[nagdu] minature horses as guides

[Ann Edie]

Hi, Lisa,

It's no problem about the article on the Guide Horse Foundation. That all
occurred back in 2001 when the Guide Horse Foundation was getting a lot of
media attention because they were training the first guide horse/blind
person team. That was Dan Shaw and Cuddles. NAGDU officers were unhappy with
the tone of the publicity put out by the GHF, and they believed that the
whole notion of using miniature horses as guides for blind people was
ridiculous, dreamed up by ignorant sighted people who knew nothing about
blindness or the organized blind movement, and that this crazy notion of
guide horses might backfire and cause a backlash against blind people using
dog guides as their mobility aid. I did go to the NFB convention that year
to speak with the NAGDU leadership. I told them that I agreed that the
publicity put out by the GHF did not portray blind people in the best
possible light. But I expressed my hope that they wouldn't let that
publicity color the whole subject of using miniature horses as guides. I
advocated that they not reject the experiment out-of-hand, but give it a
chance and see if miniature horse guides would prove useful or not in the
longterm. Unfortunately, they had already made up their mind and were
actively trying to shut down the GHF through legal action as well as by
proposing a resolution to the NFB in general.

I also attended the open meeting of the Resolutions Committee that year, and
felt very disrespected when the anti-GHF resolution was read and the
assembled crowd erupted into gails of laughter, neighs, and clip-clopping.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely at the expense of those
foolish, ignorant guide horse supporters. Since only presenters of the
resolutions and members of the Resolutions Committee are permitted to speak
at the meeting, I could only listen in silence, and the audience did not
know that their ridicule was not universally shared. After some revision,
that anti-guide-horse resolution was passed by the full Convention, and to
my knowledge, it has never been repealed or reconsidered. This is hurtful to
me, but I continue to believe in the principles of the NFB. And I am
grateful, as I have previously said, for the more openminded policy of
Marion and the current NAGDU leadership and membership toward the
experimentation with the use of miniature horses as guides for blind people.

Thanks, all, for listening to the other side of the story.

Best,
Ann

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lisa via nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2015 6:38 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Lisa
Subject: Re: [nagdu] minature horses as guides

Hi Ann!

wow, that's so interesting to have you on the list! :-) I was the one who
posted the old NAGDU article and I hope you don't take it personally. I
didn't know it was old and I really didn't mean to spread negativity about
mini horses as guides. It's a fascinating topic and it's very interesting to
get info about that from you as being a horse owner!

best wishes from Germany
Lisa