Miniature horses to be used as service animals

New Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines may surprise people who assumed that only dogs can be trained to be service animals, MSNBC reports.

The ADA has added miniature horses to the list of approved service animals.  Miniature horses are larger than most dogs and require more care but can live up to three times as long as their canine counterparts.   And, miniature horses can be housetrained.

"You can train them to do some pretty amazing things," Emily Weiss, the senior director of shelter research and development for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said.

According to animal trainer Dolores Arste, a total of six miniature horses are currently used in the United States as guides for the blind. The horses' owners all wrote to the Department of Justice to request to add miniature horses to the list of approved service animals, and some started petitions.