A friendly neigh-bour

Joyce Davis gives Monty a head rub

Monty the miniature pony came trotting through the front door at Resthaven on Burns last Wednesday morning — clip-clopping down the lino as the care centre’s first animal visitor since everyone shuttered their doors last year thanks to Covid.

“He’s our first animal to visit the facility for a year now,” Tracy Fairhall, the activities coordinator at Resthaven, said.

He is also the first tiny equine: “We used to have the assistance dogs coming in … but we’ve never had Monty.”

Monty’s usually found at the Cambridge Riding for the Disabled on Alpha Street; his visit was organised by the Friends of Resthaven group.

Cambridge is a horsey town, and many of Resthaven’s residents have spent their lives in the racing industry. For them, Monty’s visit was extra special — “They were absolutely thrilled to see [him],” Fairhall said.

As he toddled down the hall, through the reception and into the dementia ward, Monty met former steeplechasers, polo trainers and racing families.

“It got them talking about memories from the past to do with their days of being a jockey,” Fairhall said. “We do have a few [residents] that used to be involved quite a lot with horses back in their day… it brought back lots of happy memories.”

]

Fairhall hopes to make animal visits a regular occasion once again — and, fingers crossed, Monty the chestnut pony will be back soon.

More Recent News

It’s down to specials

10.50am Newly elected Waipā mayor Mike Pettit says he is honoured to have been chosen to lead the district and is ready to get to work on behalf of the community. Pettit is off to…

St Pierre third but happy

Clare St Pierre finished third out of three in the Waipā mayoralty race, but says it was an “amazing experience” She retained her Pirongia-Kakepuku ward seat on council and is seen as a potential deputy…

Jumble record set

Cambridge’s Jumble Around op-shop has done it again. It has broken all previous records with its 2025 distribution, having just handed out $220,000 to 97 not-for-profit organisations and groups in the Cambridge area.  Last year,…

Smooth roads ahead

From now until March, road workers are undertaking a significant rebuild programme on state highways including the Waikato Expressway, south of Cambridge, and SH3 near Te Awamutu. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) project is…