Meet Ivi and Calypso, the specially trained miniature horses that visit nursing homes and schools with disabled children in Athens
Ivi and Calypso are 2 of the 8 miniature horses that have received special training to “heal” disabled children and the elderly in nursing homes.
The Associated Press followed the beautiful equines on their visits to nursing homes and schools in Athens. They provide a form of therapy by offering valuable interactions and learning experiences, particularly for people confined to hospitals or care homes.
The horses belong to Gentle Carousel Greece, a Greek branch of the Florida-based charity Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses that offers visits to hospitals, rehabilitation centers and care homes.
Trained over two years to work with vulnerable children and adults, the miniature equines, which stand around 75cm (30in) tall, provide a form of pet therapy that carers say offers valuable interactions and learning experiences, particularly in people confined to hospitals or care homes;
But the charity they’re involved with is struggling to make ends meet — it’s run by a woman who funds the entire business herself, with one assistant and no support team.
How it all started
It was started in 2014 by Mina Karagianni, interior architect and designer. Ms. Karagianni came across Gentle Carousel while searching the internet for information on caring for an abandoned Shetland pony she had rescued.
When he saw pictures of the charity’s work in pediatric oncology wards he was moved and said: “Okay, we have to bring this to Greece.”
It took months to convince the US charity to work with her, and even longer to obtain the required permits and arrange transportation to bring the horses.
Fully self-funded through her day job, Karagianni now has a total of eight horses – the American six, one later born in Greece and Billy, the rescued pony.
Karagianni transformed her family land in Rafina into a Magic Garden, with stables, paddocks for the horses to run freely every day, a small cafe and space for children’s parties and baptisms.
Since 2014 when he first opened the Gentle Carousel Greece until the first COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Karagianni said her small equine team saw about 12,000 children.
Difficult times
During a visit to the primary school for children with disabilities in Athens, the staff lined up the children in wheelchairs so that each could spend a few moments with the horses.
“It’s incredible, the reactions. It’s like something awakens their senses,” special needs teacher Eleni Volikakis told the AP.
The state school, which shares facilities with a private charity for disabled children, ELEPAP, caters for children aged 6-14 with cognitive or motor difficulties or both. Anything that encourages children to make even small gestures, like reaching out to pet a horse, “is very important to us. Especially when it is spontaneous and comes directly from the child and is not prompted by us,” said Volikakis.
“We saw things we didn’t expect. We saw children with autism or children who are generally afraid of animals, getting too close, letting the little horses get close to them,” said Volikakis. “And we saw … spontaneous contact that we wouldn’t otherwise see.”
Miniature horses don’t just fascinate children.
In the seaside area of ​​Nea Makri northeast of Athens, residents of an adult psychiatric care home gather to greet Homer – a 12-year-old miniature horse with a mane and blue eyes.
Some show their excitement at the long-awaited visit. Others are shy at first, but almost everyone eventually approaches Homer, leading him around the recreation room of the house or simply whispering to him.
“The interaction is invaluable,” said social worker Alex Krokidas, who leads staff at the care home.
“It offers, even briefly, an opportunity to create a bond that is not threatening, that has tenderness, quietness,” Krokidas said. “Let’s not forget, these people have faced a lot of hardship in their lives.”
Meeting Homer and each having a few moments with him “gives them a chance to be a little calmer, to not feel threatened, to pet the animal,” Krokidas said. “All of this is very healing, it’s deeply healing.”
George, one of the residents, initially kept his distance before letting Homer approach. He leaned his head close to the flowing mane.
“It gave me a beautiful feeling when he was here,” he said after Homer returned to the rec room. “Now that he’s gone, I feel an absence.”
Source: Skai
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