by Julie Smith
The next time you share an elevator with a Miniature horse, or walk into a hospital and see a horse standing in the lobby, Hearts and Hooves is probably in action.
An Edmonton-area organization, Hearts and Hooves brings Miniature horses indoors to benefit people of all ages who may be terminally ill, elderly, learning or physically disabled, or emotionally troubled.
Hearts and Hooves Edmonton aims to bring comfort, compassion, rejuvenation, friendship, love, and hope to those in need. Sessions range from bringing a horse into a hospital to visit a bed-ridden patient, to providing structured activities with the horses for troubled youth.
Executive director Michelle Kropp says, “We believe our program enables children to just be children and feel unconditional love and acceptance from a horse in a way they will not find elsewhere.” The activities focus on building relationships, developing nurturing behaviour, and improving self-esteem.
Equine-assisted therapy is a rapidly growing field that maintains that horses are especially suited for therapeutic purposes because, since they are prey animals in nature, they are highly sensitive to emotional energy. Horses act like a mirror to those around them, reflecting incongruities in emotion and intention, and highlighting strengths and improvements.
Kropp says that the benefits of Hearts and Hooves’ programs include a decrease in peoples’ feelings of anxiety and learned helplessness, an increased sense of control over one’s self and environment, and improved decision-making and strategic thinking.
Although Miniature horses were originally chosen for their size and ease of transport, Kropp has noted unique characteristics that make them “wonderful and kindhearted therapy animals.”
Many of the “Minis” currently with Hearts and Hooves have had difficult pasts and have been rescued by Kropp from the slaughterhouse. Mini horses are often bought as novelty items for children, she explains, and discarded when it doesn’t work out.
Also, many people are not prepared to keep an animal for its 30- to 40-year lifespan. Most of the Minis that were rescued by, or donated to, Hearts and Hooves seem to thrive on their therapy visits, although the ones that do not are allowed to live in the pasture and “just be horses.”
Hearts and Hooves was originally established in Austin, Texas, in 2001. Since then, numerous other Hearts and Hooves chapters have sprouted up across the States, with the Edmonton-area Hearts and Hooves being the first Canadian affiliate.
When Kropp first heard about the Hearts and Hooves in Austin, she “knew it was what (she) needed to do.” With a background in riding and competing with Arabians, she was well-versed in the horse world. Kropp also had volunteer experience assisting with hippotherapy (equine therapy), and is educated as a special needs teacher.
Kropp trained with Hearts and Hooves Austin, becoming the only Canadian certified Equine Facilitated Therapy Handler and Trainer, and then founded Hearts and Hooves Edmonton.
Since then, the Hearts and Hooves team, with its 42 volunteers, have brought therapy to close to 30 locations in and around Edmonton, including seniors’ homes, elementary schools, and hospitals.
Hearts and Hooves Edmonton is a federally registered charity that survives entirely on donations and volunteer efforts.
To help, visit www.heartsand hoovesedmonton.org or email Michelle Kropp at heartsand hoovesedmonton@yahoo.ca.
