As the people of Newtown, Conn., attempt to move forward following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, three special guests from High Springs traveled more than 1,000 miles to comfort the saddened souls.
Magic, Wakanda and Aladdin — three blue-eyed, miniature horses from Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses — traveled with organization founders and volunteers to help comfort Newtown residents.
Debbie Garcia-Bengochea, co-founder of Gentle Carousel, said she received phone calls from victims’ families asking the organization to bring its miniature horses to the town.
Garcia-Bengochea said the organization decided to make the trip north after a parent told them, “We want our children to dream of minis, not monsters.”
For the past week, the 2-foot-tall horses have had private meetings with school survivors, families, first responders and community members.
Garcia-Bengochea said the Dec.14 school shooting, which left 20 students and six adults dead, has affected everyone in the town.
“It is a very intense situation to be here and be part of this,” she said. “Everyone handles things differently, but it’s a very sad time.”
Garcia-Bengochea said the town specifically requested Magic, a jet-black horse with a white face.
She described the reaction of the Newtown children, saying they wanted to be sprinkled with Magic’s “fairy dust” after they saw the sparkles shining from the horse’s hair.
On Saturday, more than 600 people gathered at the town’s library to meet the three mini horses, Garcia-Bengochea said.
“The outpouring of people that want to be with the horses was amazing,” she said.
After requests from residents to extend their visit, Gentle Carousel plans to stay an extra week in town.
Although the trip has been a financial challenge, Garcia-Bengochea said donations from around the world helped make the trip possible for the horses.
She said a medical volunteer from Maryland brought a heated horse ambulance to Newtown so the horses could stay warm at night. A horse training facility near the town also offered an indoor arena for the trio to relax in, as well as pastures for them to run around in after work.
Today, Garcia-Bengochea and the horses will go to other schools in the Newtown area in hopes of comforting children and school staff.
Garcia-Bengochea said the organization will name its newest therapy horse after one of the Sandy Hook Elementary students who passed away during the shooting. The child’s family will follow the horse’s two-year training process.
Garcia-Bengochea said she hopes Gentle Carousel can return to Newtown this summer.
“When you see the things we’ve seen, we absolutely feel like we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she said.
Magic, a Gentle Carousel mini horse of High Springs, comforts a Newtown, Conn., girl at a memorial site in the town. Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses is visiting the Newtown community to aid in the healing process.
