Despite going blind, a remarkable horse is still on his way to becoming a dressage champion after adopting an extraordinary form of equine “braille”.
The 15-year-old Appaloosa named Milo, has awed spectators since returning to the show ring last year despite losing sight in both eyes due to a devastating eye condition.
The 16-hand gelding relies on a unique combination of rider cues, hearing, and touch, to navigate his surroundings in the ring or barn.
“Milo is just an amazing horse and hasn’t let blindness stop him being a potentially world-class dressage competitor.”
28-year-old Megan Share has owned Milo since the horse was just three and Megan was still growing up. They had spent years competing together from their home base in England when the tragedy struck.
Today they have their ‘sights’ set on returning to the elite dressage ring—competing against the best sighted horses.
Megan, who runs Debdale Riding School in rural Worcestershire, explained how the communication works between this dynamic duo, and how the horse’s senses have become more acute.
“He interprets my pressure on him, but he also uses his own pressure (hooves on the ground surface) for his spatial awareness. He’s using touch… like a braille technique.”
“He’s also a lot more alert, and he reacts quicker, as his sense of hearing is elevated as a result of him losing his sight.”
“I became his eyes. We have a really good brother-sister relationship, and we developed a way to make it work.”
“We talk to him like he’s a human. There’s a lot of core movements coming from me. I do use a lot of leg and hand aids to keep him in line, and he trusts me.
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“I have to be more alert than I am on a sighted horse because he needs constant instructions, like pulling on the reins a bit firmer to let him know where to go. It’s more mentally challenging.
“I’ve got to be on the ball with my surroundings—with instincts on alert—so it’s quite draining.”
The horse went blind at age 13, despite multiple operations on his eyes. Megan recalls her days as a schoolgirl when they first got Milo. “We almost grew up together.”
When it comes to learning dressage, the polka-dotted horse was “a natural.”
“We’ve been competing with him since he was four and he’s always been in the ribbons. He won the Royal Windsor Horse Show for the eighth year in a row—including last year while blind,” she told SWNS news agency. “We’ve got quite a lot of sashes for first place.”
“We were probably doing up to 12 shows a year before he went completely blind. I didn’t ride him for over a year until we decided he was ready.”
Now Megan believes he is ready to take the next step in dressage, often described as “ballet on horseback” because of its precise and controlled movements.
Are there any other blind horses competing at this level in the world? Hard to be certain, but Megan said everyone is always astounded.
“People are shocked that this could even happen. I’m extremely proud of him.”
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Milo is due to compete at an Appaloosa show and the Denbigh and Flint Show in August before high stepping it to the qualifiers for the Horse of the Year Show and the London International.
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