Horse escapes to visit his friends at the dementia unit who gave him carrots
Panda, a palomino paint horse, likes to live on his own terms. So, when he feels like visiting his friends at the dementia unit, he just goes.
And it’s much to the annoyance of his owner Maija Vance.
She recently took videos of Panda escaping and having to go after him.
View this post on Instagram
She posted them on TikTok where they went viral.
“How many times has my horse got loose and run into the dementia unit in town and I had to ride him home…” Panda’s owner Maija Vance asks in a TikTok video.
Panda has twice gotten loose and run off to see his friends at the local dementia unit.
He first met them when his mom took him there as a therapy horse.
They gave him lots of carrots and that’s something that Panda has apparently never forgotten.
View this post on Instagram
The video shows Vance running after Panda and apologizing to everyone around her for the rouge horse.
“I’m so sorry this has happened again,” she says.
Still, Vance can’t be all that mad at Panda. He just wanted to get to see his friends. And, of course, eat carrots.
“This is 100% my fault. I took him to the dementia unit to visit the patients. They loved him and gave him carrots. Now he tries to find ways to get loose and run into town and ends up back there,” she explained.
And Panda didn’t exactly come back completely willingly.
View this post on Instagram
It took a little convincing. Vance had to coax him into coming back.
Some said that Panda was intent on helping others rather than being a riding horse.
“He really wants to be a therapy pony…let him follow his dreams!” said one commenter.
“As someone who works in a nursing home I can guarantee you the residents love it whenever they catch a glimpse and he is the talk of the town,” another said.
Apparently, like elephants, horses also don’t forget easily.
View this post on Instagram
They tend to remember humans, especially those that have treated them well.
And since those seniors gave Panda carrots, I’d consider that treating him well.
Horses are reported to have “excellent memories” and can even remember human friends after being separated for long periods of time.
Horses also possess incredible problem-solving abilities. So, after remembering his friends who gave him carrots, all Panda had to do was solve the problem of how to get back to them.
For more affection, and obviously carrots.
Vance has an awfully smart horse on her hands, which doesn’t always work out well for her. Maybe she’ll consider retiring Panda so that he can pursue his true passion of being a therapy horse.
Watch Vance go after Panda in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
@maija.vanceReplying to @mercury.n.the.snail #therapyhorse #horses #palominopaint♬ original sound – MAIJA
Source: maija.vance, My Modern Met, Upworthy