[nfb-talk] Miniature guide horse opens door for blind student

[Kenneth Chrane]

Thanks.
Ken Chrane

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Johnson" <blinddog3 at charter.net>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 6:20 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Miniature guide horse opens door for blind student


> Kenneth,
> They should have no problem, as they are about as high as a tall Shepherd.
> However, if you would like to go right to the source, there is a woman on
> the NAGDU list, who actually has one, and I would bet she would be able to
> tell you even more about her experiences.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Kenneth Chrane
> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 4:07 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Miniature guide horse opens door for blind student
>
> Can a Guide Horse fit in an Airplane?
> Ken Chrane
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <ckrugman at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NFB Talk" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 2:31 AM
> Subject: [nfb-talk] Miniature guide horse opens door for blind student
>
>
>>
>>
>> Does anyone have any comments on the use of guide horses as discussed in
>> this article?
>> Chuck
>>
>> Miniature guide horse opens doors for blind student
>> Tiny companion helps Muslim woman live independently, attend university
>> 11/15/2010
>> http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40195834/
>>
>> For Mona Ramouni, who's blind, using a guide dog was just not possible.
>> From an observant Muslim family, Ramouni's parents objected to having a
>> dog in the house.
>>
>> For most of her life the 28-year-old got around with the help of her
>> family and friends. But those days are over, and Ramouni has a new
>> companion to help navigate her way: Cali the guide horse.
>> The graduate student bought Cali two years ago, and sent her for training
>> to learn to become a guide horse. She paid for the horse, its care and
>> training from her savings work as an editor of Braille books.
>>
>> Pampered pooches
>>
>> The Fetch Club boasts a canine restaurant, movie theater, spa, wet bar,
>> photo studio and even a doggie disco.
>>
>> Guide horse opens doors for blind student
>>
>> "My whole world and my whole outlook on stuff has changed, because I feel
>> that there are a lot more possibilities," Ramouni told the news service
>> AFP in July 2009, six weeks after Cali arrived. "Before Cali, I didn't
>> feel like I could go places on my own, although theoretically I probably
>> could have."
>>
>> Guide dogs are believed to have been leading the way for blind people for
>> centuries, while guide horses are a more recent phenomenon. The Guide
>> Horse Foundation has been training miniature horses as companions for the
>> blind for nearly 11 years. There has been such demand for guide horses
>> that the organization, which is run solely by volunteers, has had to
>> suspend the application process.
>>
>> Mira Oberman / AFP - Getty Images
>>
>> Graduate student Mona Ramouni, left, and her guide horse Cali wait for
>> class to start with classmate Cheryl Wade and her guide dog.
>> It takes about a year to train a guide horse, and the animals have a
>> longer lifespan than guide dogs. Miniature horses can live to be more 
>> than
>
>> 50 years old and weigh around 100 pounds.
>>
>> "Taking on a horse as a guide is a huge commitment, same as a dog but 
>> with
>
>> more physical needs," said Dolores Arste, Cali's trainer, to the
>> Associated Press last year. "It is not a novelty. It is a real working
>> animal."
>>
>> Taking care of Cali is definitely different than caring for a guide dog.
>> The diet of a guide horse consists mostly of grass or hay and oats,
>> according to the Guide Horse Foundation, and the animals can graze on the
>> lawn of someone's house.
>>
>> Since Ramouni and Cali have joined forces, she has been able to move from
>> her native Dearborn, Mich. to Lansing, where she is working toward a
>> master's degree at Michigan State University.
>>
>> Cali and Ramouni attend classes together, where they are sometimes joined
>> by the guide dog of another student.
>>
>> "We've had some adventures," Ramouni told the AFP. "If she thinks she can
>> do it, she will. If she thinks she can't or doesn't want to, I swear 
>> she's
>
>> half mule because she'll just stand there."
>>
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>
>
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