HORSES, MEMORIES AND CONNECTION AT YAANDINA
For residents at Yaandina Aged Care in Roebourne, a visit from the Pilbara Heart Horses is about much more than spending time with animals.
The regular visits are helping to get residents outdoors, reconnect with memories and enjoy a different kind of therapeutic experience in the garden.
For Yaandina resident Richard Pendanis, being close to the horses brings back memories of his younger years, when he rode horses while living near Kings Park in Perth.
“I feel good, I want to pat him or her.” - RICHARD PENDANIS
Those memories are exactly what Pilbara Heart Horses facilitator Faime Patricia Chappell told Ngaarda Media’s Samara Diaz make the sessions so powerful.
Pilbara Heart Horses’ Faime Patricia Chappell brings horses to Yaandina to help people connect with nature.
Faime first began bringing horses to Yaandina several years ago, before establishing Pilbara Heart Horses as a business. She continued the visits voluntarily, before the program grew into the regular service it is today.
She said the horses encourage residents to leave their rooms and spend time outside, creating a calm environment where people can connect at their own pace.
Faime said it also helped residents who may struggle to remember other parts of their day hold onto memories of station life, and the thought of seeing the horses again.
BUILDING CONFIDENCE AND FINDING COMPANIONSHIP
The horses can also help residents build confidence and find companionship simply by standing quietly alongside them.
Yaandina Aged Care facility manager and registered nurse, Gayle Weber, said the visits form part of the facility’s focus on residents’ emotional and social wellbeing.
While residents take part in plenty of indoor activities including games, painting, music and singing, the horses provide something different.
They bring people outside into the garden and create another way for residents to feel connected to Country, animals and each other.
Pilbara Heart Horses’ Faime Patricia Chappell brings horses to Yaandina to help people connect with nature.
Community centre manager Jan Nuttle said the visits are also a chance for aged-care residents and community centre clients to spend time together.
Many have lived or worked on stations around the Pilbara, and being able to touch and spend time with horses can bring those experiences back to life.
The program often leads to yarning, storytelling and conversations about times gone by.
Residents and clients have become so familiar with the visits that staff are regularly asked when the horses will be coming back.
With current funding supporting one more session this year, Pilbara Heart Horses hopes the partnership can continue into the future, and attract further sponsorship.
For the residents at Yaandina, it is a simple experience with a big impact — horses in the garden, familiar memories returning, and another reason to come together.