They’re roughly a fifth the size of a regular horse, fit perfectly in the back of a van and are helping people deal with mental and physical trauma all over LA County.
“Valentina,” “Blue Moon” and “Penelope Von Schweets” are just three of Victoria Nodinoff-Netanel’s 10 miniature horses, stabled in her yard in Calabasas. Her non-profit is called MiniTherapyHorses.com – and the mission is in the name: bring smiles to faces and warmth to hearts in order to help people heal.
“It makes me feel so good,” said Nodinoff-Netanel as she helped her small staff of volunteers sweep up the sawdust and prepare the horses’ lunch, “like all this hard work is worth it.”
An accomplished artist with years of experience in the (full sized) horse riding discipline called “dressage,” she came up with the idea after buying her first mini-horse more than 16 years ago. Patients at a veterans’ hospital were thrilled to see the animal during a visit.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Victoria has trained several of her tiny team to “play” electronic keyboards with their snouts to the delight of young hospital patients and trot in circles as adults smile and nod in approval.
“I’m so focused on them making a meaningful connection. That’s where the magic happens.”
The connection, said Capt. Adam VanGerpen of the LA City Fire Dept., is apparent almost immediately. “We saw everyone’s faces light up,” he said, after some of Victoria’s horses were introduced to firefighters at the request of the Mayor’s Crisis Response Team.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
“It takes you out of where you are and takes you out of what just happened,” he said. “A very traumatic train accident, a car accident – (the horses) can come out to the scene, not only for firefighters but also the public.”
Numerous studies have concluded that animal therapies of all kinds – horses, dogs and cats – have beneficial effects on such conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is diagnosed frequently in the fire service, law enforcement and military.
Caring for “Bindi Blue,” “Black Pearl” and the others is a labor of love, said Nodinoff-Netanel, but it’s also expensive. MiniTherapyHorses.com is a non-profit, supported by private donations that keep the horses exquisitely groomed and in immaculate living conditions. She’s always looking for new funding sources because the need for therapeutic animals of all kinds is so great.
