PARKER, Colo. — When the seniors from St. Andrew’s Village retirement community go on a ‘field trip,’ it’s usually to a place like a grocery store. But over the course of this summer and early fall, residents have been making a different kind of trip, to a meet-and-greet of sorts, to a local ranch.
“It’s horse therapy,” program leader Mary Slouka said.
Slouka runs the “Equine Elders’" program, part of the larger Equine Partnership Program. Every few weeks, the seniors come out to spend time with horses.
“I’ve probably worked with every disability there is and I just love this demographic,” Mary said. “It’s not work.”
The latest program included a half-dozen seniors, some who had little to no experience with horses.
“Makes me feel like I’m making them feel good,” first time visitor Irma said.
The seniors were able to meet the horses as volunteers walked them by. Miniature horses were then brought out for the participants to pet and brush.
“They say when you’re brushing or petting a horse it’s like giving yourself a hug. It stimulates the same setting in your brain that a hug does,” Mary told the group.
You can tell from the smiles and laughs from the seniors, the program is good for the soul. But it can also be just what the doctor ordered.
“There’s been so much research how horses can read people, they know what they need,” Mary said. “People are anxious, they may suffer from depression and stress, and when they get out here, it just all goes away.”
A field trip that the seniors agreed was much better than a trip from their retirement community to the grocery store.
“Definitely,” Irma said. “You can always go to a grocery store.”
For more information on the program, head to https://www.equinetherapyco.org/.