Kindhearted Rancher Acts as a Seeing Eye Human for His Beloved Blind Horse


Great Big Story shared the wonderfully heartwarming story of Roderick Olsen, a truly kindhearted horse rancher in Soldier Grove, Wisconsin, who acts as a seeing-eye human for his beloved blind horse Zaxson. About 10 years ago, Zaxson went blind, but rather than getting rid of the horse, as another rancher might do, Olsen decided that he wanted Zaxson to “stick around”. Ever since then, the two have been inseparable, going for rides together with an incredible of faith and trust in one another.

Well, we got Zaxson about 21 years ago, about 10 years ago that we noticed that he was going blind. Far as we could find out, nothing we could do about it. Most of the old horse dealers, or farmers, they’d just get rid of the horse. But I figured I’d then keep him. I’d like to stick around a while longer, so if I went blind, I hope they’d keep me around a while. I didn’t figure he was useless. …He must trust me and, well, I trust him. He’s kind of a buddy anyhow. Being friends with a horse, that’s a, I don’t know, that’s the way it’s been with me all my life.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.