Small Horse, Big Heart
BY FRANCES MCGRATH
When I was in college, there was a mini horse that lived on one of the bus routes into town. Every time I rode that bus, or drove along that road, I’d crane my neck, stare hard, and watch carefully for just a glimpse of that horse. Years later, when I had a long commute in Vermont, I discovered another mini horse along the way. All of a sudden, that drive didn’t feel quite so long or tedious. There were were sights to see, something to make me smile.
I’m not sure where my obsession with mini horses comes from; I just know that it is strong. There was Mini, from the classic MTV show Rob & Big. Rob Dyrdek had a house with a bodyguard known as Big, who would get Rob out of trouble when he got caught skateboarding where he shouldn’t. A flimsy concept for sure, but Rob’s good heart and easygoing excitement made the show really fun to watch. Eventually he got pets, Meaty and Mini. Meaty was a hilarious, wrinkly bulldog, who soon inevitably found himself on a skateboard. Mini, as you might have guessed, was a miniature horse. Rob called the miniature horse farm where he got Mini “the most bizarrely beautiful place.”
Then, when I found out that miniature horses were used as therapy and guide animals, I was done for. Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, founded in 1999, trains miniature horses to be guide animals for blind people. They are not for everyone, but there are specific occasions in which a miniature guide horse makes more sense. These are most often people who “need a guide animal with a long lifespan, blind equestrians who ride large horses, and blind people with dog allergies,” as well as blind horse lovers, according to Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses. This list may seem short, but the Foundation actually has a waiting list. We’ve always known that horses are intuitive creatures, so I’m glad we’re putting those talents to good use.
Miniature horses are used as therapy animals, as well. Gentle Carousel, a farm based in Northern Florida, has been changing lives for years. Magic, a horse from Gentle Carousel, was named one of Time Magazine’s Top Ten Heroic Animals. Gentle Carousel sends horses across the globe and to the places where help is needed most, from Sandy Hook, Connecticut, to Charleston, South Carolina, helping everyone from natural disaster, trauma, or shooting victims to first responders and family members. Gentle Carousel also has a Reading is Magic program, encouraging reading and literacy in schools and reaching out to at-risk youth by bringing excitement to reading with a real-life Misty of Chincoteague.
I am so glad to know that an animal I love for its goofy sweetness is making positive changes throughout the world. As the Huffington Post aptly noted, we all “could use the kind of pick-me-up bestowed by a calm, empathetic, 2.5-foot tall, stuffed animal-like creature, whose very existence makes the world a happier place.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. Now just to find a mini horse of my own!
1 Common Misconceptions about Guide Horses http://www.guidehorse.com/misconceptions.htm)
2 Gentle Carousel (http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2059858_2059863,00.html)
3 HuffPo (“Miniature Therapy Horses Are Just What The Doctor Ordered, The Huffington Post, http://www.hu ngtonpost.com/entry/miniature-therapy-horses_
us_55f97258e4b0b48f67015c84)
