My little ponies!
BUDDY AND ROSIE HAVE BEEN LIGHTING UP PEOPLE’S DAYS WITH THEIR VISITS
TWO sisters from Hull are fulfilling a lifelong dream of working with horses by making a difference in the community with their ponies, Buddy and Rosie.
Standing at only 27 inches tall, Buddy has been mistaken for a dog on his many visits to care homes, children’s parties and dementia facilities. As well as being the perfect guests at events, the ponies are therapy animals that offer comfort to vulnerable people.
Bobby Jo Hume, 27, and her sister Sammie Hume, 39, have seen first-hand the amazing effects a visit from a pony can have on dementia patients in particular. For older people who don’t often leave their rooms, the animals give them a new experience to boost their mood.
Bobby Jo said: “Just recently, we visited a home for people with dementia, and it was unreal how much the ponies helped the patients. A man there opened up about how he wanted to be a jockey when he was younger, but had to go in the Armed Forces instead.
“Staff at the home said he usually just sits quietly and doesn’t say or remember much, so this was huge. Because Buddy is so small, he happily gets in a lift to visit patients on upper floors who can’t come downstairs as well, so they have fun brushing him and stroking him.”
For the Hume sisters, their decision to start a small business with two ponies came from a shared love of horses. Bobby Jo said she was riding horses, by the time “she could barely walk”.
Five-and-a-half years ago, ‘Prop a Parties’ was born, but the sisters started without Buddy and Rosie.
“It was always a dream to have our own animals but we actually started out with homemade props for parties,” Bobby Jo continued.
“We made mini horse jumps and bought pony cycles for children to have horse-themed birthday parties. Then around four years ago, we bought Buddy and Rosie, after already owning horses of our own.”
The sisters then branched out into all sorts of events and have found working with elderly and disabled people very fulfilling. They travel all over Yorkshire with their horse box and hope to expand their business soon.
They added that, in four years, the ponies haven’t had one toilet accident in a home, and are well-trained to do their business in the horsebox. Although the job never stops, Bobby Jo said: “It never feels like work when you love your job this much”.