new member intro and interested in guide horses

[Josh Kennedy]

My name is Josh Kennedy. I am totally blind--and my son who is sighted and 16 years old takes riding lessons, works at the lesson farm, and participates in IEA horse shows. I have spent 7 or so months with a miniature horse at that farm, and I get along with her very well. I also signed up for riding lessons at a therapeutic riding farm, but since the people at the much closer farm where my son works know me quite well, if and when I have an opportunity to take lessons there I think I will since it is much closer and people won't have to drive me nearly as far. And in spite of being kicked, getting a full kick to my left knee last week, by Jazzy the mini horse, I am still very interested in mini horses. I talk to Ann Edie, whose guide horse is Panda, Mona Ramouni, whose guide horse is Cali, and Alexandra Kurland who trained Panda, and Dolores Arste who trained Cali. And I am very much looking forward to buying my own miniature horse and either having it trained, or most likely having to train it as a guide animal on my own. I found this comprehensive resource and reports on how guide horses are trained. there are 8 reports or so.

The Panda Project: A Guide Horse for the Blind - Basic Training

Panda is a miniature horse Alexandra Kurland trained to be a guide for the blind. These detailed reports describe her training.

www.theclickercenter.com

I discovered I get along better with horses than I do with dogs. I spent a lot of time with Jazzy, unsupervised. I had bad experiences with dogs as a child and I strongly believe that a guide horse would work great for me.

 

[MaryFlora]

Welcome Josh from Minnesota! I do hope your knee is feeling better! Those little hooves can pack a punch! I’ve only read about mini horses serving as guides so have zero experience in that field.

As I longtime horse owner, however, I can vouch for the value of their company!

Forum members have a very wide range of experience, so jump in with questions or comments anytime!

 

[minihorse]

Welcome to the forum, Josh.

 

[Standards Equine]

Welcome @Josh Kennedy and I also hope your knee is recovering well!
I sure appreciate your idea of training a mini to be your service animal. They are far longer lived than dogs; however, I would imagine the process of acquiring an appropriate young horse could be more complicated. Like dogs, not all little horses are created equal and suited to such an important role.
Have you had experience in training horses? I really, sincerely appreciate the comprehensive guide from Panda's training, but having extensive first-hand experience, especially with young horses, there are a lot of questions young horses ask that need to be appropriately addressed in the moment and can escalate into dangerous behaviors if not dealt with right, right away. That being said, if you have the support of experienced trainers who are knowledgeable in training horses in hand - outside of riding, then success if yours for the taking! Please remember, your safety is paramount!

Please share your journey, we'd all enjoy celebrating your success with you.

All our best, from Jasmine the Therapy Pony, Phillippe the donkey and myself, Amanda

 

[JuliaM]

My name is Josh Kennedy. I am totally blind--and my son who is sighted and 16 years old takes riding lessons, works at the lesson farm, and participates in IEA horse shows. I have spent 7 or so months with a miniature horse at that farm, and I get along with her very well. I also signed up for riding lessons at a therapeutic riding farm, but since the people at the much closer farm where my son works know me quite well, if and when I have an opportunity to take lessons there I think I will since it is much closer and people won't have to drive me nearly as far. And in spite of being kicked, getting a full kick to my left knee last week, by Jazzy the mini horse, I am still very interested in mini horses. I talk to Ann Edie, whose guide horse is Panda, Mona Ramouni, whose guide horse is Cali, and Alexandra Kurland who trained Panda, and Dolores Arste who trained Cali. And I am very much looking forward to buying my own miniature horse and either having it trained, or most likely having to train it as a guide animal on my own. I found this comprehensive resource and reports on how guide horses are trained. there are 8 reports or so.

The Panda Project: A Guide Horse for the Blind - Basic Training

Panda is a miniature horse Alexandra Kurland trained to be a guide for the blind. These detailed reports describe her training.

www.theclickercenter.com

I discovered I get along better with horses than I do with dogs. I spent a lot of time with Jazzy, unsupervised. I had bad experiences with dogs as a child and I strongly believe that a guide horse would work great for me.

Welcome to this group Josh & my mini Citi certainly would never be a reliable ‘guide’ he just doesn’t have the right character BUT it does seem you have the right connections to a couple of miniature horse trainers specifically to become guides … I would suggest using their expertise to the fullest & I would err against trying to train any animal myself for such an important role. Training any animal is very much about visual ‘cues’ & if these are missed it can be dangerous.

Mini’s are small but mighty & I think that you will absolutely find a mini that is trainable for your personal needs & that you form a connection with but for safeties sake please have the horse trained by one of the pro you mention PLUS then you yourself will have to have extensive training too.

Would Jazzie’s owner consider loaning or selling her to you as she’s already trained & then it would just be working on your combined training to assist/guide you.

Have you also thought about where the horse would be kept, how you’d transport her & also places where a guide mini is able to go etc restaurants, grocery stores etc. That’s if you’re hoping to have the mini trained to do a lot of what a traditional guide dog would do?

I hope you’re able to keep us all up to date on your journey