Tiny horses, huge hearts: Bay Area teens find comfort in unlikely friends

Getting teenagers to talk about their feelings can be a tall order. But at one ranch in Walnut Creek, a little horse can go a long way. At Angels for Minis , a rescue for miniature horses and donkeys, the animals may be small in stature, but their impact is anything but. For 17-year-old Ellie Ghorban, the connection begins with something surprisingly simple: seeing eye to eye. "I think it's just being at the same level as them," she said. Ghorban first arrived at the ranch when she was eight years old, painfully shy and barely speaking a word. That's when she met Owen, a rescued miniature horse who was every bit as timid as she was.Over time, the two found comfort in each other's company. As Owen learned to trust her, Ellie discovered something about herself. "The more time I spent with him, the more relaxed and calm I was," she said. Sandra Mangrum, a volunteer at Angels for Minis, believes the animals' size is part of their appeal. While a full-sized horse can be intimidating, these pint-sized companions make it easier for newcomers to approach, connect and build trust. "Both small and large horses have the same capacity, but I think these guys are less intimidating," she said. And now, science is lending some horsepower to what volunteers and visitors have experienced firsthand. A new UC Davis study found that after spending just three minutes with a miniature horse or donkey, teenagers reported feeling happier, calmer and less lonely. "That's a remarkably short amount of time," said Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez, the study's co-author. "It suggests that meaningful connections don't always require a lot of time. Sometimes it just requires our attention. The speed of that emotional lift wasn't the only surprise. Calisi Rodríguez also discovered that the way teenagers interacted with the animals made a difference and that the benefits were even greater when the interaction was enjoyable for the animals, too. "The teens that were told to scratch the animal the way that the animal loved the most, showed even greater improvement," she said. The findings, she says, suggest that these relationships aren't simply about what animals can do for people. Paying attention to what makes the animals comfortable may make the experience more rewarding for everyone. For Ellie, the magic of these little animals isn't complicated. It's the comfort of having someone who listens, without expecting her to say the right thing. "You can talk to horses about anything and they won't judge you," she said. In: Contra Costa County Walnut Creek Featured Local Savings