A little help from a little horse: in pictures
A small group of American Miniature Horses are bringing smiles to disabled children and the elderly in the North East of England.
After a quick roll around in the field every morning, Mr.P, Wish and Monet set off to work visiting nursing homes and disabled children.
Their owner Katy Smith believes that the ponies, which are roughly the same size as a golden retriever, are a great form of therapy.
“The horses evoke emotions and help people that are normally very withdrawn and find it difficult to communicate with people,” Katy told H&H.
“I have had patients that won’t talk to people either having a silent conversation or talking away to these little horses.”
No one misses out on visits from the ponies as they do bedroom visits and even take the lift see patients.
In his spare time Mr.P is also a successful show pony and has qualified for the Horse of the Year Show (9-13 October)
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The ponies have also been nominated for the Animal Hero Awards.
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.