A horse in the hallway. And at the table. It happened to the residents of the Sint Jozef residential care center in Sappemeer. ‘When we are inside, something just happens’, says Marjan Hartman about the visits she has recently made to institutions with her Shetland pony Binky.
It’s Tuesday afternoon. A horse trailer is parked in front of Sint Jozef on the Noorderstraat in Sappemeer. There’s a relaxed breeze from inside the car, and when the front door opens, beady brown eyes and a light brown mane poke out. “Great, he has already pooped in the trailer,” says Marjan Hartman, who lives in Zuidbroek, with an approving look at Binky, her 14-year-old Shetland pony with a shoulder height of 95 centimeters. Together with the gelding, she will visit the residents of the nursing home.
‘When we are inside, something just happens’
That visit did not go unnoticed. While Binky walks to the residential care center with his ears forward and a brisk step, the reception hall is full and a group of residents are waiting impatiently behind the sliding doors. As soon as they open, enthusiastic sounds are heard. “When we are inside, something just happens. It is so beautiful to see what it does to people that it often gives me goosebumps myself.”
Marjan cites the visit to a woman who was in a dementia ward and told her that she hadn’t felt so many emotions for a long time. Or that one gentleman who used to live on a farm and hadn’t seen any animals for a long time and enjoyed her horse so much. “Then I think: isn’t that wonderful?”
Claudia, a carer at Sint Jozef, also fully enjoys the reaction of clients to Binky. “I told Mr. Woldhek this morning that a pony would come. He was so looking forward to it that he was already in the hall for 45 minutes beforehand. And as you can see, he is very happy now, he cheers up completely.”
“Is he real?”
Ellen, activity supervisor at Sint Jozef, admits that she never came up with the idea herself; getting a pony into the nursing home. “Marjan called me to tell me that she wanted to start with this and whether that would be something for us. The response of the elderly to a pony is very beautiful, she said. So then I said: Let’s just try it!” In the meantime, she is being pulled by the sleeve because residents really want to have their picture taken with the pony. “Is he real?” asks another resident. Meanwhile, Binky lets himself be guided through the auditorium past all the tables and chairs and gets a pat on the left and right on the bulb or a piece of carrot.
You would think that Binky has been doing this with Marjan for 14 years, but nothing could be further from the truth. She bought the horse a year ago with the aim of visiting nursing homes and childcare centers. After the necessary training, this is their fourth visit to a healthcare institution. “I have always worked in healthcare myself and then often took my dog with me. That already had a very positive effect on people. And a horse is even more of a feeling animal.” Because Marjan has been seriously ill for a long time, she unfortunately can no longer work in regular care. “Then I thought: I’m going to use the effect of a fringe. They sense it when people are not feeling well, with some Binky going in a bit more than with others.”
‘Risk of the profession’
After swinging through the auditorium, the duo continue their journey through the corridors of Sint Jozef: looking for residents who could not or did not want to come to the common room, but who might still be happy to see a pony. On the way, Binky raises his tail and, completely relaxed, drops a second pile of shit. Hilarity among the residents.
A beginner’s mistake. “And a risk of the trade,” says a cheerful Ellen who approaches with bucket, can and sweeper. And so this afternoon also turned out to be a real activity for the activity supervisor.