[NFBP-Talk] guide horse trainer found!

Thu Aug 1 19:53:28 UTC 2024

Josh, make absolutely certain your trainer of the horse goes to a guide dog school and observes what all these dogs do. It is not just stopping at steps, there is far more the subtle  behaviors of guiding  the trainer must teach the horse to understand. The Seeing Eye teaches head bobs which is truly golden to help you understand where the blind person is. Three head bobs from the corner for example is my favorite coffee shop here in this little town. But if I want to sit outside we have to walk beyond past two large parking lots to the other nearly hidden entrance to the other coffee shop.

You have to do a ton of fund raising to buy the horses she will train, plus equipment feed, that is all on you. Plus you have to raise enough money to pay her and you. Pay for travel expenses, hotels. You must learn how to do presentations to moneyed folks, write grants, establish your nonprofit and oh so much more. 

    You will need to build a team to help you.

Becky 

From: NFBP-Talk <nfbp-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Josh Kennedy via NFBP-Talk
Sent: Friday, July 26, 2024 9:31 AM
To: NFB of Pennsylvania Talk, state list <nfbp-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Josh Kennedy <joshknnd1982 at gmail.com>
Subject: [NFBP-Talk] guide horse trainer found!

I  have an announcement to make... After several months of searching and searching I finally found someone  who has always been interested in training guide horses for people who are blind. Her name is Holly Fisher of Fisher's Farrier Service, She is from Illinois, and she has always wanted to train guide horses for people who are blind. I also have recorded a podcast interview with ann Edie all about what it is like to work with a small, 100 pound mini housebroken falabella or similarly housebroken mini horse as a guide horse.  the interview starts around 13 minutes into the podcast. 

https://soundcloud.com/josh-kennedy-997023397/guidehorseenhanced?si=604213ffa71146cc8ef46c2b68a8821e <https://soundcloud.com/josh-kennedy-997023397/guidehorseenhanced?si=604213ffa71146cc8ef46c2b68a8821e&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing> &utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

also, here is part of me and Holly Fisher's conversation along with her email. We have already set up the new equineEye guide horse training organization. 

from:
Holly Fisher chromedcamo at gmail.com <mailto:chromedcamo at gmail.com> 

I will spell that out in case it does not go through.

her email is: chromedcamo (at sign) gmail dot com

Holly Fisher wrote:
Hello Josh,
I appreciate you reaching out to me, expressing your interest in miniature guide horses. 

I've had a life long infatuation with all animals, especially horses. I started taking riding lessons at the age of 7. The more I learned about horses, the more I wanted to be with them. In my teenage years I trained my young horse & started competing in horse shows. Then I began training horses locally. In 2006 I graduated from horseshoeing school & currently I am still working as a Farrier. I love my job. I still feel like I need to be more involved. But in what ways?  I have a deep desire to share my love of horses with like minded individuals. 

Around 2018 I stumbled upon the Guide Horse Foundation's website. I was blown away at the idea of using mini horses as guides.  I instantly knew I wanted to follow the guide horse foundations lead and I would train guide horses too. 
I researched different types of miniature horses. It didn't take long to realize bet best choice is Falabella horses. They originated in Argentina.  Falabellas are perfect in every way for guide work. I started looking online in hope of purchasing a few of these Falabella's to begin clicker training for service work. I was shocked to find that the price range to buy a 1 year old, untrained Falabella is between $5,000-$12,000. Yikes! I was a bit discouraged about buying these mini horses, but I continued practicing clicker training with my full sized horses. 

Fast forward a few years, in March 2024 I was checking out the new foals for sale on a website named 'Toyland's Falabella International'. Since 2018, I have visited this website many times. During this visit I decided to sign the websites guestbook. I wrote a few sentences expressing my wishes to buy a few Falabella horses & clicker train them for guide work. This is the only time I wrote about my dream online, outside of my small circle of friends.

So imagine my astonishment & excitement when you reached out to me about a guide horse.  The more I thought about it, the more I felt like this is a sign, from a higher power, encouraging me to get the ball rolling  pursuing my dream to train miniature guide horses.

I thought it was a long shot... but I emailed the women who owns Toylands Falabella horses. She is one of the largest breeders in the United States & just happens to live in the same state as me, Illinois. It's only a 3.5 hour drive away. In my email I explained my dream & described my qualifications. She sent me back an enthusiastic email. Long story short, she wants me to come to her place & meet me. She wants to discuss ideas & start training her Falabellas for service work. I'm going to visit her in about 1 week. I'll let you know exactly what day I go visit & how our meeting goes. 

Thank you so much for contacting me. Without your thoughtful action, none of this would be happening right now. I think you should be the 1st person to receive our 1st trained guide horse.

-Holly Fisher-
I understand your reasoning about the proper order of things in regards to the organization. 
My thoughts are to create the organization now, so we can get donations from businesses & Grant's. Then use those funds to pay for your mini horse.
If we form the organization later, then all expenses will need to be paid by you & I. Even if we found a size appropriate mini horse, it's still going to cost around $1,000 to purchase the horse.  I would be willing to train your mini & provide all of his regular care (food, bedding, hoof trimming & veterinary) for free. However, it would be a tremendous financial relief if the money our organization generated could pay for the purchase of a quality Falabella,  pay me for the hundreds of training hours the mini will require, the traveling expenses for the horse to train in public places, your travel expenses to come here periodically especially the week you get to take your mini home. The organization should be able to cover any extra costs needed to help you set up a shelter & a secure fence for your new partner to live with you.

 I think that once training for your mini begins, the word will spread quickly & will generate a demand from people wanting their own guide horses. Those are just my thoughts & concerns. I asked the owne of Toylands Falabella's to be a board member in our organization. Hopefully she'll say yes. I have a good friend named Stephanie that agreed to be a board member. She is an author, has a master's degree in psychology & works at a college specializing in special need students. 

On Tue, May 28, 2024, 9:11 AM Josh Kennedy <joshknnd1982 at gmail.com <mailto:joshknnd1982 at gmail.com> > wrote:
an organization and a go-fund-me campaign are good ideas. But I also think its important not to "get ahead of yourself" so-to-speak. By that, I mean, before an organization should exist, first demand has to be created for that organization. In other words, the concept and advantages of guide horses has to be revived first. 
So first: one, or maybe a few should be trained and successfully used. Second: once I have mine, demand for more has to be created. This will probably involve going to major blindness conventions and demonstrating how guide horses work, why have a guide horse vs a guide dog, getting more people interested. And so as demand grows, then you make the organization. I'm taking my best guess as to how this most likely works because I'm really not a businessperson or marketing manager. But I'm guessing that's probably how it would work best. 

Josh
I was also thinking... after we successfully train several guide horses & show the community the benefits, mini guide horses will be in demand. It would be twice as nice if we could form a program with our local women's prison & teach them how to train the mini's. This would create a larger # of trained horses ready to be matched with a blind handler.  For the inmates it would be an enriching experience of a lifetime. It doesn't seem that far fetched knowing this scenario is a reality with guide dog training. 

Holly wrote:
You definitely have a deep & instant connection with horses. So many life long equestrians will never know the feeling of having a shared connection with a horse, or the feeling of their horse loving them. So many horses just tolerate their owner, never really liking them. 

Mares & geldings can both be trained for service work absolutely. I think with Mona the draw to a mare is their ability to reproduce. It's really genius as far as training the next generation. The potential is high for the baby to be even easier to train for guide work because of early exposure & watching his mom work. They call it "Mirroring." 

I had a trimming appointment yesterday evening. My client has a baby mini donkey she wants to sell when he gets weaned in a few weeks. I'm thinking about buying him & see if he enjoys being a guide. If it works out he would be the worlds 1st mini guide donkey, as far as I know. 
I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a few mini horses or mini donkey in the training program that way you can be matched with the best one for you. 

I'm waiting for a reply back from Laureen, owner of Toylands Falabellas. She's considering retiring a few of her breeding mares & if she does, she says she would donate them to our organization. That way they can still have a job they can perform skillfully for many years & be pampered in a loving home. 

I think I mentioned to you that Laureen has a Falabella baby named Einstein for sale, but his sale is pending. If the opportunity arises, I'll try to work it out so I can  pick Einstein up too.

Listen to this, I'm totally thrilled... We have a new member joining our team. Her name is Kristi Patrice Carter. She has a background in Illinois Law & has experience with starting non profits. She reached out to me because of something you posted on an online forum somewhere. Kristi happens to currently own a 1 year old Falabella named Pokey. She bought him last year from Laureen. Small world, LoL. 

Also, Shelia Wheeler reached out to me, volunteering her services, after reading something you posted online.  Before Shelia lost 85% of her eye sight she was a certified radio marketing specialist. Sheila has 3 mini's at her home  & plans to train 2 of them to help her with her mobility. I told her that she can call me anytime she wants to discuss the training process. I'm happy to help. 

Keep up the fantastic work Josh. You are really a powerful asset for our organization. You work around the clock shining  light, advocating for the mini guide horses to be recognized & respected. You have a gift embedded within the way you write... you are authentic in a way that speaks to the reader on a subconscious level creating a magnetism that inspires them to get involved too. One by one they are introducing themselves & offering their support. 

Thank you! 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbp-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20240801/d5044935/attachment.htm>