Cambridge Riding for the Disabled coach Sam Ogden (left) and volunteer Raewyn Risi take a ride in the lift at St Andrew’s Retirement Village’s Moxon Centre with Monty on Friday. They say he passed the training with flying colours.
“Well then, that’s not something you see every day, is it?”
Meet Monty – Cambridge Riding for the Disabled’s (RDA) therapy pony.
Fast becoming known for lifting people’s spirits, he’s now taking his personable nature to new heights – and has learnt to use one.
He and handler Raewyn Risi, a Cambridge RDA volunteer, are regularly asked to visit Cambridge rest homes and now there’s a new location on the list.
There are hopes Monty can visit children on Waikato Hospital’s Waikids ward, but because the hospital floors are on various levels, there is one hurdle to reaching them – the lifts.
Enter St Andrew’s Retirement Village staff, who allowed Monty, Raewyn and Cambridge RDA coach Sam Ogden to take some training trips up and down the lift at the village’s Moxon Centre last Friday as practice.
As the Shetland pony did so, St Andrew’s Retirement Village resident, 95-year-old Jean Outram, was among those Monty said hello to.
St Andrew’s Retirement Village resident Jean Outram, 95, was delighted to meet Monty. Photo: Supplied
Following Monty’s visit, Jean – who has lived at St Andrew’s since November – expressed her delight that Monty, Raewyn and Sam took time to wander around visiting residents in between trips between floors.
“I love experiencing a wide range of new things in life. He’s a great gift – he came right up to me and we had a little talk,” she said.
St Andrew’s Cambridge village and care manager Rachael Hall told The News it was a pleasure to have Monty visit.
Sam and Raewyn were happy too – saying Monty passed the lift training with “flying colours and an A plus”.
“Monty hasn’t experienced lifts before, and whilst he’s incredibly good when it comes to new experiences, this is something we wanted to train him in,” Sam said.
“It’s a pretty confined space for a little pony, which is outside of his comfort zone. But, in typical Monty style, he just waltzed on in.
“It was nice to see how excited the residents were too. When Monty popped in, their faces lit up and many asked for a selfie.
“He wasn’t bothered at all.”
Raewyn added that while Monty has had experience with forward and backward motion in a horse float as he’s travelled around, up until Friday a lift was a new experience.
Walking on lino is relatively new too, so Raewyn also found some for Monty to practice walking on on Friday.
Monty, 19, has been at Cambridge Riding for the Disabled since June 2016.
“Though, he’s got such a fun loving, personable nature, you’d never guess his age really would you?” Raewyn said. “He’s pretty young at heart.”
Monty isn’t the oldest horse at Cambridge RDA – that title goes to a horse 10 years his senior, at 29 years old.
Monty began heading off on visits before the trips were stopped because of the Covid pandemic.
“The more he visits people,” Sam said, “the more it seems others want him to come and see them too.”
Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand’s, Waikato operations director of women’s and children’s health Cath Anderson said there had been positive feedback about Monty’s potential visit.
“Patients often find joy in interacting with animals during visits. We are in the very early planning stages, and will be working with Cambridge RDA on the obvious challenges presented by a pony visiting a ward,” she said.
This year is Cambridge RDA’s 40th anniversary, and an open day in October is planned to mark the occasion.
Raewyn Risi introduces St Andrew’s Retirement Village residents to Monty on Friday. Photo: Supplied
- July 5 – This story was updated to include Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand’s comments and update the heading.
