Residents at Cedar Creek, A Koelsch Memory Care Community, were greeted Tuesday by a friendly, four-legged visitor – Domi – a registered therapy miniature horse owned by Brian Hohstadt of Triple B Foundation.
“The sheer joy on our resident’s faces when Brian brings one of his miniature horses is heartwarming,” said Karli Christiansen, Cedar Creek’s director of community relations. “We see residents who are oftentimes quiet and subdued get excited, smile, and interact with the horses when they visit.”
The science of human-animal interaction (HAI), which explores how relationships with animals can impact health and well-being has increased animal-assisted therapy usage in the U.S. Multiple studies show that equine-assisted therapy can improve moods, energy-levels, engagement, communications, memory, socialization, and overall quality of life in individuals with dementia.
How cool is that. Than you for your service Domi and Brian.
So happy to know Domi is bringing joy to these residents. It can’t be stressed strongly enough how much it can mean and do for the elderly, especially those in memory care or adult family homes, to have contact with service animals. I remember the joy and brightness that came into my mom’s eyes, nearly blind from MD, her beautiful face robbed of most expression by Altzheimer’s, and the tears in mine, when she got to hold and pet a service dog I arranged for her birthday at the adult family home, where she lived out the last two of her 97 years. Before that, in the retirement home where she lived, they would bring in alpacas each year, which were always a huge hit with the residents and would elicit enthusiastic stories from my mom. Thank you, Brian, for what you are doing.