Saturday, October 22, 2016 was a momentous day for Merciful Minis. We made our first visit to The Pointe at Kirkpatrick. Months and months of work, so many wonderful people helping to make this dream a reality and then the very first time the girls visited a residence. We can’t thank all the people who made this a reality enough. From encouraging words, training help, living space and all the great ideas…THANK YOU.
I don’t think anyone can be totally prepared for the first visit. Yes…we trained and prepared and practiced. We cleaned the girls until they (literally) shined…and then cleaned ourselves 🙂 That part we were ready for…it was the smiles and the feelings of happiness from those we were visiting that can really make you feel so blessed to be part of this. And…not just the residents…the staff were excited, the families that were there were happy (adult children and grandchildren…dogs too), but also the neighborhood residents who greeted us in the parking lot. One gentleman talked of his horses in Montana. Another asked the activity director how she was going to top this (Merciful Minis)?
We are on our way to share the magic that horses (no matter what the size) bring!

We have worked so hard since January to learn how to be a team with Molly and Mercy and to get the skills needed to be successful pet partners.  On Saturday, October 8th Patty and Laura tested with each of the girls (Molly and Mercy) and are now certified pet partner teams.  The minis were great….the humans were nervous wrecks.  Thanks to our testers Denise  and Jenna for your patience and genuine desire to not only assure the girls were ready but that they wanted us all to be successful.  We are ready to go forth into the therapy world.  We couldn’t have done this without the help of so many especially our dear friend Martha (and her dog Trudy)who shows the girls patience and love every day.  It took a village to get this far.  So many more have made this possible and your assistance is appreciated.