Assisted
living residents get therapy from horse
By NICHOLAS C. STERN
News-Post Staff nstern@fredericknewspost.com
James Strohm got his first
horse when he was 12. He grew up raising horses; he broke them, and even did a
little stunt riding.
“They’re good buddies,”
Strohm said Saturday outside the Montevue Home in Frederick. Montevue is a
county-owned assisted living center.
A resident
at Montevue for about nine months, Strohm was among the first to take a turn
stroking, hugging and kissing Oakmaide Black Satin, the horse that was brought
there as part of an ongoing pet therapy program.
Wags for Hope was started in 2006 by Gabe
O’Neill with his dog Charlie. The group of about 100 volunteers brings their
animals for visits to roughly 25 nursing and assisted living homes and hospices
throughout Frederick and Washington counties, as well as parts of West Virginia.
The visits help break up the monotony and
loneliness many residents experience, while offering a meaningful activity for
the volunteers.
“Interacting with animals makes
them forget about their problems and the pain they’re going through,” O’Neill
said.
Saturday marked the first time the group
brought a horse.
O’Neill said Wags for Hope
volunteer Meg Klackner had mentioned that many of the residents at Montevue were
raised on farms, and missed being around horses.
“I thought that this would be a really nice
thing,” he said.
After a presentation about the
group at a local Kiwanis Club, O’Neill said he was approached by Susan Vona, who
owns a farm in Union Bridge and was willing to help with a horse.
Lillian Moneymacker, a
Montevue resident, stayed by Satin’s side for most of her visit. As a young
girl, she would ride horses on her grandparents’ farm after school.
“I love horses, and she’s wonderful,” she said.
Tollie York, the activities director at
Montevue, snapped photos of residents as they mingled with Satin. She said they
appreciate the company Wags for Hope volunteers and their animals bring each
week.
“Animals bring out a lot of things people
can’t,” York said.
Staff photo by
Graham Cullen Djurca Rebernik is nuzzled by Oakmaide Black Satin, a
registered Morgan horse, visiting the Montevue Home as part of a pet therapy
program organized by Gabe O’Neill. The horse, from Vona Farm in Union Bridge,
was brought in to meet and interact with residents.
