Appaloosa horses are known for being kind, friendly, and loyal, besides being magnificent-looking creatures. But one gelding from Corvallis, Oregon, USA, is touching the world in more ways than just with his friendly personality and beautiful brown spots. This is the story of “Endo the blind horse,” who, despite his disability, set 3 Guinness Records.
On October 29, 2022, the 22-year-old Appaloosa named “Endo the Blind” and his owner, Morgan Wagner, set three amazing records.
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Morgan’s (Endo’s owner) grandmother told her when she was 13 that she could have a horse, which is what almost every little girl dreams of. One interesting foal in the group caught her eye. Its name was Endo. Morgan said, “I first met Endo on my grandma’s farm when my family and I moved up from California to Oregon. My grandma said I could have one of her horses, and I chose Endo. He had the most charisma and pranced around the other horses.”
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Even though the foal was only a few months old, this smart and kind horse had something very special about it. Morgan says that Endo has a strong personality, which is why she chose him out of all the foals on her grandmother’s farm. She also says- “He thinks he’s the greatest horse in the world, and he wants everybody to know that.”
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Morgan and Endo were best friends as kids and taught each other everything there is to know about riding horses. From the first time they did dressage and rode together to the time they mastered trotting through some of the hardest patterns and obstacles, there was nothing they couldn’t do together.
Morgan explained- “In the beginning, I didn’t know how to put a halter on him, and neither did he. He didn’t know what a halter was. We had to learn together, on our own.”
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When Morgan was eight years old, she saw that Endo’s eyes often got teary and squinted. Morgan took her favorite gelding to the vet, who told her Endo had equine recurrent uveitis, also called moon blindness or periodic ophthalmia. He continued to have flare-ups, and it got worse and worse as time went on. With each flare up, it also damaged his eyes.”
The disease is one of the most common eye problems in horses and the main reason why horses go blind all over the world. Repeated inflammation of the uveal tract (the middle layer of the eye) is what makes this long-term, painful eye disease what it is.
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The disease is called ‘Moon blindness’ because people thought it had something to do with the phases of the moon. However, now it has become clear that it has nothing to do with the moon and can happen over the course of weeks or months.
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Morgan and Endo’s vet worked together to make him feel better. They cleaned up the dust around him, put prescription ointment on his eyes, and even took him for rides in the dark. Endo’s pain did not go away, and when his right eye ruptured, Morgan had to make the very hard decision to have it removed. Within a few months, Endo’s left eye also started having the same problems, and it was also eventually removed. Endo now had to learn how to get around in a world he couldn’t see.
Morgan said, “I didn’t know how Endo would handle blindness. That was something that we just had to try and see how it went. I just hoped he would be happy eating in his stall without pain, so we started there.”
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Endo, who was once brave and determined when facing new challenges, became Endo the Blind. At first, he was scared when he couldn’t see, and Morgan had to often coax him into leaving and getting out of his stall. Morgan explained, “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. Everything in small steps.”
But Endo quickly got better thanks to his owner’s love and care. He went back to being the confident horse Morgan fell in love with in the first place.
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Endo has been cheered on from the bullpen by more than just Morgan. Cinnamon, his special friend who shares a stall with him, often gives him extra love and encouragement.
Morgan said, “Endo has a miniature mare [friend] named Cinnamon, and I rescued her when Endo was starting to go blind, that way, he would already have the bond with her when he went fully blind.”
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Not long after that, he used his sweet personality and amazing tricks to make everyone else fall in love with him. She said, “Each record was something Endo already knew. We just had to practice and finetune it. He learned to jump again after going blind because he competed in a discipline that required upper-level riding and obstacle work, and in that discipline, he became national champion at the highest level.”
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But Endo loves eating, not trotting, jumping, or weaving. Morgan says- “Endo loves to eat. That’s one thing I spoil him with. He has four different types of hay in his feeder every day and a couple different types of grain. His buffet is always fully stocked.”
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Morgan hopes that Endo’s story will inspire people who care about horses to focus on what they can do instead of what they can’t do. She told people with blind horses who are scared or don’t know what to do that they should just take things step by step. She advises- “Don’t have big goals, just what your horse can do, reward, and try a little bit more next time.”
Morgan says that spending time with blind horses can teach important life lessons. She said, “It makes me use my other senses, smell and hearing, to learn what they ‘see.’ I love watching Endo navigate around obstacles on his own. He knows exactly where everything is, even in new environments.”
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Morgan also wants everyone to know how proud she is of her beloved horse friend, not just because he broke records but also because he kept his spirit even after losing his eyes and sight.
She says, “It feels amazing that Endo has three world records. I’m very grateful to Guinness World Records for letting us have a platform for blind horses to show the world that they’re still capable of anything.”