified major factors about the miniature horse that makes him such an ideal companion and guide animal.
The miniature horse is a long-lived animal with an average lifespan of over 30 years. Dogs, on the other hand, have a much shorter life.
According to the Foundation, overall costs to train a guide dog run in excess of
$60K per the Guide Dog Users Advocacy Group. A further statistic from Lighthouse International, the United States has over 1.3 million visually impaired people with only 7,000 people using guide animals. Training the little horses may well be more cost effective and increase the numbers of guide animals.A most interesting point made by The Guide Horse Foundation is that public places frequently consider guide dogs as pets and restrict access. Yet, a guide horse is more readily accepted as a working service animal.
Horses remain calm in chaotic situation as is punctuated so well by the mounted police horses. A trained horse remains unflappable under duress. Every service guide miniature must be systematically desensitized and trained exactly as his bigger relations.
Miniature horses have excellent memories and fine vision. Their superb memory enables horses to remember instances of danger or gravity for their lives. Their vision provides them with a viewing range approaching 350 degrees. Horses are able to track movement and danger with both eyes or with each eye. Their vision remains excellent in the dark.
Since horses are prey animals, they have a natural tendency to be safe. According to the Foundation, miniature horses “demonstrate excellent judgment in obstacle avoidance training.”These small horses are sturdy animals, with big hearts and lots of stamina. They have little engines that keep right on going for their person. These minis are clean and, yes, they can be housebroken. They don’t make a fuss to be petted and stand obediently and quietly. Dogs may get fleas; the horses do not. A miniature horse is a focused work horse – he will not be easily distracted.
The miniature horse is a little marvel of nature, in my opinion. I own two of these smart creatures. On my own, I probably never would have considered them as guide animals, but knowing about police horses, combat war horses, and other uses for them has opened my eyes. It’s kind of like thinking outside the box.
Why not, I say.The Old Gray Mare writes for www.DressYourHorse.com and her Blog sites.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)They do much good.Thank you. Amazing really when you consider what these little horses can accomplish.Thank you for reading and commenting.
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