A miniature horse may not be the first thing one expects to see at a nursing home. But when MS News dropped by St Joseph’s Home in Jurong West on 27 Aug, the pint-sized equines trotting through its halls were clearly more than just unusual visitors.
For some seniors, they have become a way to reconnect with others, recall old memories and, sometimes, simply have something to look forward to.
The visit was part of an exclusive learning session hosted by the Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS), which offered a closer look at how different programmes are supporting seniors’ emotional and mental well-being.
Among them was EQUAL Singapore’s Horses by Your Side, an equine-assisted programme that brings horses directly to seniors, including those who are frail or bedbound.
Over the course of the event, we spoke to representatives from CFS, EQUAL, St Joseph’s Home and SUN-DAC about how programmes like these can help seniors stay connected, involved and supported as they age.
Horses by Your Side is built around a simple idea: bringing horses to seniors where they are, according to their needs and abilities.
The programme has two components. Horses by Your Bedside brings miniature therapy horses directly to frail and bedbound seniors, while Healing with Horses involves more mobile seniors in activities such as grooming and leading horses.
St Joseph’s Home began working with EQUAL early this year as part of Heartfelt Connections, its family and caregiver programme.
Since then, EQUAL’s horses have visited several times, with different residents given opportunities to interact with them.
For EQUAL, the goal isn’t simply to bring something unusual into a nursing home. It’s to use the horse-human interaction to help seniors connect, participate and stay engaged in ways that suit their mobility and needs.
St Joseph’s Home executive director Ivy Lim said the profile of nursing home residents has changed in recent years.
While physical and medical care remain essential, the home is also seeing a greater need to support residents’ emotional and social well-being.
For bedbound seniors in particular, Ms Lim described three common challenges as the “three plagues of ageing”: loneliness, boredom, and helplessness.
A miniature horse cannot make those problems disappear. But something as simple as brushing its coat or reaching out to pet it can give a resident a small sense of purpose and agency.
“You can see that the seniors feel, ‘I’m doing something for somebody. I’m not just lying helpless in bed,'” she said.
For Ms Lim, that sense of being able to do something, however small, is an important part of ageing with dignity.
She said dignity should not be defined only by a person’s physical condition. Even when someone is bedbound and can no longer do as much independently, their need to feel connected, useful and involved does not simply disappear.
We want to treat them as people who are still alive and able to contribute, not just a warm body in a bed.
That thinking shapes other programmes at St Joseph’s Home, too, including bedside music therapy, befriending, and accompaniment, alongside EQUAL’s horse programmes.
The idea is simple: even when residents’ physical abilities become limited, they should still be given opportunities to participate, connect with others and feel that they matter.
EQUAL CEO Elaine Chen added that horses offer a different kind of interaction from more conventional activities.
Because they are living, responsive animals, seniors naturally pay attention to how they move and react. Some may reach out to touch the horse, watch it closely, or start talking about what they see.
For seniors who may not readily join a group activity or conversation, that can offer another way in.
“It gives us another way to engage someone, and sometimes that opens up connections with the people around them, too,” Ms Chen said.
For those who are bedbound or less mobile, even small responses can be meaningful. Ms Chen said EQUAL has seen seniors become more alert, reach out to touch the horses, smile or begin interacting with the people around them.
That’s one reason the programme brings the experience directly to seniors who may never be able to visit EQUAL themselves.
St Joseph’s Home partnerships and communications lead Janet Tan has noticed a similar effect, with residents often becoming more talkative when the horses come by.
Some begin recalling past experiences, such as visiting horse farms or seeing horses at the zoo.
Ms Tan told MS News about one resident who used to ride horses but could no longer do so because of his condition.
When the horses were brought to the home, she said his face “lit up”.
Even residents with no previous experience with the animals often become curious, asking questions such as: How old are they? Where did they come from? Are they difficult to look after?
And those simple questions can be enough to get a conversation going.
One moment that has stayed with Ms Chen involved a senior whom EQUAL was told had not spoken for years.
When a programme specialist introduced a miniature horse named after a certain popular local beverage, the senior softly repeated its name: “Milo.”
His caregiver was so surprised and moved that she was brought to tears. While it was “just one word”, for those who knew and cared for the senior, it meant a great deal.
Moments like these are also why Ms Chen is careful not to reduce equine-assisted programmes to simply “bringing in a horse and making someone happy”.
Activities are planned, the horses are selected and prepared for the environment, and facilitators consider each senior’s individual needs and how best to engage them.
The programme is also meant to complement conventional healthcare and therapy, rather than replace them.
And because not every senior will respond in the same way, EQUAL continues to learn from these interactions and build evidence around where its programmes can make the greatest difference.
As Singapore’s population ages, the need to support seniors beyond their physical and medical needs is becoming increasingly important.
CFS director of Applied Philanthropy and Impact Timothy Low pointed to a local Duke-NUS Medical School study which found that about two in five people aged 62 and above reported feeling lonely.
Beyond healthcare, he said seniors also need opportunities to stay connected, maintain a sense of purpose and continue participating in their communities. That is why CFS looks at programmes through three areas: care, connectedness and contribution.
Horses by Your Side stood out because it can reach bedbound and less mobile seniors who may otherwise have fewer opportunities for social interaction and engagement.
Still, novelty alone is not enough. Once it wears off, CFS asks the same questions it would of any programme: are seniors more engaged? More connected? Happier or more confident?
“Horses might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about supporting seniors,” Mr Low said. “The idea can be unconventional; the difference it makes should be real.”
The need for meaningful engagement can be especially important for seniors with disabilities, for whom signs of ageing may appear earlier than expected.
SUN-DAC executive director Sugumaran S. said some of its clients can begin showing signs of ageing from around the age of 40.
Those changes aren’t always easy to spot as functional decline can sometimes be mistaken for a lack of interest or a bad day.
For instance, someone may stop taking part in a favourite activity not because they no longer enjoy it, but because they are experiencing pain they are unable to communicate.
At SUN-DAC, meaningful participation is therefore key. Simply being present at an activity is not necessarily enough. Programmes should give participants the chance to enjoy themselves, build confidence and have someone notice and celebrate their progress.
Beyond the horses themselves, St Joseph’s Home also hopes programmes like these can change how residents and families think about life in a nursing home.
Ms Tan said nursing homes are sometimes seen as simply a “place for your last ride”.
St Joseph’s Home wants to challenge that perception and instead create a space that feels more like a second home, with programmes that bring a different “flair” to residents’ later years.
For Ms Tan, that means giving residents experiences to enjoy, people to connect with and, where possible, something new to look forward to.
The horses may be the special part. But the bigger goal is deeply human: to help seniors remain connected, involved and valued as they grow older.
And sometimes, that can start with something as simple as a tiny horse trotting through the halls.
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Featured image by MS News. Photography by Prudence Lim.