Hope for handicapped Horses
When Morgan Wagner was 13 years old, Morgan’s grandmother promised her she could have what almost every little girl dreams of: her very own horse. Among the herd, one fascinating foal caught her eye. That horse was Endo. “I first met Endo on my grandma’s farm when my family and I moved up from California to Oregon,” said Morgan. “My grandma said I could have one of her horses, and I chose Endo. He had the most charisma and pranced around the other horses.” Despite being just a few months old, there was something very special about this intelligent and loving horse. “Endo has a big personality, that’s why I picked him out of all the babies my grandma had,” said Morgan. “He thinks he’s the greatest horse in the world and he wants everybody to know that.” Morgan and Endo grew up together, teaching one another everything there is to know about horseback riding. From their very first dressage and riding experiences together, to mastering trotting through some of the trickiest patterns and obstacles, there wasn’t a challenge their incredible bond couldn’t face. When he was eight years old, Morgan noticed Endo’s eyes tearing up and squinting often. Morgan had her beloved gelding evaluated by a veterinarian, who diagnosed him with equine recurrent uveitis, also known as moon blindness or periodic ophthalmia. “He continued to have flare ups and it got worse and worse as time went on,” said Morgan. “With each flare up, it also damaged his eyes.”
Endo’s pain unfortunately would not subside and when his right eye ruptured, Morgan made the incredibly difficult decision to have it removed. Within months, Endo’s left eye also began to give him problems and had to be removed as well, forcing him to learn how to navigate a world he could not see. “I didn’t know how Endo would handle blindness. That was something that we just had to try and see how it went. I just hoped he would be happy eating in his stall without pain, so we started there,” Morgan continued. And so, Endo, the horse who once faced new challenges with courage and determination, became Endo the Blind. At first, losing his eyesight terrified him, and Morgan had to frequently coax him out of his stall. “He was very scared in the beginning, so I took him for walks around the barn and then moved on to walks around the property,” said Morgan. “Everything in small steps.” But thanks to his owner’s love and support, Endo quickly recovered and once again became the confident horse Morgan first fell in love with. And it wasn’t long before he was using his endearing personality and remarkable tricks to tug on everyone else’s heartstrings, too! As we practiced, “Each trick was something Endo already knew. We just had to practice and finetune it,” said Morgan. “He learned to jump again after going blind because he competed in a discipline that required upper-level riding and obstacle work, and in that discipline, he became national champion at the highest level.” Morgan hopes the equine community will be motivated by Endo’s story and focus on the abilities of blind horses rather than their disabilities. “It makes me use my other senses, smell and hearing to learn what they ‘see’,” she said.
“I love watching Endo navigate around obstacles on his own. He knows exactly where everything is, even in new environments.” Endo the Blind, set three Guinness World Records: for the highest free jump by a blind horse (106 cm), most flying changes by a horse in one minute (39), and fastest time for a blind horse to jump Weaving five poles (6.93 seconds). Wagner told KOIN 6 News she was so proud of Endo and still in shock at his achievements. “It feels amazing that Endo has three world records,” said Morgan.
Horsing around
I had a job as part of a pantomime horse team once, but I quit when I was a head.
100 years ago everybody rode horses around, and only the wealthy could afford cars
Today everybody drives cars, and only the wealthy can afford horses.
Three young ladies went on a little vacation together. They all worked in the same office. They decided to go horseback riding together. Once they were on the trail one of the girls pulled up and said, “Do you realize this horse makes more per hour than I do?”
My wife is trying to lose weight. That’s why she rides horseback nearly every day.
And what is the result? That horse lost 10 pounds last week.
A farmer goes to the market to sell his horse for $2000, and a man buys it from him. The farmer says he’ll deliver it to the man in one week’s time, but halfway through the week the horse dies. The farmer offers to refund the man’s money, but the man chooses to buy it anyway.
The next week the farmer sees and asks the man what he did with the dead horse. The man says ‘Oh I held a lucky drawing, $50 for a chance to win a horse. 100 people entered, and I collected $5000.
The farmer, shocked, asks ‘But wasn’t anyone upset with the horse?’ The man replies
‘Oh yes, only the winner, but I refunded him his $50.’
December 8th Birthdays
1953 – Kim Bassinger, 1964 – Terri Hatcher, 1966 – Sinead O’Connor, 1961 – Anne Coulter
1986 – Dwight Howard, 1985 – Sam Hunt, 1976 – Dominic Monaghan, 1982 – Phillip Rivers