Behooved to make a difference in people's lives
Millstone woman travels to local care facilities offering equitherapy
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

Top: Samson, a therapy horse, visits a friend at the Jersey Shore Medical Center courtyard in Neptune. Samson is owned by Millstone resident Carol Wingerter.

Although Samson is only 36 inches tall, he lives up to his name with a long, flowing, flaxen mane and tail.More than just a handsome horse, Samson is a therapy pony. He and his owner, Carol Wingerter, of Millstone, regularly visit nursing homes, assisted-living places and other similar facilities to bring some "horsey" happiness to patients and residents.

Wingerter is one of the initial "Furry Angels" - a local chapter of the national, nonprofit organization The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs Inc. Furry Angels Therapy Dogs also aims to help people through pet therapy by bringing dogs to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, schools and other locations.

Wingerter said she saw a show on Animal Planet featuring a miniature donkey that was a big hit with patients in nursing homes. She then went online to dreamhorse.com to find an equine she could use for the same purpose and discovered that Samson was for sale in southern New Jersey.

An Australian miniature pony, Samson is a cross between a Shetland pony and a miniature horse. The woman who formerly owned him told Wingerter that he would do well as a therapy pony because she had imprinted him from birth, meaning that she taught him to bond with humans shortly after he left the womb.

Samson practiced for therapy visits by walking around Wingerter's house and inside a local PNC Bank. He has special horse "sneakers" to wear indoors, she said, so he does not slip on the floor.

The 7-year-old chestnut gelding is "sort of housebroken" except in an emergency. Wingerter therefore always totes buckets and cleaning materials just in case.

Two fellow Furry Angels members, Joan Fiumefreddo, of Manalapan, and Natalie Ballucci, of Bradley Beach, accompany Wingerter and Samson on their therapy visits.

Of those visits, Wingerter said, "People get really excited. They can hug and pet him, and Samson will give them kisses if they want him to."

At a recent visit to a medical center in Neptune, Samson rode on an elevator to visit patients. Some facilities do not allow the horse inside but will still permit residents to go out to see him. Sometimes he is also taken to the windows of those patients who may not be able to venture outdoors.

Wingerter and Samson have visited Monmouth Crossing, an assisted-living facility in Freehold, the Monroe Village Health Care Center in Monroe, and the Pinewood Assisted Living facility in Howell, among others.

In addition, Wingerter has two therapy dogs, Kiwi and Coal, who visit patients several times a week. Coal is a black Labrador retriever, while Kiwi - who is only slightly smaller than Samson - is a brindle-colored Great Dane.

The Furry Angels regularly takes animals to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune. Although Samson is not yet allowed inside, according to Wingerter, he has been allowed to visit with patients in the courtyard.

Wingerter said that Jersey Shore would like to have additional therapy dogs visit. People interested in doing therapy work with dogs or small equines need to attend a three-hour orientation class. They also must provide background information about themselves and have a form filled out by a doctor attesting to their own health, Wingerter said.

For more information on arranging therapy pony and dog visits, call (732) 446-2706.