|
Handler Jorge Garcia-Bengochea holds Honor, a miniature therapy horse from Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, as they are greeted by a child outside Kravis Children's Hospital at Mount Sinai in the Manhattan borough of New York City, March 16, 2016. Some of the most powerful medicine delivered to young patients at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on Wednesday came in a package less than 32 inches tall and with a tail. Honor, a 10-month-old colt with Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, trotted into the hearts of dozens of children and teens being treated at the Manhattan hospital. Just a handful of young patients were well enough to secure their doctors' permission to meet Honor in person in a hospital playroom, while others watched him from their beds, viewing an internal television broadcast in their rooms and isolation units. In the hospital, the tiny equines serve as a symbol of hope and beauty, conjuring up an image of outdoor activities, running and strength, said Diane Rode, who heads up the hospital's child creative arts therapy unit. “When you're in the hospital, you're dealing with pain, anxiety, isolation, and it's easy to get stuck in that. Focusing on the miniature horses creates a relationship back to the world and an interest and pleasure in the world we are working to foster”, she said. “Children need more than medicine to get better”, Rode added. (Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters)
|
