I heard on the radio yesterday that a blind man, with a phobia against dogs, is having a pony trained to be a guide for him. Mr. Patel went on his first outing yesterday with the 3 foot high horse which according to reports performed well but has to undergo yet another three years training before fully competent.
Wonder if he will be able to take it on the train into restaurants and planes?

Could be problems in certain establishments as you say Carrie.

If he's blind, why not give him dog, but tell him it's a cat. A big cat...... a cat that barks and loves dog food.

He would have been better off getting a bigger horse and then riding it everywhere once it was trained.

Might not a pony - or a horse for that matter - be confused at a zebra crossing

Talking about blind folk, a couple of weeks back there was an interesting article on the BBC travel show. It concerned a registered bling man called, I think, Tony from the UK. He is traveling the world unaided. The segment found him in Palestine, queuing up to enter the wailing wall area, but unfortunately he was in the women only queue, but soon received help from a lady that guided him to the men's queue. It was quite heartening to see how many total strangers were willing to help him navigate his way around not only there, but in many of the countries he had so far visited. He says that his world tour will take around three years, this being six months into his adventure. He stated that you do not need eyes to see, your other senses soon provide you with all the information the brain needs to make it a most enjoyable experience. He looked to be in his mid thirties.

As for a donkey leading the blind, I can't see it being viable, unless he tied a carrot on the end of a pole strapped round his head. Plus if he was following close behind, he would be constantly walking through the two P's.

I saw that travel program....very strange.

One way to see the world....or not.

I admire any person with a disability not allowing it to control/inhibit their lives.

There was a photograph of this man with his guide horse - he has to wait 2 years for it to be fully trained - in the papers this morning. It's a minature pony, very small, and as well as guiding him it will be trained to help with household tasks like taking the washing out of the machine etc. Interesting concept.

The mind boggles.

Still...as long as it's house trained. Or can handle a bucket and scoop.

So all the clean washing would end up donkey saliva stained? Seems a pointless exercise to me.

Won't work because prey animals aren't as clever as predators.

Before anyone says what about apes? Look it up

You're right.....

In general, predators are often more intelligent than their prey. It's harder to hunt another thinking animal than it is to hunt grass!

A big, energy consuming, brain needs the higher energy source of a diet including meat.

Although apes are mainly vegetarian, the most intelligent ape of all, homo sapiens, probably evolved from an omniverous ancestor.

Of course there are exceptions. But training an elephant to be a guide for the blind raises issues of accommodation.

Even doorways designed for wheelchair access might be a problem and most public transport would be out of bounds.

Mr. Patel is said to have an intense phobia re dogs I can't help thinking that it would have been easier and cheaper to treat his phobia than train a pony.

I have to concur with MD's point, we only have to look towards the many failed ''partnerships'' here between the predatorial Egyptian male, and its female prey.

Hmmm Never heard of predatory women Dusak - Trophy wives and WAGS who get very rich at their partner's expense, 'ordinary' wives who divorce innocent husbands and strip them of their assets. Not forgetting the Cougars who prey on young men .............. all in all I hate to say it but I think there are more varieties of predatory women than men, and I'm a woman. Men aren't very imaginative in relationships on the whole I hear.

You have a point.

I wonder if Melania is pleased with her "catch"

From the look on her face recently I think she has realised what she has given up for 10 years of her life with The Donald.

I find it odd that two of his three wives have been immigrants, in view of his views on immigration.