[nagdu] Guide Dogs and Horse Shows

[Tami Kinney]

Julie,

Thanks. Those are more or less the questions to myself I started with. I 
made some attempt to find out what the seating space, sound levels and 
so forth would be like, but there wasn't much notice and it was a 
holiday weekend.

I was relieved that using a cane for that long didn't give me a huge 
exacerbation of the injuries I'm working on stabilizing and healing, 
along with trying to build up muscle tone and strength without making 
things worse. Tricky, and there was some time spent in bed waiting for 
acupuncture... In the same areas where instructors from our lovely 
Commission for the Blind inflicted those crushing/insisting injuries. I 
still hear I'm supposed to be grateful...

Still, with the short notice for such an opportunity, I did decide to 
leave the poodle home, and she would not have fit at all, and the sound 
would have been too loud, I think. She does well in loudness, but it's 
more than I would want to subject her to for a long period.

So I'm funny. Asking around for opinions and stuff, I was surprised how 
many people skipped right over the questions about seating and noise 
levels and other logistics I wanted to have an idea about so that I 
could make the best decision for my dog and myself. Apparently, as a 
guide dog user, I am supposed to take responsibility for everyone else's 
feelings, wishes, horse training and safety, and so on and so forth. 
Granted, had I been buying those tickets months in advance, I would have 
found out more information about what to expect in terms of what the 
facilities for the horses were like. It was a reasonable guess that the 
horses would be well protected from all things, and they were. I didn't 
have anything to do with that, since it is not my responsibility. /evil 
grin/

 From our New Year dinner guest, I got the whole script about why would 
I take my dog and upset people when I have a sighted person to take care 
of me... And so on. Apparently, it matters that my dog doesn't look like 
a guide dog, but more like the neighbor's dog. And so on. Where do 
people get this stuff? Well, it's always so scripted -- except for the 
neighbor's dog comment, which was new and refreshing -- that I can just 
give a scripted response in return without having to stop and think 
about anything. Good grief! Still makes me madder than a wet hen!

Anyway, it all worked, we had a great time, I got to smell horses, etc., 
etc. I discovered that even with my skinny white friend instead of my 
slender black friend, people still come up and talk to me. /lol/ So long 
as I still get my new best friends I may never meet again... /grin/

Tami

On 01/03/2012 05:03 AM, Julie J. wrote:
> Tami,
>
> If I were considering taking Monty to a horse show I would think about:
> how much exposure he has had to horses
> what were his reactions
> did his experience with horses include them moving fast close to him?
> how much exposure to craziness has the horse had? in this case I'd say
> quite a bit
> will there be a fence or barrier between me and the horses?
> if I take him and it doesn't go as expected do I have a back up plan
> where I can still enjoy myself?
> will I be interacting with the horses at any time making it necessary
> for someone else to mind my dog?
> will the benefit I get from working Monty be more than the things I must
> do to keep both him and the horses safe and at ease?
>
> Monty has been to our state fair where he was around horses pulling
> carriages, to a very sedate horse show at the fair and through the horse
> barns. We also have horses in a pasture about 6 blocks from my house. He
> does fine around horses as long as there is 6 feet or so of room between
> him and them. closer than that and he gets nervous. Now llamas are a
> completely different thing. No clue why, but the boy is freaked out
> about llamas!
>
> Julie
>
>
> On 1/2/2012 4:55 PM, Tami Kinney wrote:
>> Sorry everybody! I'm trying this again with the right subject line and
>> without all the additions from the other thread. My face is red!
>>
>> Hey, gang!
>>
>> Good news! We have been given a gift of VIP tickets to Cavalia, for
>> the last night performance here. In the horse lovers' section! With
>> free parking, back stage passes to see the stars, all that good stuff!
>>
>> Cavalia is a performance involving horses with multimedia and
>> acrobatics, trick riding and ballet with horses. The stars are the
>> horses. And so on. Okay, so these horses are trained in their part of
>> the performance for a year to 10 years, they are that good. One can
>> olny assume the human partners and performers are not slugs, either.
>> /smile/
>>
>> So... Sixth row, best place to see the horses, short notice. To guide
>> dog, or not to guide dog? That is my question.
>>
>> I'm considering several key factors, still not firm on my decisions.
>> Hm... Who do I know that might have some thoughts on the subject...
>> /grin/
>>
>> So go for it! All feedback welcome!
>>
>> And thank you!
>>
>> Tami
>>
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>
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