Horse greets residents at NC nursing home, videos show. ‘The place was abuzz all day’
Bailey the horse walked through the halls of a North Carolina nursing home, adding to the list of animals that have visited the facility.
The horse on Thursday stopped by Trinity Grove in Wilmington, giving residents a chance to pet a hoofed animal without having to leave the nursing home, according to video on the facility’s Facebook page.
“The horse was in the building for maybe an hour yesterday, but the place was abuzz all day,” administrator Bonnie Skobel said Friday in a phone interview with McClatchy. “The residents got excited.”
Donna McBride-Henderson, Bailey’s owner and a nurse at the facility, guided the animal. They stopped to greet Ruth McSwain, a resident who expressed her desire to ride Bailey, according to another video.
“Just beautiful,” McSwain said as she pet the horse.
Bailey even visited resident Delores Merlack while she was lying in bed, a photo posted on Facebook shows.
It wasn’t the first time animals were in the nursing home facility, according to Skobel. Cats and birds live on the property, which has welcomed a donkey inside, she said. Videos featuring snakes and other critters are on the home’s Facebook page.
The nursing home follows The Eden Alternative, which “emphasizes resident quality of life and resident choice,” according to its website. Bailey visited with help from the facility’s Life Enrichment Department, Skobel said.
This story was originally published May 17, 2019 at 3:07 PM.
