MOSES LAKE — Of all the things residents at Brookdale Hearthstone Moses Lake expected to find in the halls of the assisted living facility, a horse wasn’t one of them.
The hoofed visitor was Luna, a miniature horse brought for a visit July 16 by Jodi Peck of Kindhearted Mini Therapy. Luna spent about an hour wandering through the facility charming residents right and left.
“We’re starting to get our name back out there, so starting in August we’re going to do a lot more fun things like this,” said Brookdale Hearthstone Activity Director Aleecia Robledo, who was introducing Luna to one resident after another.
“This is fantastic,” said Charlotte Cramer, who came out of her room to get acquainted with Luna. “It makes me wish I had a farm.”
Luna is fully grown at 7 years old, said Peck, and stands 34 inches tall. She came to Brookdale Hearthstone wearing special shoes over her hooves to keep from sliding on slick surfaces and a manure bag to protect the floor as well. Peck has trained her to keep calm in the face of noise and chaos simply by taking her and Bass, Peck’s other miniature horse, out in public at every opportunity, to grocery stores and public events. The horses pull carts in parades, she said, and give cart rides at the farmers market at Hale’s Farm and Feed in Ephrata.
Not everybody was on board with Luna’s visit. One resident was frightened by Luna’s sudden appearance, which startled Luna into backing into a small table and knocking it over, and Luna looked behind her nervously for a few minutes afterward. But most of the residents took to Luna immediately, and she was happy to be petted and fussed over.
Ann Telecky was quite comfortable with Luna.
“I worked as an activity director and we had horses that came into the facility,” said Telecky, who had lived for many years in Ritzville. “My boys had horses, but I never really did ride myself.”
“My (horses were) bigger than this one,” said Nancy Bolyard. “One was (named) Princess, and the other was Duke.”
“You are beautiful,” she added to Luna.
Peck started out showing horses, she said, until she decided it wasn’t fun anymore and she wanted to do something she liked better. She reached out to Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures in Webster, Fla., whose owner took Peck under her wing and taught her the ropes of using horses for therapy. She got all her licenses in January and started her own program.
