At Christmas time it’s usually a visit from Santa and his reindeers which spreads festive joy and lifts people’s spirits.
But for the residents of one Dundee care home it wasn’t Father Christmas bringing smiles and laughter, but rather two miniature Shetland ponies!
Kitted out in festive socks for the occasion, Haggis and Squiggles recently popped along to Sanctuary Care’s Bridge View House at the city’s Riverside – much to the delight of all the residents.
The four-legged friends belong to Alba Therapy Ponies – a new venture launched by Alex Barr and Drew Myers earlier this year.
The Blairgowrie-based business has a total of nine miniature Shetland ponies.
And so far they have been spreading happiness to care homes, schools, nurseries, shops, community festivals and children’s hospitals across the country.
Therapy ponies have a ‘soothing effect’
Owner Alex says she has witnessed some poignant moments, particularly in care homes, and that the ponies have a soothing effect on the elderly.
“We have been visiting care homes around our local area for the last six months and in this time we have had some really emotional and special moments,” she says.
“When we visit care homes we are led by the ponies.
“They direct us to the people they know they need to visit.
“Horses and ponies can hear a human’s heart beat from four feet away and can even sync their heart rate to the humans.
“They can also read body language and recognise tone of voice as well as being able to recognise emotions and mirror them.
“The ponies bring a sense of calm for the elderly people we work with.
“The act of stroking an animal has been shown by studies to help activate memory pathways in the brain.”
She continues: “We have found at previous care homes that after a resident has spent time stroking and cuddling our ponies, they begin chatting away to us.
“They even start sharing memories their family members thought were long forgotten.
“The ponies bring out the caring and inquisitive side of those they meet.”
Bringing back memories
There were certainly lots of smiles when 17-year-old Squiggles and Haggis, 3, paid a visit to Bridge View House.
For Angie Benvie, 58, seeing the ponies brought back fond memories of horse-riding.
She used to ride a horse at Angus Riding for the Disabled Association.
“Seeing them has brought back lovely memories from when I used to ride,” she says.
“It made me smile as soon as they came in the room.
“I used to really enjoy horse-riding.”
While resident Jacqueline Jamieson, 60, says the ponies reminded her of her own pets.
“It was so lovely seeing the ponies. I have two cats and they reminded me of them. My daughter looks after them now.
“I always had animals when I was a teenager.”
While Lynda Marshall, 65 and Maureen Watt, 81, also enjoyed meeting the ponies and also talked about how their visit had cheered them both up.
Was the therapy ponies’ visit a success?
Chloe Cooper is an activities co-ordinator at Bridge View House.
She says this was Alba Therapy Ponies first visit to the care home.
“It has been a good experience and it was really nice to see the residents’ reactions to the ponies.
“Their visit made them smile and it brought back lovely memories for a few of them.”
Drew says: “The visit went really well and the ponies loved it.
“It’s amazing to see the reaction from the residents – you can see that it really brightens up their day.
“There was one gentleman in particular who grew up with horses.
“He was talking about doing berry picking with his grandad when he was seven or eight years old.
“And as soon as he saw the ponies it just brought that memory back to life.”
She adds: “That’s all he could talk about for the whole two hours we were there – it was lovely.”
Conversation