Guide Horses for the Blind - Damnit, read this and be educated

One of our 2007 fillies.

Pretty much the only thing a miniature should be leading.

I've commented on at least three different seeds about using miniature horses as guides for the blind. Recently a viner seeded another of these stories, and finally, I'm moved enough to actually post an article about this. I know it's not the viner's fault - these stories really are cute and hide the real facts about the usage of horses as guide animals. But part of Newsvine I believe solidly in is the ability to learn and to educate others with what you have learned.

My family owns a miniature horse farm. They also run a rescue for them. We've been fighting the Guide Horse Foundation for years, and are appalled at the level of notoriety they've gotten. They've been on Oprah, their mission endorsed by celebrities, their horses (horses in many case unfit to live) used by people who overpaid extravagantly (I'm talking 50 thousand dollars for a horse that MIGHT get 200 dollars normally).

They sued our rescue, my mother, and many other miniature horse farms awhile back. Angry that we wouldn't sell our horses to be trained, or allow rescue animals to serve that purpose, and alleging slander from talk on an online forum. The judge threw out the case and forced them to pay legal costs.

But the thing is, miniature horses are gaining speed in the show and breeding world, and so is word about their use as a guide horse. When I tell people about our farm, it's not entirely uncommon to have someone say "Oh! those little horses? They're so cuuuuute! I've heard they can lead the blind too!" Okay, granted, they are damn cute, but I grate my teeth when I hear the lead the blind bit, and it's rare that I don't give it to them about it.

So, listen up - read the real reasons, reasons that save the blind person and the horse - and don't fall for the cutesy human interest story on your 10 o clock news.

1. FIGHT OR FLIGHT
All animals have a fight or flight instinct - and most of them largely fall in one category or the other. For example, a honey bee's response to aggravation is fight, even though it will die. A dog will usually choose fight, and is smart enough to be able to judge the situation. A horse's instinct? Run like hell. It's easy enough to train them not to startle in show rings and at parades. But when it's something that feels threatening, you can bet they'll run. If you and your 200 pound guide horse are walking down the sidewalk and a doberman comes running, not only will the horse not defend you as a guide dog would have, but the horse is going to run, and your arm is at the other end of the guide. Ouch.

2. BASIC SIGHT LIMITATIONS
Have you ever watched one of those horse trials on television? The kind where the horses jump vary obstacles, run around, all flashy and pretty? Ever noticed that sometimes a blue tarp is laid down after a jump? This is representing water. Why use a tarp, when they could use real water? Because the horse can't tell. Most horses really cannot tell the difference. Also, in case you've never actually looked at a horse, their eyes are on the sides of their head. They reposition themselves, toss their heads, whatever, if they suspect a person or object is in front of them.

Also, they have hard times discerning shapes and shadows. They hate stairs - like a cow, going up isn't so bad, but going down is a feat from hell. They will jump over a shadow that looks like a step or stair. This, along with the water fact, proves they really have little to no depth perception.

When unloading a horse from a trailer, they are so uncertain as to their grounding, they would rather jump than step down. If you're using a guide horse, this is surely going to cause problems with curbs, cracks, and shadows on the street.

3. BASIC "HORSE-NESS"
Fact: horses cannot lie down for long periods of time or stand up for long periods of time. If you'd be grazing and roaming ground for the last few millenia, you'd probably have problems standing still too. They stand still to nap; they lay down to nap and sun. This is not an animal you bring with you into a restaurant and expect to stand silently behind your chair. Or worse, on an airplane (there have been fights about that).

Fact: The number one killer of horses is colic. Their digestive system is the most sensitive of grazing animals. Even a perfectly healthy horse being fed good grain and good hay can colic. And yet, as a guide horse, you would have to house train them. It is horrible for a horse to try to hold that in them; they've been going freely as instinct allows for years. Attempting to regulate bowel and urinary movements is devastating to a horse's system and can easily cause colic; of which even simple cases are often fatal.

4. NOT ENDORSED
The National Foundation for the Blind does not wish horses to be used as guide animals. this scathing review of the Guide Horse Foundation and it's owner was published in Braille Monitor in April 2001, speaking of how the foundation doesn't even understand the basics of training seeing-eye animals, or what the average blind person needs from a guide animal.

This interview demonstrated that the Burlesons have made no real effort to learn proper training methods for guides as they have evolved during the past seventy‑two years, first by The Seeing Eye and then by other guide dog schools. Also in her conversation Suzanne discovered many disadvantages of miniature horses as guides, disadvantages which my reading on the subject has corroborated.

Also, this proposal from the NFB shows clearly that they do not believe in a horse's ability to safely lead a blind person:

WHEREAS, in the past year at least one organization, the Guide Horse Foundation located in Kittrell, North Carolina, has proposed the use of miniature horses as an alternative to guide dogs; and

WHEREAS, guide animals must be able to function acceptably in diverse urban and rural settings, and the inability of guide horses to do so will necessarily limit the mobility of any blind user; and

WHEREAS, the Guide Horse Foundation maintains that an advantage of the guide horse over the guide dog is its 30 year life span, but to benefit from this so called advantage, the blind owner would be restricted to a limited environment, suited to the needs of a horse and not to the needs of a person; and

WHEREAS, the whole idea of an inappropriate animal like a horse being used as a guide animal threatens the universal applicability of access laws to protect the civil rights of blind people in public accommodations, including hotels, restaurants, busses and airplanes; and

WHEREAS, the organized blind have fought long and hard to secure access to public accommodations by blind people using properly trained guide dogs, and this investment must not now be squandered by the use of inappropriate animals: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2001, in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that this organization oppose the use of guide animals that cannot meet the diverse travel and social needs of the blind in the twenty-first century; and

Another resolution calls the Guide Horse Foundation's experiments "demeaning and dangerous".

5. DWARFS
Most, if not all, horses being trained as guide animals, are not, in fact, miniatures. They are dwarf horses, and are part of genetic lines that any responsible breeder will not use. When a breeder discovers a mare or stallion throwing dwarves, they do not breed that horse any more. Period. Dwarf horses are plagued by disease and health issues, often cannot even walk or see straight, and have a very very limited life expectancy. The Guide Horse Foundation claims they are better animals because of a 30 year life span - while this is the true life span of a normal miniature, the life span of a dwarf is considered long if it makes it to 3 years. So not only will this blind person put its faith into an animal that cannot lead it, it will easily spend thousands on vet bills (even basic vet bills are far higher for a horse than a dog) and the animal will likely not live to any useful term of years.

6. SAFETY OF THE BLIND
The biggest safety issue for the blind is the issue of intelligent disobedience. If you are at an intersection with your seeing eye dog, you can be far more assured that he will not lead you into a dangerous situation, even at your urging. Dogs are trained to understand that they should not lead one into traffic, for example, even if their master is telling them to go forward.
A horse does not have the cognitive and analytical abilities to be capable of this thought process. When a horse hears "woah" it woahs. When it's urged forward, it moves forward. It may think in regards to it's own safety, but a horse will never be able to have your safety foremost in mind. Both my mother and I have heard horror stories, most recently being one where a startled guide horse ran through a store window. Others are similar to the doberman story above. I would never want to be on the opposite end of a guide with a 200 to 400 pound fleeing animal.

7. ARGUMENTS
The biggest argument we get from naysayers is about police horses. They can handle crowds, loud noises, etc.

Well, yes. But the person on top isn't blind. Those horses are thoroughly trained to handle such situations, but they are not trained to lead the human through them. The horse also largely relies on its rider to keep it calm and directed under such circumstances. Even so, it is not uncommon to hear a story about a police horse mowing over a few pedestrians during Mardi Gras or similar events.

8. CONCLUSION
Okay, fine. I've said my piece. And I feel better for getting it out there. A bit of further reading, for anyone who wants it, there is a great article here, written by a woman who both raises miniature horses, and owns a guide dog. See if that doesn't give you some more perspective.

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