DENVER — A miniature horse therapy organization is bringing comfort to hospitals, disaster areas, schools, and the National Western Stock Show.
Audra McNicholas, founder of McNicholas Miniatures, started raising and training horses in 2019 at her facility in Greenwood Village.
Since the organization started, she has fully trained two horses, 7-year-old Lovebug and 9-year-old Happytimes. McNicholas recently added a new member, HunnyB.
"The horses visit seven houses here in the Denver area and we go once a month to each home. Around the holidays, a lot of times we just go in and it’s just a nice treat for people because a lot of them don’t have the ability to go out of the nursing home," said McNicholas.
At each nursing home, the visit can lasts about an hour or hour and half, which gives each person quality time with Lovebug and Happytimes and the opportunity to learn about them.
"We see me see some pretty incredible things at the facilities where somebody hasn’t had a lot of verbal communication for a long time or hasn’t made contact, but once they start start touching the horse, all of a sudden they’re telling us a story about how they grew up riding a pony to school," said McNicholas. "They smile and make eye contact and you realize something clicked on them and they’re really getting to feel that joy and happiness."
On top of visiting nursing homes year round and having to keep up with training every day, the mini horses are apart of the mounted unit of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and also ambassadors of the Stock Show.
“It's really fun, they have been such a huge hit. Little kids come and instead of asking where’s waldo, they ask where are the minis," McNicholas said. "Not only do the kids get to come and touch the animals, but so do the adults they’re with and they get that awesome endorphin drop."
The therapy horses will be available to visitors and exhibitors at the National Western Stock Show until Sunday, Jan. 21.
Tickets to the National Western Stock Show and a full schedule of events can be found at NationalWestern.com.
9NEWS is a corporate partner of the National Western Stock Show.
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