|
 Honor, a 10-month-old colt with Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy
Horses, trotted into the hearts of dozens of children and teens
being treated at the Manhattan hospital.
Just a handful of young patients were well enough to secure their
doctors' permission to meet Honor in person in a hospital playroom,
while others watched him from their beds, viewing an internal
television broadcast in their rooms and isolation units.
Maria Benitez, who is 19 but looks much younger, broke into a smile
when Honor pranced into the playroom. The hospital declined to
elaborate on details of Benitez's medical condition, saying only she
is currently being treated as an outpatient.
While Maria said her favorite animal is a horse, this one was quite
different from what she expected.
"He's smaller," Maria whispered, staring at the chestnut horse with
black eyes.
"They are little horses, but they have big jobs," said Jorge Garcia-Bengochea,
co-founder of Gentle Carousel.
Miniature horses have comforted trauma victims after such tragedies
as the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in
Connecticut, the 2013 tornadoes that devastated Oklahoma and the
2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. They also work
with families of police officers who have died in the line of duty.
"They are herd animals, so they are very intuitive of what other
horses are doing, needing. And they treat people that same way. They
sense different emotions, different feelings that children have,"
Garcia-Bengochea said.
"Children have been through very traumatic situations and they've
shut down. Just being around the animal, they get animated, they
start talking and they actually sometimes tell the horse things that
they haven't told other people," he said.
[to top of second column] |
In the hospital, the tiny equines serve as a symbol of hope and
beauty, conjuring up an image of outdoor activities, running and
strength, said Diane Rode, who heads up the hospital's child
creative arts therapy unit.
"When you're in the hospital, you're dealing with pain, anxiety,
isolation, and it's easy to get stuck in that. Focusing on the
miniature horses creates a relationship back to the world and an
interest and pleasure in the world we are working to foster," she
said.
"Children need more than medicine to get better," Rode added.
(This version of the story corrects the last name in paragraph four
to Benitez)
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg, Elly Park and Andrew Hofstetter in
New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
