[nagdu] Fw: [msb-alumni] Confetti, the miniature guide horse

William Vandervest timelord09 at comcast.net
Tue Aug 4 15:18:21 UTC 2015


not about guide dogs, but very cool 


There Are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See 
William and LD Lynerd 
timelord09 at comcast.net

From: Vickie 
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 4:50 AM
To: MSB Alumni 
Subject: [msb-alumni] Confetti, the miniature guide horse


Thought some of you would find this of interest.


Vickie


I had the pleasure of interviewing our very own Cheryl Spencer. You may know
her as the author of Spencer’s Spotlight for The Blind Perspective. She is
quite knowledgeable about accessible devices, but she also knows a thing or
two about guide horses. And, you may ask why this is? Well she is the proud
owner of Confetti, her miniature guide horse.

Going back a bit, Cheryl had had two previous German Shepard guide dogs,
Tammy and Delta. After losing Delta she had decided that she didn’t want
another guide dog. It was a very emotional time after losing her, “the best
dog ever,” Cheryl said. Going back to using her cane she realized that her
cane skills were not that great.

It was Cheryl’s sister and husband who first learned about miniature guide
horses from an article they had read. Chris, her husband, read the article
to Cheryl, and that peeked her interest. The process that Chris and Cheryl
went through to obtain and train Confetti was a very long, tiresome,
emotional, and frustrating one. There are many twists, turns, ups, and downs
that they experienced. I have listed the major events leading up to Cheryl
becoming the first owner trained guide horse.

The Beginning:
*May 2001: Cheryl was On the Guide Hoarse Foundation list at #74; she didn’t
want to wait that long
*They recommended her to find her own trainer, and they gave her a list of
training details and what was needed in the field intelligence test
Trainer:
*After many failed attempts and just over one year, it was Chris’ coworker’s
daughter who was taking riding lessons from a horse trainer
* Debbie King was looking for a Community Service Project, so she agreed to
train the horse
Miniature Horse:
*June - July 2002; Searching via the internet and local horse related
places: one hit from JBR Ranch in Christmas, FL
The Meeting:
*Debbie did the field intelligence on Confetti, she passed with flying
colors
Not so Quick:
*The ranch wanted $3,000 for confetti; Chris and Cheryl did not have that
kind of money
*After many letters and talks the ranch accepted a gracious offer of a
$3,000 tax write off from the Jacksonville Council of the Blind
Oh No, Here We Go Again:
*After 2 ½ months of training Debbie quit
*Contract with the ranch stated complete training or Confetti must be
returned to the ranch
*Looking all over again, local news station did a story on Cheryl and
Confetti
*March 2003; Gail Ray of Anthony, FL called and became the new trainer

This simple list of steps they had to endure in order to get a trainer and
Confetti, does not touch the pure emotional roller coaster they had to
experience. While Cheryl was telling me the story in detail, I could hear
how she was heartbroken, overwhelmed, saddened, relieved, and extremely
happy.

I asked Cheryl if there have been any challenges with Confetti. She and her
husband initially thought that they would be faced with many access issues.
But it was just the opposite. There was just one time at a small pizza shop.
The owner didn’t say that they couldn’t come in, he requested that they not
come in due to the small size and large crowd. Both Chris and Cheryl agreed
with the owner. Cheryl added that she thinks that people are more afraid of
dogs than horses, and that may be a reason while sometimes access is denied
for guide dog users.

Ironically, when Cheryl started this adventure in May of 2001, call it
coincidence or not, that is when Confetti was born. JBR Princess Confetti,
her full name, was born on the JBR Ranch in Christmas, Florida on May 10,
2001. She is a Leopard Appaloosa Miniature Horse.

Confetti was bred to be a show horse. She may be a guide horse, but she sure
knows how to flaunt her stuff! She stands 29 ½ inches from her whither (s
shoulders), and weighs 185 pounds. She is 30 inches from her chest to her
tail. Confetti’s base coat is white with different size Carmel spots. She
has a red tail and her forelock is red as well. Her mane is white. From her
knees down is red.

She really looks like one of those horses you see on a merry go round. She
is definitely a crowd stopper Cheryl says. Which led me to ask her what are
the pros to having a guide horse as to having a guide dog? Cheryl, without
hesitation said that she, that being Confetti, is popular. She went on to
add that the cons of having a guide horse as oppose to a guide dog is that
once again, she is popular.

Confetti wears a halster in place of a collar. She has reigns instead of a
leash. Her harness is similar to a guide dog’s harness. Other than it being
larger, it has a V cut out where the bone sticks out from her withers. She
is seen by a local vet to maintain her health. A farrier takes care of her
hooves. And, she also has her own dentist to care for her teeth and an
overbite.

Confetti has traveled by car, minivan, cruise ship, and plane. Cheryl and
Chris made modifications to their minivan for Confetti. They had the
passenger back seat removed. Confetti jumps in and stands in the center of
the van with her head between the driver and the front passenger. She can
stand in a car too. She has been a passenger in a Honda Prelude, by just
standing parallel to the front seats. As you can imagine, Confetti prefers
the minivan over any car.

Confetti sleeping quarters are in a closet. Actually Confetti stands in the
center area doorway of a pass through closet. This is also her safe place.
She will go there when she knows she has done something wrong. Usually
Confetti will stand, but in this area she will lie down if she feels like
it. When she dreams she can be heard neighing or whinnying, and her hooves
are moving too!

Confetti eats forage feed. This is comprised of compressed hay with the
added nutrients that are good for her to maintain maximum health. Also,
Confetti will not give up a nice field of grass or vegetables. Her all time
favorite are bananas. Like a child, she too likes snacks. At the time of
this interview, Fig Newtons are on the top of her list. Some other things
she likes to eat are, mints, candy, crackers, and whatever may be in your
pocket.

You may have heard of a doggy door, and yes, Cheryl has a horse door for
Confetti. This allows Confetti to access the yard as needed. Cheryl also has
three cats. Confetti and all of the cats do get along. Cheryl says that they
chase each other around while outside.

I would like to conclude this article with a few Funny jokes and stories
Cheryl shared with me about Confetti while out in public.
*We have to give Confetti cough syrup because she is a little hoarse.
*We can't play hide and seek with Confetti because she is always spotted.
*Confetti is always clean but she is never spotless.
*Funny- While traveling on a plane with Confetti, Cheryl heard a man say, “I
haven’t even had a drink and I am seeing a horse on a plane.”
Cute-*While in a checkout line at the grocery store, Cheryl overheard the
following exchange between a little girl and her mother.
Girl; Mommy, I know what kind of horse that is.
Mom; What kind sweetie?
Girl; It is a Dalmatian horse.
*Humor- Sometimes Cheryl, and her late husband would have fun with curious
people. For example, when in a store a young boy while pointing to Confetti,
asked if it was real. Either Chris or Cheryl would simply replied, “No
actually she has a slot on her side and when you put a quarter in it she
will go another 30 minutes.”
And to this, the boy called out to his mother, “Can I have a quarter?”
*Interesting- A comment from a shopper a she walks around the corner and
sees Confetti. “That’s an interesting way of getting around “no dogs
allowed.”
*Educational- Again while in a store with Confetti, a dad asks if his two
girls could pet Confetti. Of course, Cheryl says yes. While his girls
happily pet Confetti the dad says, “You’re making the best of your situation
and you are also bringing other people joy.”

If you would like to read more about Cheryl and Confetti all you need to do
is google, “guide horse Confetti in Florida”, there is a lot of material
written about the pair. My thanks to Cheryl for allowing me to interview her
about the struggles and successes of getting her guide horse, Confetti.



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