When real horses walk into the hospital room or bedroom of a child it is always a magical experience. Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, an all volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity, visits thousands of adults and children each year. The team of 26 tiny therapy horses works inside hospitals, assisted care programs, schools, libraries and with patients in hospice care. From wearing tuxedos to a tea party for a child with a life ending illness to working with Alzheimer’s patients, these little horses bring their special love where it is needed most.

Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses are some of the smallest horses in the world. Therapy horse Peanut is only 19 inches tall. When working indoors they have learned behavior that is unusual for horses. They walk up and down stairs, ride in elevators, walk on unusual floor surfaces and move around hospital equipment. They even let handlers know when they need to go outside for a bathroom break. People often ask if the tiny horses live indoors. Miniature horses do make great pets but they would not be happy living indoors. They are herd animals and need the companionship of at least one other horse and a place to run and play. They may be small but they are normal horses in every way.

On one visit, a woman in an assisted living program who had not spoken in years began talking to a therapy horse named Magic. “Isn’t she beautiful” were her first words. “It’s a horse.”. The activities director began to cry and told the woman she loved her. “I love you too,” the woman answered...her first words to another person in all those years. The woman has continued to talk to her family and the staff since that visit from Magic.

Magic also has a very special relationship with children. A little girl recovering from a heart transplant said Magic made her face hurt from smiling so much. A boy losing his sight because of a brain tumor held Magic close to his face so he could always remember what she looked like. “It is like she can see inside my soul,” he told his mother.
This year Magic was named by Time Magazine / CNN one of History’s Ten Most Heroic Animals (the only living animal on the list). Magic was also selected The Most Heroic Pets in America by AARP and included in Newsweek/The Daily Beast’s 10 Most Heroic Animals of 2010. She is also a Reader’S Digest / AmericanTowns’ Power of One Hero.

www.Horse-Therapy.org
352-226-9009