Blind horse sets three Guinness World records: "They're still capable of anything"
A 22-year-old blind Appaloosa horse named Endo has set three Guinness World Records.
Endo, also known as "Endo the Blind," set records for the highest free jump by a blind horse at 3 feet and 5.73 inches, the most flying changes by a blind horse in one minute, with 39 changes, and the fastest time for a blind horse to weave five poles at 6.93 seconds.
Endo's success story took time and effort, said owner Morgan Wagner, who met the horse when she was just 13 years old. According to Wagner, Endo was diagnosed with glaucoma, cataracts and a common disorder in horses called equine recurrent uveitis when he was 8 years old. Five years later, he was totally blind.
Wagner said she had Endo wear a blindfold before he lost his sight to ease him into it, but that it was still an adjustment.
"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," Wagner told Guinness World Records.
She said he eventually regained his confidence to do things he used to enjoy, like competing and jumping. Wagner told Guinness World Records that Endo's past experience in competitions in which he "became national champion at the highest level" helped him learn to jump again.
"They're still capable of anything," Wagner said about blind horses.
Equine recurrent uveitis is the leading cause of blindness in horses, according to the UC Davis Center for Equine Health. Appaloosas are eight times more likely than other horse breeds to have equine recurrent uveitis — but the disease didn't stop Endo from doing everything sighted horses can do.
