[nagdu] Snow

Ted Shelly tshelly at optonline.net
Sun Dec 21 23:07:56 UTC 2008


Hi Ann,

I had heard about the use of miniature horses as guides. Is this getting
more common?  My wife is a nut about horses and she was sort of jokingly
prompting me to get one.  I just can't imagine taking a miniature horse into
an urban environment - into the subways and into high-rise office buildings.
But your Panda sure sounds like a smart cookie.  It must have been great fun
taking her out caroling.

All the best,

Ted

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Ann Edie
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 1:55 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Snow

Hi, Ted, Susan, and Everyone,

My miniature horse, Panda, is also a great guide in the snow and ice!  She
is a great height to give me a little extra support if my feet start to
slide out from under me, if we hit an unexpected patch of glare ice.  She
also puts her nose down close to the ground to check carefully whether it is
safe to walk, especially where there may be ice under a coating of
water--she knows that is really slippery!

When we're walking down a narrow, partially-cleared sidewalk, and we get to
the corner where no path has been cleared to the street, and the snowplows
have made huge mountains of packed snow completely blocking the path to the
crosswalk, Panda will cut in front of me, and take me back to the first
available driveway or path to the street, and then we will walk on the
street side of the snow banks back to the corner.  She is very good about
slowing down where we cannot avoid walking across ice.  And she will take me
around mud and puddles.  She's very good at looking ahead and planning the
best route to follow.

We had a few inches of ice and snow on the ground from last weekend's storm,
and we got more snow on Wednesday, and then about a foot of snow on Friday
into Saturday.  Saturday evening we went carrolling with some of our
neighbors for Ronald McDonald House, and Panda did a great job of guiding me
up and down the icey driveways and front paths as well as along the snowy
streets of the neighborhood.  (The streets hadn't been cleared very well,
and we don't have sidewalks in the neighborhood.)  Today we are getting more
snow, probably another 8 inches or so, and it is supposed to get even colder
and windy, so the snow will be blowing and drifting--not exactly great
walking weather, but we do like our white Christmases here in Upstate New
York!

Hope everyone is warm and has good company to share the holidays with.

Best,
Ann

----- Original Message -----
From: "sblanjones11" <sblanjones11 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 8:17 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Snow


> Dear Ted & listers,
> All my dogs have done very well with ice and snow--much more effective 
> than
> I could do with my cane.
> They have the advantage of being able to see where there is a way through.
> I have also noticed that my dogs will put their noses down on the ice to
> test it before walking on it.  At first, I interpreted this as sniffing, 
> or
> finding something delicious on the sidewalk.  Now I realize it is their 
> way
> of testing the path ahead to make sure it is safe.
> Rhoda will detour onto the area that would be grass if the sidewalk is too
> icy.
> HTH.
> Susan & Rhoda
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Ted Shelly
> Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 3:07 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: [nagdu] Snow
>
>
> Yesterday we got about 6 inches of snow.  It was quite beautiful, but of
> course the roads are a mess and so are the sidewalks.  I walked down to 
> the
> post office this morning and ran into lots of unshoveled walks and piles 
> of
> snow at intersections.
>
> I was wondering, for hose of you in colder climates, how your dogs do in
> snow like this.  I'd think it would be very tough for them to figure out
> what to do when confronted by a snow bank or a path only one shovel-width
> wide.  Do they manage?
>
> Ted
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