white cane, and I couldn't bear the idea of having a guide dog because of the grief I had experienced when my beloved pet dog died 10 years before. I knew I'd feel the loss of an animal I had relied on for my independence even more acutely." In 1999 the Burlesons created The Guide Horse Foundation to provide miniature horses as assistance animals to blind users living in rural environments. Shaw heard about the Burlesons' experimental program, and was particularly interested when he found out that horses live thirty to forty years. So he applied to be the first person in the world to use a guide horse. The Burlesons started training "Cuddles" for Shaw. On March 6, 2002, he flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, and met Cuddles for the first time. After some introductory work, Janet Burleson sent Shaw and Cuddles into a crowded store where the aisles were jammed with merchandise, and they successfully navigated the store. Shaw stated, "I was about to become the world's first user of a guide horse. I knew that there would be skeptics—people who didn't believe horses had the right temperament to be service animals. After all, in the 1920s, when Dorothy Eustis began training German Shepherds to lead the blind, many people scoffed at the idea. But I knew that getting my independence back would outweigh any criticism." Another user received her horse "Panda" in 2003, and in 2007 the Associated Press reported the owner describing her guide as "protective, alert and house-trained -- and she loves to play fetch. And at 29 inches tall and 120 pounds, she's a darn small horse." United Kingdom A guide horse, "Digby", claimed to be Britain's first, was introduced to a BBC journalist for training in February 2018. Unfortunately the miniature horse underwent a height growth spurt to which proved too tall for its handler's office in Salford, Manchester. It had also become "awkward", knocking items off of supermarket shelves. The horse was able to be allocated to an Office of National Statistics worker in London who believed it would not be too tall for her and would be suitable for her to take on the Underground to work. Guide horse as service animal Official recognition In the United States, on 15 September 2010, the Department of Justice (DOJ) clarified the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ruled that properly trained and suitably