I have miniature therapy horses. JJ was my first one and the one I take out visiting the most as he’s the one that seems to connect with the people who need it the most.
One day we were at a nursing home/rehab facility and one of the nurses got so excited to see us. She told us that we absolutely had to visit a woman that she was taking care of. So she led us to the room and the lady was laying in bed—her whole face lit up when she saw JJ! She started crying as she petted him, saying “Oh, oh! I never thought I would see a horse again! I just wish I could smell that horse smell again!”
I told her we could fix that and I gently guided JJ’s head up onto the bed. She took his face in her hands and breathed deeply with a look of utter joy on her face! They just stayed that way for quite a few minutes, intent on each other and connected. She smiled and said thank you so much! I told her thank YOU for allowing us to visit. One of my best visits to this day and we make a lot of visits. About 150 a year. Now times that by 20-50 people each visit. That’s a whole lot of smiles! —Joyce B.
