A while ago, I heard on the radio that someone is trying to train miniature horses to do the job of seeing eye dogs. What’s the point? What advantage would they have over dogs?
Seeing-eye horses would be a real boon to blind Amish who still like to get the buggy out and zip up to Wal-Mart.
A then there’s the plus of steaming piles of horse doots everywhere you go.
Seeing-eye weasles make much more sense.
Actually I hadn’t heard of this, but horses being not-quite-at-the-top of the food chain have their eyes on the sides of their heads. They have a wider view, but less depth perception. They could see the car coming, but wouldn’t know you’re already in the street. (Dogs also have a wider field of view than people, but not a wide as a horse and better depth perception.)
I’ve even seen one on CNN, funny as hell 
The only one I know of currently operating is in New York and has some cutie pie name I can’t quite remember, “Snuggles” or something similar.
I remember wanting one for myself as a pet
CNN did list a number of things that made them highly skilled, for instance they seem to have a very evolved logistical memory capacity. They used him to relocate a car in a large parkinglot as a demonstration of how a horse never forgets where anything is. I’m not sure many blind people drive these days, but there are definitely huge advantages to this outside of shopping mall parking lots.
I’m sure you’ll find something if you do a search on CNN, sadly I can’t access it to find you a link.
— G. Raven
I just remembered, I’m pretty sure it was called “Cuddles”
There is also an American Seeing Eye Horse Foundation, which trains these animals and is trying to raise awareness of how well suited they are to this line of work.
I also remember they said that horses lived much longer than dogs, meaning the time that gets put into the training goes a long way.
— G. Raven
I herd (yes I meant that) something similar, but wasn’t paying close attention. I think one of the benefits was longevity. I believe a pooch’s useful lifespan is shorter than that of a pet. It isn’t feasible for a blind person to keep each dog on as a pet after its service, so there is some heartache involved, and some expense to train a new dog. IIR, they are using Shetland ponies, so the space is similar, and one pony can stay with the person much longer.
Don’t a lot of places have laws restricting where farm animals may be kept?
Wow, those horses are puny! Check out this site, which includes answers to questions such as
They don’t specifically address advantages over dogs The site also mentions that “all horses must measure less than 26 inches high at the withers,” and the first horse in the program, now retired, was named Twinkie.