Just horsin’ around! Meet the therapy horses spreading smiles in Central Illinois

DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — You know of therapy dogs, maybe even some cats, but what about therapy horses? They’re the animals changing lives no matter how old you are.

Jasper and Oliver are two miniature horses spreading smiles across Central Illinois.

They’re a part of Andra and Bill Ebert’s family and have been for about 10 years since “Heartland Mini Hoofs” started. It all began when Andra contacted someone who ran a similar program in Kansas City.

“We talked to her about three and a half hours on the phone, and she said, ‘Why don’t you come on out?'” Andra said.

Andra quickly jumped at the opportunity, and that was only the beginning of a new lifelong mission. When the horses aren’t on the farm in Stonington, they’re traveling to schools, hospitals and nursing homes. One of their regular stops is Victoria Woods in Decatur.

“It gives people something to talk about, something to enjoy,” Andra said.

Therapy horses can help increase endorphins and lower blood pressure at the same time. Andra constantly watches peoples’ stress melt away when they see Jasper and Oliver trotting by.

For her, it’s also an opportunity to watch people open up and interact. One story stands out in particular when a Champaign man left his room at the nursing home for the first time in four years.

“When he heard there were horses coming, he asked the staff to get him up, get him a shower and then put him in his wheelchair,” Andra described.

When she got there, he was in the lobby waiting.

“Come to find out, that gentleman still owned horses that were living with his brother in Arizona. The family didn’t know it, the staff didn’t know it, and so that was able to bring out something about him that the staff never knew. And they could connect with him,” she added.

Andra knows the horses open doors for people in ways she would’ve never imagined.

“It has become a true mission. It has enlightened our lives so much,” she said. “It is truly a mission of love for us.”

The Heartland Mini Hoofs organization runs solely on donations, and everything goes right to helping the horses. You can connect on their Facebook page, linked here.