A California woman has trained hundreds of tiny horses to help those who need a little extra emotional or physical support.
Faith San Severino runs Faithful Friends, buying, training and selling miniature horses, with the help of a ranch hand and an assistant.
The mobility horses need to be strong enough to, for example, help pull and support someone who can’t stand up easily, and brace them as they walk.
The therapy horses are more for emotional support and can be taken to places like hospitals and retirement homes to cheer up the residents.
Faith trains these mini horses for individuals and organisations all over the United States, from autistic children to hospices.
Her client base includes speech pathologists, psychologists, teachers and veterinarians, but is made up largely of private buyers who want to give back to their community with the help of a mini horse.
Faith, who lives in San Diego, California, with her husband Adam, explains: ‘Mostly my sales are to women who are retired. They don’t want to quit working, but they want to do something fun and something that they’ve already always dreamed of.
‘So they will buy a therapy horse, and then they can do some good work in their senior years – going to visit the elderly, veterans or children’s hospitals.’
But before you get any ideas, Faith’s therapy and mobility horses don’t go to just anyone.
Faith, 55, says: ‘People seem to think that the little miniatures are like dogs because they’re small – they’re not.
‘They’re horses through and through, and they have to be treated as such.
‘They can’t be by themselves, they’re herd animals – otherwise, they get depressed, and they stop eating, so there’s a lot to know.
‘I refuse customers all the time because they just haven’t done the research.’
Originally bred around 400 years ago, Faith said mini horses (not to be confused with their pony cousins) were originally used to help pull carts in the mines where larger horses couldn’t fit.
It’s a little contentious in the horse breeding world, but generally mini horses are thought of as miniature, more proportionate versions of full-sized horses, while ponies tend to have shorter legs, thicker necks and wider torsos.
Training these mini horses involves things like getting them used to things like jumping in and out of cars, riding in elevators and going upstairs.
‘You can’t ride them,’ she tells us. ‘Some people try with their kids, but they really shouldn’t.
‘They are, however, good and strong to pull things.’
So, what does caring for one of these little guys tend to look like?
Faith says: ‘A lot of people have their garage set up as a barn with access to the yard – as long as they have that they’re good to go.
‘Some people say, “Oh well I want to get a mini therapy horse” and I say, “Where’s he gonna stay?”, and they reply, “In the second bedroom.”
‘Right then and there, I know that’s just trouble on the horizon because they just don’t have a clue.’
Faith tells us that making sales is not her primary concern, emphasising the importance of the wellbeing of the animals.
‘If I really just wanted to make sales I could sell a lot more,’ she says, ‘because I refuse a lot of people.
‘They just don’t understand what a horse is, and I can see they’re not the right kind of owner for a therapy horse.
‘A mini is not told what to do. He’s asked and if he’s well-trained, he does it.’
Faith says she can tell who’s suitable for a mini just by how they hold the horse’s rope – if they’re constantly holding it tight, pulling at the head and neck of the horse to get the animal to do what they want, then there’s a problem.
She tells us the way to do it is to make sure the rope is slack enough to form a ‘u’ shape most of the time. Faith then gently pulls and releases it only when she asks the horse to do something.
‘So when the horse does it, he chooses to do it,’ she says, ‘not because he’s forced to do it.
‘People say to me, “Oh my horse hates to go for a walk” so I say, “Show me how you do it”, and they’re pulling on him.
‘And I say, “Well I’d hate to go for a walk with you too!”‘
Faith, who says she’s ‘always had an affinity for the elderly’, tells us her business training minis started with the purchase of just one horse, called Baby Sky, for that very purpose.
‘I always used to go volunteer to visit, and I’d think gee, I wish I could take it up a notch,’ she says.
‘I had a big horse at the time that I was riding, and I thought if I had a little miniature horse and went to the hospitals – what a riot that would be.
‘I said to my girlfriends, “I’m going to buy a little miniature horse I’m going to train it, and I’m going to get a little van, and I’m going to go visit the older people.”
‘They just looked at me and said, “Yeah, sure”.’
Even though the business has grown, as well as training horses for others all over the nation, Faith still has her own minis that she brings to local care homes to cheer up residents.
She tells us: ‘I love going to the Alzheimer’s units. It’s so cute because we’ll walk in with a little 28-inch horse, and they’ll say, “What kind of dog is that?”
‘I’ll say, “It’s a miniature horse” they go, “Oh my goodness”, and they’re just so thrilled.’
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