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Horse in the house, and lots of other critters too

July 25th, 2017

The Resident Council at Points West Living Heritage House decided to celebrate the annual Vegreville Pysanka Festival by bringing in a few friendly animals for residents to enjoy. It was easy enough to get the bunnies, chickens and guinea pigs into the closed courtyard, but a horse? Well, that took a bit of doing. 

Dunnie walks the carpet

It was General Manager Alexis Bauer’s idea to bring in a horse along with the petting zoo critters. “I asked my friend Daryl Cole of Coles Western Wear in Vegreville if he could bring a horse to the event,” Alexis explains. “He showed up at Heritage House with Beth Smolyk and her horse Dunnie. Dunnie was wearing her horseshoes which would wreck the hardwood at the front door, and perhaps cause her to slip. So we decided to bring her in through the side door, and let her walk on the carpet all the way to the courtyard.” There were plenty of surprised and delighted reactions at seeing a horse in the house.

Residents loved petting her

“The residents were all in the courtyard with the bunnies, chickens and guinea pigs,” Alexis says, “when low and behold we came through the doors with Dunnie! I think they were surprised that she came to the courtyard through Heritage House! They just loved petting her and getting their picture taken with her.”

Photo: Resident Lillian Hohn strokes Dunnie as the horse’s owner Beth Smolyk looks on at the PWL Heritage House.

More photos at Flickr: Horse in the house, and lots of other critters too

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