5 Mins video
Another year and hopefully another chance! Here's Stormy's and my application video for the Versatile Horse and Rider Competition at the 2011 Ohio Equine Affaire. We competed in the Extreme Cowboy Race there last year and it was the most rewarding and amazing experience we've ever had, so we just had to try for it again!!!
Stormy is a 15 year old Appaloosa gelding that I got as a three year old for my 8th birthday and, oh boy, what a start we had!! After years of training, trail riding, competing, travelling, and fun, in just one night, at age 9, Stormy was struck completely blind from Equine Recurrent Uveitis (Moon Blindness). Devastated, I tried everything I could do for him, seeking every vet around. When one vet finally recommended that I put Stormy down, my otherwise completely healthy baby, I was determined to prove that blind horses can have just as much potential as any other horse!
I set out to retrain him using numerous new voice cues and commands and before long we were back to trail riding, competing and working. Since his sudden blindness he's learned to drive and even jump again, though it's not very pretty, but he tries for me! I've never known another horse as willing and trusting at this one and I wouldn't trade him for the world. He has been such an inspiration to me and so many others and I just hope his message continues to reach those who might someday need proof that a handicap is never the end of the road.....Sometimes, Love is Blind.
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