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Teri Edeal of Cozad puts shoes on Jet, her miniature horse. His four Build-a-Bear sneakers help him walk safely on tile and hardwood floors.
Jet drew a variety of reactions during his May 17 visit to Little Disciples Preschool at Cozad’s United Methodist Church.
Ken and Ruth Hendricks, residents of the Avamere assisted and independent living home in Lexington, have enjoyed visits by Teri Edeal and Jet ever since Jet first became a therapy horse.
Jet’s four Build-a-Bear sneakers help him walk safely on tile and hardwood floors.
Teri Edeal of Cozad puts shoes on Jet, her miniature horse. His four Build-a-Bear sneakers help him walk safely on tile and hardwood floors.
Jet drew a variety of reactions during his May 17 visit to Little Disciples Preschool at Cozad’s United Methodist Church.
Ken and Ruth Hendricks, residents of the Avamere assisted and independent living home in Lexington, have enjoyed visits by Teri Edeal and Jet ever since Jet first became a therapy horse.
Jet’s four Build-a-Bear sneakers help him walk safely on tile and hardwood floors.
DAWSON COUNTY — The heartthrob has skinny legs, wild hair and a laid-back personality that captivates everyone he meets, from preschoolers who want to touch his head to great-grandmothers who ask him for a kiss.
They may be drawn to his brown, soulful eyes or the bangs that hang over his broad forehead. Or maybe it’s his stylish accessories: A cowboy-style red bandana reflecting his rural roots or the reindeer antlers and flashing red nose he wears at Christmas.
This much is certain: He makes an impression whenever he walks into a room in his snazzy black-and-white sneakers.
Carson Lamphear noticed on a mid-May morning when he was the first member of his Little Disciples Preschool class at Cozad’s United Methodist Church to exit the building, turn the corner and spot Jet in a patio next to the playground.
“Why is that horse wearing shoes?” Carson shouted as his preschool classmates and teachers followed close behind.
That salutation made it easy for Teri Edeal to begin telling the children about Jet, her chocolate brown miniature therapy horse.
His stylish sneakers ordered from Build-a-Bear are mostly worn for safety. Without them, walking on hard floor surfaces would be like walking on ice for Jet. Edeal added foam inserts to help keep his hooves from cutting through the shoes.
Jet is trained to lift each foot, one at a time, so Edeal can tie a shoe around each tiny hoof after they arrive at schools, assisted living homes and workshops for people with disabilities. Even with his cooperation, it’s a “horeshoeing” challenge.
“People know he has these shoes, so even if we’re on carpet, they want to have me put his shoes on,” Edeal said, laughing.
Five-year-old Jet then demonstrated his talents to the Cozad-area preschoolers. He shook their hands. He played a toy keyboard with his nose. Then most children took turns brushing and combing his hair. Carson was most interested in brushing Jet’s teeth, as earlier demonstrated by Edeal.
When he’s away from his adoring fans, and at home in his barn on a pasture hill north of Overton, Jet is happy to just be a regular old horse, albeit a very tiny one.
Jet’s best buddy in the barn is a cinnamon brown miniature horse named Bear, who has been a pet for more than 20 years. “He’s not a therapy animal, but he’s loved by my 12 grandkids. And he’s a great companion to Jet,” Edeal said.
The other four-legged family members are a year-old Sheltie named Rocky, two cats and three full-size horses used for pasture rides and trail riding events.
The big horses tower over Jet, who is 5 years old, fully grown and 30 inches tall.
Miniature horses like Jet are a breed who must be 38 inches or shorter.
Teri Edeal and her husband, Brian Edeal, a retired farmer, recently moved to this place that Jet calls home. The house, an indoor riding arena and barn are all connected, and surrounded by 800 acres of Edeal family pasture.
After she retired as a federal resource conservationist, Teri Edeal’s retirement goal was to share her love of horses with others. Her husband suggested she get a therapy horse.
She ended up getting Jet from a farm at Dannebrog.
Then the work to get Jet registered as a therapy animal through the Pet Partners Therapy Animal program began. It wasn’t easy. He was calm but only “kinda” halter broke when she got him, Edeal said.
She took an unusual training route with Jet, enrolling him in a dog obedience class in Kearney. He graduated in June 2018 after demonstrating his ability to pay attention and follow her, while paying no mind to all the puppy chaos during class.
More specific therapy horse behaviors were taught at home. Potty training was the biggest challenge, in part because there’s not a lot of information out there on how to properly potty train a horse.
Edeal’s training tools were treats, a clicker and puppy potty training mats. It took six to seven months before she took Jet places without worrying much about accidents. She still brings a bucket filled with cleaning supplies along on every therapy visit.
Now, Jet holds it until they get to an appropriate outdoor place and Edeal uses her clicker. Or he relieves himself on a rubber mat that lines the back seat of her pickup, where he rides when they travel.
That’s right: Jet rides in the back seat. He jumps into the back seat when entering, but uses a wheelchair ramp as a safer way to exit.
Before an event, he gets a bath, has his whiskers and bottom of his ears shaved, leg hair clipped and feet cleaned. He gets a thorough brushing and a spray-on hair treatment used on livestock show animals.
Fresh breath is a must for a horse who gives kisses. Edeal uses a normal toothbrush and homemade toothpaste that’s a mix of artificial sweetener, peppermint extract or leaves and water.
The pair traveled about 7,000 miles and visited 120 different places from North Platte to Crete – some more than once — in their first year as a therapy team.
“He likes affection. Wheelchairs don’t bother him. Walkers don’t bother him. He doesn’t mind being petted by people who can’t always control their hands and doesn’t react when people yell. Kids can mob him,” she said
Some of his most important visits have been to people in hospice care. “He just knows to be quieter and to come up close. He’s so gentle with them,” Edeal said.
One woman’s family invited Jet to attend her funeral.
After a two-year break for COVID-19, Edeal and Jet resumed visits this year, including their monthly visit to Avamere at Lexington, an independent and assisted living home.
Edeal and Laurie Zarate, Avamere’s activities director, enjoy watching residents react to Jet. Some tell stories about growing up on farms and caring for animals. Others grow very attached: Edeal remembers the time they approached the room of a woman who always loves Jet and overheard her tell someone on the phone, “Oh, I’m sorry I have to go. My horse is here.”
When Jet stopped by Bertha “Bert” Pedersen’s Avamere room on May 17, she petted him and said, “He’s very nice, isn’t he? We lived in the country and rode horses to school. We’d be two on a horse. My brother would get on and I’d get behind him.”
Down the hall, Ken Hendricks, 98, and his wife of 78 years, Ruth, 96, said they’ve known Jet for years. “We love him,” Ken said.
As Ruth pulled Jet’s face up toward her’s, she confirmed that Jet can make her swoon. “He’s a charmer, that guy,” Ken added.
Edeal said she felt depressed during the months when COVID kept her and Jet from visiting people. Getting back on the road has lifted her blues.
“If you can bring a little joy to someone, golly, it’s well worth it,” she said.
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
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