Equine therapy: Pack of ponies helping relieve stress and boost mental health for patients in UK hospital

Miniature ponies trained to help relieve stress and boost mental health are making a splash in a British hospital - putting a smile on the faces of staff and patients alike.

Lindsey Head, 56, launched Pixie and Pickles Adventures following the death of her dad in 2019. She started with just two ponies - the company's namesakes Pixie and Pickles - but now has a string of seven, which visit Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, twice a month. Studies have found that equine therapy can have significant psychological benefits, including reducing feelings of depression, and the ponies also visit care homes, schools, hospices and refuges.

The animals tended to more than 60 patients at Lister Hospital last week. Ms Head told SWNS: "It's wonderful when we do the hospitals. The doctors and the staff and all the patients get something out of it... Everyone wants selfies and cuddles. It's lovely and gives [the patients] temporary relief.

"You fall in love with them as soon as you see them and one of them is recognised as a dementia specialist pony as well - they're just amazing," she continued. "All we do is shampoo and dry the ponies and get them there, and they do all the hard work."

Ms Head first got the idea for the business after she saw how beneficial they were to her late father, when they visited him in a care home. "After my old companion horse died we got Pixie and Pickles to keep my old retired horse company," she said.

"My dad loved seeing the ponies every day. He was taken to hospital for a fall and he went into a care home afterwards. One day the staff asked if we could bring the ponies in to see him as he kept talking about them." The pair were a smash success, she said, and before her father died, she brought Pickles into the house to stand by his side for several hours - to comfort him.

Ms Head soon struck up a deal with the East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals’ Charity for the ponies to make regular visits to Lister Hospital. "It's just grown and grown since and more and more ponies have arrived. We have seven now. It's taken off big time," she said.

"I knew they had therapy dogs visiting the hospital and I asked if they could have therapy ponies in the hospital. They agreed and we were supposed to do two visits a year and we're currently doing two a month - it's just snowballed."

The ponies wear nappies while inside, and all get a thorough wash before entering the hospital. Only two or three ponies attend at a time, but Ms Head said all of them were well-trained and well behaved. "The others look disappointed when they can't go out to hospital - they love it... They just pose next to people and have photos and cuddles - they're so professional.

"We're now in talks with Great Ormond Street which will be amazing as well," she added. The ponies are not the only animals to visit Lister Hospital, with 14 therapy dogs also providing regular support to patients.

East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals’ Charity patient experience co-ordinator Jane Shaw told SWNS: "We are proud of the work that the therapy animals carry out in our hospital, and also of the high standards of practice and hygiene to which they all perform.

"The benefit of animal interactions with humans has been noted since Florence Nightingale was nursing - it calms people down and helps them to feel better," she continued. "We now understand the physiological basis behind this much better. Stroking a therapy dog or pony reduces the production of stress hormones, such as cortisol, which in turn reduces blood pressure and the feelings and physical symptoms of anxiety.

"It also works wonders for our staff as well," she added.