Patients at Essex Partnership University NHS Trust (EPUT) received an unusual visitor when a miniature Shetland pony popped in to see them.
Two members of staff working on two wards at EPUT arranged for the pony, called Secret, to pay a visit to their patients, who got the chance to stroke and brush her as well as feed her Polo mints.
Tracey Magowan, apprentice Occupational Therapist and Bernie Flynn, Occupational Therapist Assistant, organised the visit as a therapy intervention for the patients staying on Beech ward which looks after older adults and Willow Ward – an adult inpatient ward.
Bernie said: “It was great seeing those patients who have difficulties engaging with others, and patients who preferred to stay in their rooms come out and meet secret.
“It was lovely watching the patients’ faces light up as they stroked and talked to Secret. When Secret left the ward, all of the patients expressed feelings of wellbeing and asked ‘when will she be back?”
One patient who got the chance to meet Secret said: “I loved seeing the pony. This has made me feel so much better”.
Another said: “I am going back to volunteering at the stable when I leave hospital.”
The visit was the ten-year-old pony’s second visit to EPUT and she was provided by family-run Ramblers Pony Club in Leigh-on-Sea.
The pony club said: “We attend nursing homes, day centres, schools, hospitals and lots more, and we bring a therapy pony to visit patients.
“We have found this to be very beneficial to lots of different age groups both young and old.
“Our therapy pony Secret is amazingly well-behaved and loves putting smiles on people’s faces. The benefits that a therapy pony brings to people is incredible. We are able to take her in a lift and visit people that are bed-bound.”