It was love at first sight for Morgan Wagner, a teenager at the time, when she picked Endo out of a herd for her very own. He was just a foal and the two would essentially come of age together.
Endo and Morgan. (Brittany Hirst Photography)
But when the horse was eight he was diagnosed with equine recurrent uveitis, also known as moon blindness or periodic ophthalmia. Despite extensive treatments, eventually both of the gelding’s eyes had to be removed to keep him from suffering extreme pain.
At first, losing his eyesight terrified Endo, 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.”
Morgan worked slowly over time and developed Endo’s confidence and trust. She even documented the gelding’s incredible progress on the Facebook page Endo the Blind which has amassed 331k followers. The love and patience worked, leading to Endo jumping, pole bending, and performing multiple flying changes. And on October 29, together with his owner, the now 22-year-old Appaloosa achieved three record titles and was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records:
- Highest free jump by a blind horse – 106 cm (3 ft 5.73 in)
- Most flying changes by a horse in one minute – 39
- Fastest time for a blind horse to weave five poles – 6.93 sec
It’s proof that care, love and trust between horses and humans can overcome anything life throws at them.
Watch the video here:
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