I wasnt so sure on what article I wanted to choose for this frist assignment because so many different articles showed up! There were a lot about global news and everyday news, but I finally stumbled across a very interesting one. The article I found is called “Tiny Horse is a big help to blind owner” and came to me from cnn. This article talks about how this woman, who is blind, and instead of using a guide dog to help her around the community, she uses a miniature horse named Panda. The woman, Ann Edie, says that since her labrador died and she tried out two other different guide dogs and they didnt work, she turned to guide horses. There is a Guide Horse Foundation in North Carolina that trains all kinds of animals. Ann found her beloved Panda, who is white and black, at the foundation when she was six months old. She loves guide dogs too, but is set one guide horses. Anna has other horses too and she asked her riding coach to train Panda. Her coach worked with the horse and eventally traind Panda to be a blind guide horse. Ann says, “Because they are herd animals, they can predict where a moving object is heading and help adjust.” Panda plays inside and snuggles too, just like a dog. If she goes outside she rings a little doorbell to let Ann know.
I thought that this article was really interesting. Its amazing how much we don’t know about our society. I just assumed that blind people mostly used dogs as their guides or those white canes. I never knew about the miniature guide horse. Its hard to picture, a blind person walking down the street with a horse. And Panda is 120 pounds and 29 inches tall too. I think its cool to understand what blind people go through. It really is like a whole different world if you think about it. I don’t know what I would do if I were blind, but a guide dog or even a horse sounds pretty sweet.
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