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Forget the Airport Lounge, Pet the Miniature Horses
Training for pint-sized therapy steeds includes how to ride elevators and go from carpet to tile flooring without slipping
Therapy steeds from a local farm come to the airport twice a month to calm passengers. PHOTO: MADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By
Shibani Mahtani
July 25, 2017 1:34 p.m. ET
HEBRON, Ky.—Nervous traveler Karen Rodriguez braced herself as she stepped through the doors of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport.
What she wasn’t prepared for were the pair of 2-foot tall miniature horses, Harvey and Wendy, wandering the terminal to greet passengers before and after their flights.
“I must have died and gone to heaven,” said Ms. Rodriguez, 49 years old. “I just love them.”
The horses, a twice-monthly feature at the airport, are part of a program to help passengers with the stress of flying. The airport also has experimented with therapy puppies, and it holds monthly art performances, including ballet and Bollywood dance.
The horses, which live an hour away at the Seven Oaks Farms in Hamilton, Ohio, calmly pose for photos and stand quietly as children and adults pet their manes and coo in awe.
The mini horses, two feet high, are popular with children. PHOTO: MADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
RELATED
Lisa Moad, president of Seven Oaks Farm, said the idea occurred to her when she was traveling through Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport and saw a passenger getting “very, very upset” about a delayed flight. She thought her horses, which usually visit children’s hospitals and nursing homes, could help.
About 30 U.S. airports offer therapy animals, mostly dogs, though the San Francisco International Airport also has a pig. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky is the first to use horses, a nod to the airport’s location in Kentucky.
The diminutive steeds trained for hundreds of hours, including on how to ride elevators, go from carpet to tile flooring without slipping and handle the cacophony of airport noise. Trainers dragged suitcases past the horses for hours and plunked luggage in front of them so they got used to it.
The mini horses circulate two days a month at the airport. PHOTO: MADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Despite their popularity, the horses aren’t allowed to go to the area past security, where passengers sometimes have to wait hours on delayed flights and grow anxious and irritable.
“We tried bringing them past the TSA gates, but so many people wanted to see the horses, it was jamming up security,” said Ms. Moad. “It just didn’t work.”
Write to Shibani Mahtani at [email protected]
Forget the Airport Lounge, Pet the Miniature Horses
Training for pint-sized therapy steeds includes how to ride elevators and go from carpet to tile flooring without slipping
Therapy steeds from a local farm come to the airport twice a month to calm passengers. PHOTO: MADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By
Shibani Mahtani
July 25, 2017 1:34 p.m. ET
HEBRON, Ky.—Nervous traveler Karen Rodriguez braced herself as she stepped through the doors of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport.
What she wasn’t prepared for were the pair of 2-foot tall miniature horses, Harvey and Wendy, wandering the terminal to greet passengers before and after their flights.
“I must have died and gone to heaven,” said Ms. Rodriguez, 49 years old. “I just love them.”
The horses, a twice-monthly feature at the airport, are part of a program to help passengers with the stress of flying. The airport also has experimented with therapy puppies, and it holds monthly art performances, including ballet and Bollywood dance.
The horses, which live an hour away at the Seven Oaks Farms in Hamilton, Ohio, calmly pose for photos and stand quietly as children and adults pet their manes and coo in awe.
The mini horses, two feet high, are popular with children. PHOTO: MADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
RELATED
Lisa Moad, president of Seven Oaks Farm, said the idea occurred to her when she was traveling through Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport and saw a passenger getting “very, very upset” about a delayed flight. She thought her horses, which usually visit children’s hospitals and nursing homes, could help.
About 30 U.S. airports offer therapy animals, mostly dogs, though the San Francisco International Airport also has a pig. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky is the first to use horses, a nod to the airport’s location in Kentucky.
The diminutive steeds trained for hundreds of hours, including on how to ride elevators, go from carpet to tile flooring without slipping and handle the cacophony of airport noise. Trainers dragged suitcases past the horses for hours and plunked luggage in front of them so they got used to it.
The mini horses circulate two days a month at the airport. PHOTO: MADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Despite their popularity, the horses aren’t allowed to go to the area past security, where passengers sometimes have to wait hours on delayed flights and grow anxious and irritable.
“We tried bringing them past the TSA gates, but so many people wanted to see the horses, it was jamming up security,” said Ms. Moad. “It just didn’t work.”
Write to Shibani Mahtani at [email protected]
Adorbs, but imaging the POOPS of these things!!
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