March 23, 2004 - The overwhelming success of our December 2003 Guide Horse teams has led to a flurry of worldwide interest.  We are working with volunteers on every continent helping professional horse trainers to establish charities for their blind populations. 

The GHF is advising dozens of startup Guide Horse programs around the world and Janet Burleson recently traveled to Ireland and the UK to advise on Guide Horse training techniques.

Guide Horses are now welcome on commercial airliners and the Guide Horse Foundation has been successful in establishing guidelines for Guide Horse travel with numerous airlines.  We are also talking with the Transportation Safety Administration "the TSA" to help them understand the rules for searching a Guide Horse.

Other independent blind people are self-training their Guide Horses, and a member of the National Association of Guide Dog Users Association recently said that her Guide Horse was "proving to be better than a guide dog".  I heard that she returned her dog guide to the Seeing Eye and is now using her Guide Horse exclusively.

Dan Shaw and Cuddles have been working successfully for almost three years, and Dan Shaw recently announced that he is running for Congress in his home state of Maine:

As word spreads about the success of our graduates, interest is mounting and the GHF was the subject of five major newspaper stories last week: