[Quietcars] Guide Horse Foundation?

[Robert Wilson]

I was reading IEEE Spectrum at lunch and they made a reference to "guide horses." Sure enough, I found this URL:

http://www.guidehorse.com/

The reason it raised my interest is my Mom raises miniature horses in Coffeyville Kansas. I'll forward the link to her but I know she sells hers and at reasonable prices. She was interviewed in the local paper and pointed out the miniature horses are smaller and have a more docile disposition compared to Shetland ponies.

I get the impression using miniature horses for guide animals is still somewhat experimental. Any contact with this program in the community?

I was about to ask about parrots because of their eyesight and intelligence but then I realized they really aren't tuned to ground obstacles. Still it reminded me of my favorite parrot joke read on the web. 

A magician was on a cruise line and the ship's Captain had a parrot in a cage. But no matter what illusion the magician performed, the parrot saw through it and called it out, "Its in his other hand!" or "Its in his pocket." The magician was getting more and more frustrated when a terrible storm blew up, capsized the boat, and the magician and parrot found each other clinging to the same piece of wood. For days, the magician and bird stared at each other in silent hostility until the parrot squawked,

"Ok, I give up. What did you do with the boat?"

Bob Wilson