April 13, 2022
New Paltz Center gets a cute visit from a pony
Even in the rain, a pony visit for the residents at New Paltz Center on April 12, 2022 is just what the doctor ordered. Linda Cole of Kasey’s Cast-a-Ways, an animal in Port Jervis, New York, came with Frost, a beautiful nine-year old Shetland pony dressed as the Easter Bunny Pony, came to the windows at the 77-bed skilled nursing facility on Jansen Road in New Paltz, to bring love, smiles and laughter to the residents. Linda’s visits to Centers Health Care facilities throughout the northeast go back more than five years and although COVID-19 halted the traditional program where Cole would normally bring the ponies and other farm animals into the facilities, window visits like this one in New Paltz continued and are still the norm for the meantime, according to the New York State Department of Health guidelines. “These visits are all about the residents and their happiness,” said Cole. “I do this because there’s nothing like when you see a resident get so happy and emotional to see the ponies and the animals, even if there’s glass between us. The indoor visits, I’m confident, will happen again and then the residents can really be together with the animals, but for now, the program fully works and the resident’s smiles are still priceless.” In this photo, among the other residents are Ruth and Alvin Burrows, who are reaching out to Frost through the window and Horse Handler Linda Cole with Frost.
As seen in Poughkeepsie Journal
