A special horse named Mojo! In celebration of his 19th birthday, we share this story of what a wonderful therapy horse this retired 17.2 hand rescued race horse, retired dressage show horse is!
This past summer we had an 8-year-old boy who arrived at the barn and refused to get out of the car. His asocial behavior was so severe, he was unable to attend school. For all intents and purposes, he was non-verbal – incapable of expressing his feelings and asserting his needs. During his 2nd session, he got out of the car and Mojo put his head over the fence to greet him. The boy refused to come in the arena, but that horse kept his head over the fence the entire session to bond with him. Finally, when the same horse greeted him again at his third session, the boy decided to join the others inside the arena. This child ended up emerging as the leader of his group and forging an incredible bond with this horse. When the boy returned in the fall, he expressed to our therapist his desire to work with the same horse. This request might appear simple, but for this child it was a tremendous therapeutic accomplishment that he was able to articulate his needs, and his need was for connection. Now, that is what is all about!