Therapy Pony

[Marsha Cassada]

Some people do not like animals in their home. My mother is like that. She does not make a fuss, like your resident did, but she won't touch them, and sends her disapproval like an aura.
That is a very large facility with an elevator! My horses have never ridden in one. What a fantastic outing!

 

[Standards Equine]

Boy it's been a while since we've done a visit. Things got really busy this year with driving and then we missed a visit at one site in the fall because I was unwell and had surgery. All things are well now.
We got to have a visit at the long-term care facility that started all our volunteering. It was great to have a tour around and see some familiar faces and met lots of new friends.

I'd spoken with a couple of people at the site early in the week to arrange the visit and all sounded good, but when we got there, we were told by several staff that there was a post on the communication board that the pony was NOT coming that day! Well, no one told me that! And I'm so glad because I'll tell you, the staff were thrilled to have us! And the residents too. Jasmine was a rockstar. Right away we were up the elevator to the second floor and she had no hesitation. Little rockstar, I'm so proud of her. Right away she knew what to do and was totally relaxed.
Because she's got so much coat (despite the incredibly mild Canadian winter so far) we were concerned about her getting too hot, so the visit was short, but still very enjoyable.

A friend of mine recently ended up with a consignment harness. It's a Mara-Fun, like what I have for Phillippe, my donkey, but has a curved breast collar instead of a Euro collar. It's teal and black. Ali and I have been talking about getting Jasmine an upgraded harness - lord knows that pony deserves better than a nylon catalogue harness! But she'd been talking about purple. When she saw the teal, she was all over it! So we brought it home and tried it on and it's like it was sized just for Jasmine. So Pon-Pon has a new-to-her harness.

 

[MaryFlora]

Jasmine is very sweet isn’t she? Her harness is lovely and the teal is a great color against her coat. A big score to find on consignment!

It is wonderful you were able to visit for awhile, plenty of smiles no doubt! It seems that people are also comfortable reaching out to touch a pony and have little to no fear or anxiety. Horses are amazing.

It’s a tough world, everyone needs to stop a minute and find a pony, donkey or horse to hug.

 

[HersheyMint]

What a wonderful day. Yay Jasmine! a win, win you buting the harness. Teal is a very pretty color

 

[Marsha Cassada]

So glad Jasmine had a nice visit and seemed to enjoy herself.
I am coming around to the idea of a colored harness; it really pops out and says "Hey! Driving horse here! Look at me!"

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

So glad Jasmine had a nice visit and seemed to enjoy herself.
I am coming around to the idea of a colored harness; it really pops out and says "Hey! Driving horse here! Look at me!"

Where do you even find colored harnesses I just got a free one so I didn’t look into it to much.

 

[1roadtoad]

Where do you even find colored harnesses I just got a free one so I didn’t look into it to much.

I've seen them on line, on Etsy, eBay and a couple of horse tack websites. They are around $270 new. I don't know what they're made of, perhaps biothane. You are lucky to have gotten a harness for free. If it's safe and all the parts are there, good for you. Rosie won't know what color she's wearing .

 

[Standards Equine]

Where do you even find colored harnesses I just got a free one so I didn’t look into it to much.

I've ordered my other two custom made. One from Quebec, the other through a retailer in Alberta. The one that we got for Jasmine came from the Alberta retailer originally. Equi-Market. It's the same Mara-Fun harness that Chimicum Tack retails. Same options. She had a nylon catalog harness to start with, but it wasn't a great fit. She worked in in, cause that's her character, but I think she really deserved something much better. I wouldn't order the nylon ones from etsy or ebay for cheap. My harnesses cost 4 times that... but the quality is there and I know the littles are safe and comfortable to work in them.

 

[Standards Equine]

Oh look, it’s been quiet over here. Well no more. Jasmine and Phillippé were invited to make an appearance for a local Edmonton radio morning show so we went in bright and early. We kept Phillippé’s time in the studio very short so he wouldn’t get overwhelmed but I’m really proud of how brave he was!!
Jasmine was her normal perfect self and schmoozed with the hosts. One of the personalities got really friendly with them, even wrote Phillippé a love song. Hilarious what we get up to!

 

[HersheyMint]

Oh look, it’s been quiet over here. Well no more. Jasmine and Phillippé were invited to make an appearance for a local Edmonton radio morning show so we went in bright and early. We kept Phillippé’s time in the studio very short so he wouldn’t get overwhelmed but I’m really proud of how brave he was!!
Jasmine was her normal perfect self and schmoozed with the hosts. One of the personalities got really friendly with them, even wrote Phillippé a love song. Hilarious what we get up to!
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That is wonderful!

 

[Standards Equine]

If you happen across Facebook, and look up Kiss 91.7's page, you'll find the video they posted this morning.

 

[HersheyMint]

If you happen across Facebook, and look up Kiss 91.7's page, you'll find the video they posted this morning.

That is a very sweet video.

 

[Standards Equine]

Thanks @HersheyMint, I think Megan did a great job putting it together.

 

[Standards Equine]

Big brave donkey made his first inside site visit! Phillippe joined Jasmine for a site visit on Saturday. We'd been to the site last year, and were invited back. That was great! Phillippe accompanied Jasmine this time and did his first inside visit. He was not feeling like participating when we brought him to the big sliding front doors, but with some encouragement, he made it. Interacting with the residents and staff was actually really good for him! They had a bunch of residents in a large area, the "auditorium" they called it, and Phillippe made his way around and engaged with several residents. After a positive experience in there, we took him outside and he hung out in the trailer until Jasmine was finished.
Miss Jasmine decided she needed to have a big pee in the auditorium!! And her bag didn't catch all of it. Indeed the liner I had in there didn't hold it either. So we had to stop midway and attend to that. When Phillippe went out, Jasmine went out with him and I got her all cleaned up. She came back in, went up the elevators, did several room visits and then joined Phillippe outside in the courtyard area where we happened to get the opportunity to meet a crew of first responders with a fire department. The crew was responding to a call across the street, but paramedics had it handled so the fire crew was able to pop across the street and meet our littles. That was a great experience! They all had their pictures taken with the littles, but I caught this shot where everyone was oo-ing and awe-ing over them.
All in all, a great day! It's such a privilege to be able to share these animals.

 

[HersheyMint]

How wonderful! I love that you are able to share your littles with others and with pictures with us on here.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Look at the smiles!
Phillippe looks a little reserved, but willing to give it a go.
I've never had to take mine in an elevator; not sure how that would go with Billy.
What kind of boots are they wearing?

 

[Standards Equine]

They each have a full set of Cavello CLBs. They work really well for the slippery floors and double for foot protection for road driving.
We started Jasmine with blindfolding and loading backwards into the elevator. Now she walks on willingly. I'm not sure how it's going to work to try to get the donkey in them. He's still unsure about sliding doors.

 

[MaryFlora]

So tell us, what is it really like living with two rockstars!

Jasmine and Phillippe really step up for you and the community. Trust is really everything for adventures like this!

Just love the photos showing people of all ages enjoying them!

 

[Standards Equine]

Thank you so much for your kind words @MaryFlora! We are incredibly fortunate to have such good citizens. They truly are their own brand of celebrity. I got an email yesterday to book them for another site visit in August at a sister site to this one. My summer is full. I'm having a hard time trying to find places to have these visits now.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

They each have a full set of Cavello CLBs. They work really well for the slippery floors and double for foot protection for road driving.
We started Jasmine with blindfolding and loading backwards into the elevator. Now she walks on willingly. I'm not sure how it's going to work to try to get the donkey in them. He's still unsure about sliding doors.

The first time Dapper Dan entered a school with glass doors, he ran into the glass. It had not occurred to me that he would do this. After that, I was very careful about glass doors.
The home we visited recently has wide glass doors that open outward. I have to ask Billy to wait till he is clear of the door before entering. Doors can be challenging!