One look at 3-year-old Matix and it's obvious that no disability will stand in his way. He was diagnosed with thrombocytopedia absent radius syndrome, or TARS, but that doesn't slow him down one bit.
Matix was the inspiration behind using mini horses for therapy at the Woodmark, a senior-living facility in Sun City, where Matix's grandmother Frankie Eklund serves as activities director.
She bought 2-year-old Bert and 1-year-old Ernie just six months ago, after considering training therapy dogs but realizing her expertise lay in horse training.
Originally only wanting one of the two horses, Frankie says she and her husband couldn't decide which one they liked better and decided to try both on a trial basis.
They started taking the minis on walks with her grandson's stroller down the bridle path near where she lives in Sunburst Farms to start desensitizing them for the transition to therapy animals.
Both of the minis were wild at the time of purchase, according to Frankie. She says Ernie, the younger of the two, had to be lassoed in order to be caught.
Frankie says she works with the horses five times per week, putting them through rope exercises known as lunging for 15 minutes each to start. Then she introduces them to equipment they might encounter at the nursing home, such as walkers, strollers, oxygen tanks, and other obstacles.
Frankie says she researched the Pet Partners organization online, and that gave her the push she needed to train Bert and Ernie with the ultimate goal of creating the perfect service animal for Matix.
