[nagdu] Is your horse a service animal?

[Ginger Kutsch]

http://cs.thehorse.com/blogs/horses-and-the-law/archive/2010/09/0
7/is-your-horse-a-service-animal.aspx
 7 Sep 2010, 
Is Your Horse A Service Animal? 
BLOOD-HORSE PUBLICATIONS TheHorse.com
 
"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for
the inside of a man."
 
This familiar sentiment generally is credited to Sir Winston
Churchill, although he might have borrowed the idea from Theodore
Roosevelt. Ronald Reagan, a cowboy at heart, certainly laid claim
to it after he became president. No matter who came up with the
quote, it is undeniably true. Anyone who doubts that fact should
spend time with an equine assisted learning program or an
activity that matches horses and individuals with handicaps or
anyone with their horse.
 
The anecdotal history of horses as providers of physical and
emotional support is rich, but do horses satisfy the legal
requirements to be considered a "service animal?" 
 
In most cases the answer is no, at least according to new
Department of Justice regulations aimed at clarifying parts of
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
 
The ADA was enacted in 1990 to alleviate discrimination against
individuals with physical or mental disabilities. Among the
things the ADA did was to require reasonable accommodations for
specially trained guide dogs for the visually impaired and for
other service animals. The law has been tweaked from time to
time, most recently through a series of changes to existing
regulations that will take effect in 2011.
 
Among the changes is a more restrictive definition of "service
animal."
 
The new regulation states, in part, that "service animal means
any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks
for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a
physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental
disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic,
trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of
this definition." The regulation provides a number of examples of
tasks that qualify, such as aiding a person with vision or
hearing problems, performing non-violent protection, pulling a
wheelchair, retrieving items, and providing physical support or
assistance to individuals with "mobility disabilities," as well
as some tasks that do not.
 
Interestingly, crime deterrence or the "provision of emotional
support, well-being, comfort, or companionship" are not
acceptable qualifying tasks for a service animal. 
 
The new definition seems very straightforward: Only dogs can be
service animals under the ADA. No other species need apply. As
with many (maybe most) laws, however, there is a twist.
 
Despite the clear definition of a service animal as a dog, a
separate section of the regulations require that public entities
"make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or
procedures to permit the use of a miniature horse by an
individual with a disability if the miniature horse has been
individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit
of an individual with a disability." In deciding whether to allow
a miniature horse as a service animal a public entity will be
required to consider a number of factors, including the size and
weight of the miniature horse, whether the horse's handler has
sufficient control over the animal, whether there are legitimate
safety concerns, and whether the horse is housebroken. 
 
The regulation does not appear to automatically disqualify a
miniature horse if the animal is not housebroken, which probably
is a good thing. It is not at all clear how you actually
housebreak a miniature horse, or for that matter, a horse of any
size.
 
The new ADA definition of service animal will apply only to
public entities and their obligation to accommodate service
animals. Officials definitions of things tend to crop up in other
contexts, however, and the exclusion of "emotional support,
well-being, comfort, or companionship" as qualifying functions of
a service animal raises a more general question:
 
We all have support systems of one kind or another. Where do
horses fit into yours?
 
About Milt
Milt Toby is an attorney, author, photographer, golf rules
official, and weight lifter with a lifelong interest and
involvement in the horse industry. He grew up showing American
Saddlebreds, then switched to hunters, dressage, and combined
training. Milt worked at some of the country's largest horse
shows as a steward for the American Horse Shows Association
(before the organization morphed into the United States
Equestrian Federation), and he has attended equine events on six
continents. The author of five books, including The Complete
Equine Legal and Business Handbook and Ruffian, Milt is the
current Chair of the Kentucky Bar Association's Equine Law
Section.