Horses act as pet therapy for seniors

It's a case of "pet therapy on a really large scale," as Bill Horbach puts it.

He's the executive director of College Park II Retirement Residence in Regina, where live horses were brought for a Heritage Day.

On Friday,the home's residents were taken back to the farm. On top of the horses there was a barbecue, cowboy poetry and a visit from Grade 3 and 4 students from St. Augustine. It's part a model focused on community that Horbach says keeps his resident's active and happy.

When you bring horses or something that's different, they're in their glory. And I think that's at least a little bit we could do for us old farts.- Gloria Morsky

"It's allowing them to live again," he said. "You bring care to them. It's not about having them fit into your box, but you fit into theirs."

Horbach says intergenerational interaction with young students and petting horses can lift the spirits of his residents. What's more, he's seen these things help those with dementia. Being around horses can help seniors remember earlier days on the farm.

Heritage Day is a taste of what Horbach tries to accomplish all year long. The home has a reading buddy program and a life story program with school kids as well. But the horses are something special.

"We live in this area as a senior and there's not much excitement, believe you me," said Gloria Morsky as she sat in her chair next to the horses. She was the first one to give them a kiss when they showed up in the home's parking lot.

"When you bring horses or something that's different, they're in their glory. And I think that's at least a little bit we could do for us old farts."

Morsky grew up on the farm. She remembers going out to pick strawberries, falling asleep, and then riding the horse back.

It was like someone had poured a warm bucket of water on her.- Wayne Morsky

"No halter, nothing, just hanging on to her mane," she said reminiscing.

That's why her son, Wayne Morsky, brought the two horses in the first place. He goes to several retirement homes across the city. He says horses have been a vital part of Saskatchewan for so long, and they mean something special to the people he visits.

One particularly touching memory of his when he brought his horses and met a woman struggling with her dementia. She couldn't raise her head to look at the horses, so he put the horse's reins in her hand and kept slowly sliding it through. Eventually the horse's nose was close to her face.

"And all of a sudden she could hear the breath of the horse's nose breathing on her," he said. "And it was like someone had poured a warm bucket of water on her. Because her skin just lit up and a smile came to her face and she raised her eyes and her chin and looked at the horses."

He made sure the seniors got as much time as they wanted with the horses on Friday.