Our Mission
To match people with disabilities with highly skilled, task trained miniature horses to help them live fuller, more independent lives.
The CALI Story
The CALI Corp exists because of one woman who would not take no for an answer.
Mona Ramouni, who has been completely blind since shortly after birth, was unable to get a guide dog when she still lived with her parents because, while Muslims believe that dogs are permissible as service animals, her parents were not comfortable with having a dog in the house. From the moment she first heard about guide horses when she was in her early 20s, she was determined to get one.
She worked hard for several years, saving all of her money to put towards this project. She was able to find Dolores Arste, a trainer willing to take on the immense task of training a horse to guide a blind person. It was Dolores who found Mexicali Rose, aka Cali, who was owned by Becky Montano. She had been a show horse up to that point, and had exactly the intelligence and disposition for service work.
Dolores did an amazing job training Cali and, from the day she and Mona started working together, the two were unstoppable.
Cali gave Mona the freedom and independence she had been seeking, allowing her to navigate easily in any number of situations.
Cali has been at Mona‘s side through jobs, moves, getting a Master’s degree, meeting her husband and starting a family, and now, starting this organization.
Taking an interest in learning how to train so she could work with Cali better, Mona quickly realized she had a knack for training animals. She began working with other horses and, wanting to give other people the same gift that had been given to her, trained a number of service horses over the years.
Now, inspired by Cali and driven by Mona‘s passion, the CALI Corp exists to help train and match service horses with disabled handlers.
Public awareness of and individual interest in service horses has been increasing over the years, but the only way to get one was to train it yourself or hire a trainer to do so. The CALI Corp is the world‘s first organization dedicated entirely to training and matching people with miniature service horses, making them more accessible to those who need them.
Image description: Mona, wearing a black hijab, a gray long-sleeved shirt, and blue jeans, stands outside on a grassy lawn. She is leaning down and affectionately touching noses with a small bay pony. The pony, Cali, has her head tilted up to nuzzle Mona and is wearing a guide harness. In the background, there is a house with a white exterior and a tree with bare branches. The sky is clear and blue.
Cheval Assistants and Leaders International 