It’s quite common to see a service dog at the grocery store or mall. But what about a service horse? While on active duty for the military, Matt Wagner and his wife Chantell worked with an equine therapy program and learned about the healing power of horses. After leaving the military, Matt needed a service animal. After Chantell learned that Miniature Horses are allowed as service animals, she approached Matt with the idea and began their search for the perfect Mini.
“At Matt’s size, there really isn’t a dog that can give him balance support when he needs it,” explains Chantell.
Another reason they liked the idea of a Mini Horse was the lifespan. One Mini Horse service animal can work the same length of time as up to six service dogs. Matt did not want to go through getting a new animal every seven years, so a Mini Horse solved that issue.
Apollo
Matt had just one request: “Find me a palomino.” Chantell came across an ad for exactly that, a palomino Miniature Horse. He already worked as a therapy horse, so he had many of the skills they would need, including being “potty trained” indoors. The rest was history.
Apollo works as Matt’s service animal by alerting him to high blood pressure or increased heart rate due to stress, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He also assists in mobility support, helping Matt get up from the ground, and providing balance support when Matt suffers from vertigo.
“Redirection tasks include making me focus on him rather than external triggers or stressful situations,” adds Matt. “This goes hand in hand with the alert tasks, as sometimes I only need an alert to realize what’s going on; sometimes I need his assistance in redirecting my attention.”
Through social media and just being visible in the public, Apollo and his owners have helped others looking for service Minis. Apollo also does his best to help strangers in need.
“Over the holidays, we were shopping at our local Walmart and came across a woman who was having a panic attack,” shares Chantell. “When she saw Apollo, you could see her eyes light up. They found a safe place to sit down in the middle of Walmart, where she could breathe and relax. With Apollo’s head in her lap, they sat there for at least an hour. With the help of Apollo, she was able to work through her panic attack and left relaxed, happy and smiling.”
Honey
Jessica Wellman of Procyon Training in Ocala, Fla., started out with Honey, a Miniature Horse, as a therapy animal at a veterans hospital in Maryland. Her father was a patient there, and she would take Honey to visit him.
“Honey, of course, was a star, so other patients asked her to visit them as well,” shares Jessica.
When Jessica was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, she started to teach Honey to assist her in things that were becoming more difficult for her.
“Honey acts as a counterbalance, helping me steady myself when I pitch forward,” Jessica explains. “She is also trained to help me up if I fall to the ground and pick up dropped objects.”
Service Training
The Americans with Disabilities Act formally recognized Miniature Horses as the only accepted service animal other than dogs in 2011. Since then, Jessica has been helping others who want a service Mini.
“Because of Honey’s social media presence, people began to reach out to me for help,” Jessica shares. “From potty training to task training, Honey and I are always willing to help handlers train their own service animals, and occasionally people send their Miniature Horse to us for training.”
Jessica leads the board-and-train horse division for Procyon Training. She says a Mini Horse can be any age to start service work, and that a good temperament is the most important thing.
Advantages of Mini Horses
When compared to service dogs, Jessica says there are definitely some advantages to an equine.
“There are some tasks that they are more naturally inclined to do,” Jessica explains. “For example, mobility work. Dogs, even large breed dogs, are not able to carry the weight of a human being on their back, even for light counterbalance. Horses, however, can do this. Horses even make better candidates for diabetic alert because they naturally detect glucose levels in grass.”
We’ve all seen how horses tend to keep eating the shorter grasses in their pasture, ignoring the taller areas. That’s because shorter grass has higher sugar levels, and we all know how must horses love sugar!
“Since horses already know the scent of glucose is significant, teaching them to identify a specific range is easier,” she adds. “Dogs, on the other hand, have to be taught that glucose is a significant smell, and then to identify a specific level.”
Jessica has trained Miniature Horses for a large variety of service animal tasks, including guiding those with limited sight or blindness; psychological tasks for those with PTSD, anxiety, and more; diabetes alert; seizure response; and even cardiac alert.
“Horses can sense heart rates from six feet away,” says Jessica. Some of the cues they use are things like nuzzles or nose pushes, pawing, grabbing objects attached to a Velcro vest to give to their handler, and shaking their head. It really depends on the team.”
Learn more about equine service animals by visiting procycontraining.com. You can also follow Honey on TikTok @service.horse.honey and Apollo the Service Mini on Facebook @ApolloMini22.
This article about mini horses as service animals appeared in the September/October 2024 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!
