Imagine sitting on a horse that can't see. You have to be that horses' eyes and trust that horse. Morgan Wagner knows this more than anyone. At just 13 years old, Morgan had the opportunity to choose a horse from her grandma's herd. She chose Endo, an Appaloosa that was only a few months old. Morgan chose Endo because of his unique personality.
Morgan decided to come up with the name "Endo" after seeing the prefrix in a medical book. The meaning of "Endo" is "within, inner, absorbing, or containing". When Endo was 8 years old, Morgan began to notice that he was squinting a lot. Endo was diagnosed with Equine Recurrent Uveitis, glaucoma and cataracts.
Photo by Endo the Blind on Facebook
Even though a vet was going to see Endo a few times a month, nothing seemed to help his eyes. Endo had stopped eating since it hurt to chew. After Endo's right eye had a damaging flare-up, the decision was made to remove the eye. Morgan began to prepare Endo for total and complete blindness. She started blindfolding Endo for short periods of time.
After 6 months of removing the first eye, the second eye was removed. Morgan found another companion or "seeing-eye horse" for Endo when he was out in the field. She got a miniature horse named Cinnamon. Cinnamon lives with Endo in his stall and the pasture.
Photo by Endo the Blind on Facebook
Now Endo is living a happy life and is able to do anything a sighted horse could do. Endo competes, travels, goes on trail rides, jumps, and even performs liberty work. Even though Endo is different from other horses, he doesn't let that stop him from doing usual activities. Morgan and Endo travel across the US and Canada to perform at events. Morgan continues to help other blind horses that are like Endo also. Endo continues to inspire people that nothing is impossible even if you are blind.
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