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It was Freckle Butt Fred’s first time on a plane.And Ronica Froese hopes it won’t be his last.Froese, who runs the service animal company Little Horses Big Smiles in Croton, Mich., took Fred on a cross-country flight to California that included two flights each way earlier this month. We have all been working very hard and are extremely pleased to announce that the Little Horse, Big Smiles website has now been launched. You may now sponsor buttons to be given to kids, purchase buttons that are shipped to you, and donate to help spread smiles.
MissionLifting Spirits Miniature Therapy Horses mission is to provide mobile equine assisted activity services to children and adults of all ages and abilities.Research has shown that equine therapy has positive mental, social, educational, spiritual and physical benefits.We use our own trained miniature horses, to bring happiness, hope, and a sense of wellbeing to men, women and children of all ages and needs. About UsWe visit all age groups, young to old, with all types of disabilities and needs. We try to never turn away anyone or facility that contacts us.We have volunteers that help with our visits and are always working on new programs to expand our reach.We are a federally recognized 501c3. As a nonprofit organization, we rely solely on donations, grants, sponsorships and fundraising to carry out our mission.100% of funds received go directly into our miniature horses for rescuing, training, horse care and supplies. The biggest challenge we face is maintaining the funds to support outreach to all the communities that can benefit from our unique therapy programs. Larger grants and donations allow us to focus our efforts on scheduling and conducting visits, and have the biggest impact on the communities around us.Horse care is expensive, so we aim to translate our fundraising requests into real services. For example, $100 can feed and care for one of our horses for a month,and $200 can provide an hour long visit to a local nursing home, veterans center, children’s hospital or school.
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The more visits we can do, the more people’s lives we can touch.Lifting Spirits offers so much more than traditional animal therapy. In addition to medically-related visits to nursing homes, hospitals and VAs, we participate in:Just Say Whoa® to Bullying (a national program aimed at teaching children to be upstanders to bullying, not bystanders);Read to a Mini (a literacy program for children and adults);Valor (partnerships with local law enforcement to engage with citizens in a positive way); andAn EAL (Equine Assisted Learning) program coming soon!
How We Serve our CommunityWe currently serve over 75 nursing homes, Alzheimer Units, children’s hospitals, medical centers, schools, and Assisted Living centers on a regular basis.Visits, which go from April through October, last approximately one hour, and each facility plans these visits based on their individual needs.During the school year, we bring our miniature therapy horses to participate in school functions that aim at lowering student stress, and encouraging dialogbetween the teachers, counselors and students they serve. For example, we have visited the Reading Public Library during Exam Cram Night.We also visit with Golden Hill Elementary in Haverhill, MA with six special needs classes where the children interact with the horsesand work on building certain skills.We are excited to be making visits to Soldiers Home in Chelsea, MA so that the veterans can meet our little horses and experience their wonderful benefits.My father, a Marine Veteran who served this country, taught me to always give back to the community, so this is something very dear to my heart. A golden wake game.
Little Horses Make a Big Impact
They may be small, but Jasper, Winnie and Bailey are making a big impact on young and old alike. The trio of American miniature horses are the stars of Heartland Mini Hoofs, a Taylorsville, Illinois-based non-profit organization that brings smiles, laughter and love to nursing homes, hospitals, libraries, schools, senior communities, Alzheimer’s units and other special groups throughout central Illinois.
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Better known as “the horse lady,” Andra Ebert is the visionary behind Heartland. A licensed social worker and registered nurse, she spent 30 years working with elderly patients at area hospitals. Upon her retirement, she launched Heartland to continue contributing to the community.
“I’ve seen them approach nursing home residents who are pretty non-responsive,” Andra says. “They’ll just lay their noses on the person’s arms and oftentimes, the residents will open their eyes, smile and reach out to pet the horses.”
Andra remembers one such interaction, an elderly woman with advanced Alzheimer’s, who no longer spoke to her family or staff. “She would take Bailey’s face in her hands, lean down and start talking to him,” Andra recalls. “We visited her every month, and for six months, she would talk to Bailey.”
In addition to their outreach to elderly populations, the miniature horses are regular visitors to central Illinois elementary and middle schools, as part of an anti-bullying program. The horses help capture children’s attention and reinforce the program’s key messages. “Horses take care of each other, which is why they live in herds,” Andra explains. Through the “Just Say Whoa® to Bullying” program, Andra encourages children to follow Jasper, Winnie and Bailey’s example, and look out for one another if they witness bullying.
Last year, Andra and her horses made 166 visits and traveled 12,000 miles, bringing smiles to hundreds of faces along the way. “The connection that they make is something magical,” she says. “They intuitively know when there are adults or children with special needs and they are the calmest, most gentle, accepting animals in the world.”
Learn more about Heartland Mini Hoofs![](/uploads/1/2/7/2/127204719/962915257.png)