Therapy Page Posts A Pic Of A Black Girl With A Horse, Receives Racist Comments, Shuts Them Down
Interview
When the Gentle Carousel miniature horse therapy charity posted a photo of a child with a horse named Sparkle, probably the last thing they expected was that the following day they would have to do a post about how it’s not okay to verbally attack kids for the color of their skin. While most people responded to the adorable photo of the kid and therapy horse with support and love, there were some social media users who spewed hatred at the child. So much so that the Gentle Carousel team had to delete their comments and ban them.
“When our horses make a hospital visit they do not care about a patient’s race, politics, finances, or religion. They love unconditionally. Some humans could learn a lot from little horses,” the Gentle Carousel team wrote, suggesting that all of us could stand to be a bit more equine.
Gentle Carousel’s Education Director Debbie Garcia-Bengochea told Bored Panda that the charity has never had to deal with comments like this before. “The therapy horses are loved by children and adults, and our social media has always been a positive and safe place for people of all ages.” Scroll down for the rest of the interview and to learn more about the therapy horses, including Sparkle.
More info: Facebook | Instagram | GentleCarouselTherapyHorses.com
The Gentle Carousel charity posted this photo on June 9
Image credits: Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses
A lot of people thought that the photo was beautiful. However, there were some haters out there. The charity addressed this issue in their next post
Garcia-Bengochea told us that Sparkle is 14 years old and started training with the charity as a foal. “He works with Gentle Carousel’s literacy program inside schools, libraries, with mentoring programs, at literacy events and at education resource centers in high crime neighborhoods. The program has a special focus on at-risk readers. Sparkle also works inside hospitals, hospice programs, and assisted living programs.”
She continued: “The therapy horses work no more than two days a week and live with a lifelong herd where they can run and play over many acres. They live a very natural life. Sparkle has a best friend named Circus that he has lived with since they were both foals. They do many reading programs for children together.”
The charity’s Education Director confirmed to Bored Panda that they currently have 21 therapy horses in the US. “Working indoors would be a challenge for any horse but Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses make it look easy, even in high rise hospital buildings, schools, and convention centers. The therapy horses walk up and down steps, ride in elevators, walk on unusual floor surfaces, carefully move around hospital and television studio equipment, work in small patient rooms and stay calm around unexpected sounds like ambulances, alarms, and hospital helicopters… and yes they are house trained,” she went into detail.
“The therapy horses go through a two-year basic in-hospital training program but are always learning new skills. The horses work with medical professionals in oncology units, the ICU, and with occupational, speech and physical therapists as part of the treatment for patients who have suffered strokes, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations, and burns.”
This is Sparkle, one of the 21 miniature therapy horses
Image credits: Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses
The miniature horse therapy page also deleted anyone who commented that the child’s face mask should be removed. They also pointed out that wearing a face mask isn’t a political statement but one of compassion.
Miniature horses live between 25 to 35 years old, like usual horses and ponies. Diet is very important for miniature horses, so Gentle Carousel gives them plenty of pasture time. That’s easy to do considering that the charity is based in Florida where the weather is great.
Gentle Carousel is one of the biggest equine therapy programs on Earth. Each year, teeny teams of tiny horses visit more than 25k children and adults in hospitals and hospice programs. The tiny horses also visit veterans and first responders who have been traumatized in their line of duty.
The charity also runs a literacy program—Reading Is Magic. Mentors work with young readers alongside horses to help raise the literacy rate in high crime neighborhoods.
One of the best-known horses is Magic who has helped families and first responders who were affected by events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, as well as by what happened at the Pulse nightclub. Magic is a real hero-horse.
Gentle Carousel does everything for free, doesn’t receive any funding, and relies solely on donations.
Here’s how people reacted when they heard about the haters
Even more people came out in support of the charity
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I don't understand how you can look at this picture and see anything but an adorable little girl standing with an adorable little horse. People are filled with so much hate and resentment that they don't know how to feel anything else.
It is oppressing, i'm feeling overwhelmed by cuteness, such pictures should be forbidden. There is a high melting risk.
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Seriously? All I see is a lovely little girl with a lovely little horse. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Cheering up a sick little girl with a visit from Sparkles.
Me too. It's a beautiful, lovely photo full of compassion and hope
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Guess I'm two-faced. One face feels a swelling in my heart at the child and miniature horse. The other face wants to physically beat the c**p out of the trolls.
I don't know, I think that is the appropriate response.
Load More Replies... There is so much hate in some people...in way too many people. Indeed, they could learn from those horses. Or from pets. Or children. Or from anyone who strives for joy instead of anger.
Only the true losers in our midst react with such vileness, and spew that kind of filth. They’re people who burn to be superior, yet have nothing besides the racist social construct of skin color as “proof” of it—-without understanding how utterly wrong and outdated that construct is. Their concept of the “good old days” were only good for a tiny minority of the population, and that backwards is never the way to go. It truly saddens me that their brand of filth spewing has become so common now that I don’t even need to see the actual comments to know what they said, practically word for word.
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Does Sparkle make house calls? And does being sick of people's b******t count as being sick?
The fact that anyone could see this cutie pie beauty with her butterfly top and bow in her hair and think such ugly thoughts is truely revolting. Meeting a tiny horse was probably such a thrill for her. I hope she never learns how awful people can be. Wearing masks for protection is science. Nothing else.
It's an animal and a little child. The combination of the most adorable being in the world! How can someone hates them or force politic on them.
The most surprising - some see a mask as a political statement. Sadly, this is not the worst of it....... Humans suck.
This drives me insane, even more so than the people who wear masks on their chins, at least they kind of tried. I am young, healthy, and lean conservative, yet I wear a mask anytime I am in public, and at all times while working at my job. The virus doesn't care about who you vote for, please don't be an inconsiderate a*****e, and just wear a mask. They aren't comfortable, they are annoying, they look stupid, but wear them anyway. There, I'm done, rant over.
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You are the lowest of the very low, the scum of the earth, not even comparable to dog c**p if you make fun of someone let alone a sweet and innocent child for the colour of their skin. The sickos who are foaming at the mouths about a sweet photograph of a little girl and a tiny horse spreading joy to ill children are probably the same racists "protesting for their rights" to get a haircut. Humans can stand to learn so very much from animals who show unconditional kindness, love, and empathy to everyone despite race, sexual orientation, gender, age, politics, religion, etc.
Thank you! This photo is beautiful and amazing, Never let the haters go through!
I don't see y people would say that if they don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything, social media can be a very cruel place, hopefully people in the word can change to respect people's race and religion in the future.
Unfortunately, those loathsome, truly evil people who directed their hate toward this child cannot learn from horses, or anyone else. They are irredeemable. Until such people are made to understand that they are outcasts from civilized society, nothing will change. We must not engage with them. They are beneath contempt.
I see nothing but an adorable toddler and her sweet pony. Got anything wrong with that?
I can't imagine how miserable of a life one must have to constantly hate of people because of color or believe everything is a conspiracy. How can a sick child with a therapy horse not induce compassion in one's heart? How does asking a sick child to take off a mask come from an logical train of thought? Did medical physicians and other medical personnel not go through years of training to understand the spread of viruses, diseases, and the effects they have on regular people, the elderly and immunosuppressed? Why don't non medical individuals, those with FB degrees, and conspiracy theorists really think about the garbage they spew before they make others sick by peddling false info.
This makes my blood boil!! Despite the fresh opportunity to make real, positive change, I see s**t like this and my cynicism kicks in - which is not hard to do with so many idiots out there. These hateful, useless a******s are going to ensure that kindness and goodness never make any substantial progress. Which is probably their goal, so they have something to do in their pathetic little lives. Grrrrrrrrr!!!!
Unrelated to this post, but speaking of hateful idiots, I was looking at the Giphy app in the iOS App Store today to read the comments (I recently deleted it because Facebook just bought it and I detest FB). People were also deleting the app because of the BLM banner in the app, saying things like "I don't want to hear about BLM... until they learn that all lives matter I won't use this app." No,... but,... you're not.... That's. Literally. The. Point!! SMH! Talk about not getting the message. Whoosh!!
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Wow, I see nothing but a cute little girl and a beautiful horse...
This is such a sad example of the lack of love and compassion in the world. We can learn a lot from animals. Most seem to have more "humanity" than humans. Keep up your wonderful and healing worj.
When are people going to understand that the mask isn't about "you"!? Nobody gives a c**p if "you" get sick, they care that "you" wear the mask to protect other people from you. It's a selfless thing to do. But most of the complainers have probably never done a selfless thing in their entire lives.
Our children and animals are our best teachers on showing love and how not to hate. They both love so unconditionally even when we may not deserve it. We could learn much from them. Just look at the ways children and pets look at you and one another. It is heavenly.
The bigots are running scared. They know their time in the sun, the past three years, is coming to an end. They have to squeeze every bit of venom out of their systems before they go back into hiding. The US is having a huge resurgence of Covid 19 because of idiots who won't wear masks.
The only thing in the picture is an adorable child with an adorable horse.. don't know how anyone can look at that and see something political. The picture is just heartwarming.
These kids are SO BRAVE, and getting a little cheer and support from a superb little friend should never be denied! It goes back to the silliness of Dr Seuss's "stars upon thars", no difference should be seen!
Very sweet photo, but can't help wonder why it's been photoshopped? Pic of girl and horse is legit but it's been photoshopped onto the background. Second photo of the horse in the pasture appears to have been photoshopped as well.
I don't think the second one is photoshopped. The first one does look a little dodgy, but the almost Photoshop-like effect is from the camera flash. Cameras do that when you have flash on, and if you look closely you can tell. I'm not sure if the first one is the same case, but I think it might be.
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I honestly just saw a picture of the cutest little toddler girl, love her bow, and a cute miniature horse. That's it. This picture is about as innocent as it gets.
This is a sweet image. I love the idea of therapy pony's. It's just a little bit odd that the pony's feet don't have a shadow. It looks photoshopped and there's some blurring too. It doesn't matter to the beauty of the idea but the image looks off to me.
Not to get way off topic here but, didn't Malcolm's brother, Francis, have a friend named 'Circus'? I'm just saying, it's a good name.
I see nothing save an adorable little girl with an adorable little horse. I honestly want to use those haters as a punching bag and give them a little hint about what I think of them. Scum. Every single one of them. F*****g scum.
Dude what kind of degenerate lack of human beings can see a child and spew hate speech?! Who are these people?! I thought they were super cute photos! Even if she was an adult, why? Why do some people look at others and treat them like c**p because the color of their skin? Why does skin color even matter?!
How does one make a racist comment off a picture like this? Where does the inspiration come from? Its a kid with a pony.
OMG - what is WRONG with people???? I looked at the picture of the adorable little girl AND the adorable little horse and just smiled. We're all a shade of brown people...some of us are just lightly tan and others are semi-sweet. And don't be hating on little girls that did nothing to deserve it.
Why?!?!?! That is a sweet and innocent child. I hope that she feels better soon. And that the jerks get a life tbh.
What is wrong with people? How could anyone not love the picture of a pretty little girl with gorgeous little horse? So glad I did not have to read that cr*p!
The people who send hate comments about anything are very damaged people and should be pittied. They should also be blocked and reported.
I absolutely hate people sometimes! This is a great picture keep up the good work!
What kind of insecure, Un-"Christian", unkind person would look at that sweet picture and immediately come up with a racist, insane rant? That's like picking on Sparkle for the color of her fur! Unfortunately, the next 5 months are going to be awful, and the best we can do is to call these people out on their behavior. Silence on these matters isn't going to calm it down, it only emboldens the trash that believes this cr*p
OMG.... racism everywhere!!!!!!!!!! Is me wearing my black shoes racist too? How about me, a white person with black hair, does it bothers you because i'm not blond??? Get over it people, racism won't end anytime soon. America hates Mexicans as much as blacks loathes white people's power. And let's no bring how the U.S. have the Native Americans secluded in some hole. Why can't you seclude black people too?
I hope anyone who posted actual racist comments (child is xyz because she is black, or profane slurs, not just uncomplementary comments people decided to call racist because the child is black) gets only African American doctors when they come to that hospital for their own medical problem. Let’s see how racist you are when there’s a bone sticking out of your leg and the guy holding your morphine shot is black....
I’d be interested to know what the racist posts said. These days, anything that isn’t viewed as complimentary is deemed racist just because of the color of the person’s skin they refer to, which is usually a more racist sentiment than the initial comments. But yes, anyone actually saying child is xyz because she is black, or using slurs, absolutely banned for life. And when those people have a life threatening I’ll see themselves and come to that hospital for help, I hope they get only African American doctors seeing them. Let’s see how racist you are when you have a bone sticking out of your leg and the guy holding your morphine shot is black....
Maybe some of the Facebook comments about masks were just people sad about the new normal. It breaks my heart that it's come to this for every child, but that's not the same as it being unnecessary. I'm aware I'm being generous to what may have been trolls. Can't be as generous to those who picked on her skin color. That's just terrible.
Some people are just plain mean and ugly a picture is worth a thousand words this picture brings many mind beautiful touching I can only imagine today the traumatic events in this childs life so much sickness and violence in the world hell I'm almost 70 and what's going on in the world is traumatic to me how does this baby feel those who bad mouthed her SHAME ON YOU ALL
Let me quote @LieselSkywalker: "Politicizing the wearing of masks during a pandemic. Wow, which idiot came up with this? (Rhetorical question.)"
The hateful comments that now appear in every post and every topic are fueled by a response. When ignorance no longer draws the attention and response it desires it goes away.
And why would they spread and promote that hate by giving examples? We don't need examples; there are already far, far too many of them. Ever hear Trump speak, for "example"?
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It has the upside of bringing them publicity - very tough for charities right now so hopefully it help to bring in some additional funding.
Load More Replies... I don't understand how you can look at this picture and see anything but an adorable little girl standing with an adorable little horse. People are filled with so much hate and resentment that they don't know how to feel anything else.
It is oppressing, i'm feeling overwhelmed by cuteness, such pictures should be forbidden. There is a high melting risk.
Load More Replies... Seriously? All I see is a lovely little girl with a lovely little horse. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Cheering up a sick little girl with a visit from Sparkles.
Me too. It's a beautiful, lovely photo full of compassion and hope
Load More Replies... Guess I'm two-faced. One face feels a swelling in my heart at the child and miniature horse. The other face wants to physically beat the c**p out of the trolls.
I don't know, I think that is the appropriate response.
Load More Replies... There is so much hate in some people...in way too many people. Indeed, they could learn from those horses. Or from pets. Or children. Or from anyone who strives for joy instead of anger.
Only the true losers in our midst react with such vileness, and spew that kind of filth. They’re people who burn to be superior, yet have nothing besides the racist social construct of skin color as “proof” of it—-without understanding how utterly wrong and outdated that construct is. Their concept of the “good old days” were only good for a tiny minority of the population, and that backwards is never the way to go. It truly saddens me that their brand of filth spewing has become so common now that I don’t even need to see the actual comments to know what they said, practically word for word.
Load More Replies... Does Sparkle make house calls? And does being sick of people's b******t count as being sick?
The fact that anyone could see this cutie pie beauty with her butterfly top and bow in her hair and think such ugly thoughts is truely revolting. Meeting a tiny horse was probably such a thrill for her. I hope she never learns how awful people can be. Wearing masks for protection is science. Nothing else.
It's an animal and a little child. The combination of the most adorable being in the world! How can someone hates them or force politic on them.
The most surprising - some see a mask as a political statement. Sadly, this is not the worst of it....... Humans suck.
This drives me insane, even more so than the people who wear masks on their chins, at least they kind of tried. I am young, healthy, and lean conservative, yet I wear a mask anytime I am in public, and at all times while working at my job. The virus doesn't care about who you vote for, please don't be an inconsiderate a*****e, and just wear a mask. They aren't comfortable, they are annoying, they look stupid, but wear them anyway. There, I'm done, rant over.
Load More Replies... You are the lowest of the very low, the scum of the earth, not even comparable to dog c**p if you make fun of someone let alone a sweet and innocent child for the colour of their skin. The sickos who are foaming at the mouths about a sweet photograph of a little girl and a tiny horse spreading joy to ill children are probably the same racists "protesting for their rights" to get a haircut. Humans can stand to learn so very much from animals who show unconditional kindness, love, and empathy to everyone despite race, sexual orientation, gender, age, politics, religion, etc.
Thank you! This photo is beautiful and amazing, Never let the haters go through!
I don't see y people would say that if they don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything, social media can be a very cruel place, hopefully people in the word can change to respect people's race and religion in the future.
Unfortunately, those loathsome, truly evil people who directed their hate toward this child cannot learn from horses, or anyone else. They are irredeemable. Until such people are made to understand that they are outcasts from civilized society, nothing will change. We must not engage with them. They are beneath contempt.
I see nothing but an adorable toddler and her sweet pony. Got anything wrong with that?
I can't imagine how miserable of a life one must have to constantly hate of people because of color or believe everything is a conspiracy. How can a sick child with a therapy horse not induce compassion in one's heart? How does asking a sick child to take off a mask come from an logical train of thought? Did medical physicians and other medical personnel not go through years of training to understand the spread of viruses, diseases, and the effects they have on regular people, the elderly and immunosuppressed? Why don't non medical individuals, those with FB degrees, and conspiracy theorists really think about the garbage they spew before they make others sick by peddling false info.
This makes my blood boil!! Despite the fresh opportunity to make real, positive change, I see s**t like this and my cynicism kicks in - which is not hard to do with so many idiots out there. These hateful, useless a******s are going to ensure that kindness and goodness never make any substantial progress. Which is probably their goal, so they have something to do in their pathetic little lives. Grrrrrrrrr!!!!
Unrelated to this post, but speaking of hateful idiots, I was looking at the Giphy app in the iOS App Store today to read the comments (I recently deleted it because Facebook just bought it and I detest FB). People were also deleting the app because of the BLM banner in the app, saying things like "I don't want to hear about BLM... until they learn that all lives matter I won't use this app." No,... but,... you're not.... That's. Literally. The. Point!! SMH! Talk about not getting the message. Whoosh!!
Load More Replies... Wow, I see nothing but a cute little girl and a beautiful horse...
This is such a sad example of the lack of love and compassion in the world. We can learn a lot from animals. Most seem to have more "humanity" than humans. Keep up your wonderful and healing worj.
When are people going to understand that the mask isn't about "you"!? Nobody gives a c**p if "you" get sick, they care that "you" wear the mask to protect other people from you. It's a selfless thing to do. But most of the complainers have probably never done a selfless thing in their entire lives.
Our children and animals are our best teachers on showing love and how not to hate. They both love so unconditionally even when we may not deserve it. We could learn much from them. Just look at the ways children and pets look at you and one another. It is heavenly.
The bigots are running scared. They know their time in the sun, the past three years, is coming to an end. They have to squeeze every bit of venom out of their systems before they go back into hiding. The US is having a huge resurgence of Covid 19 because of idiots who won't wear masks.
The only thing in the picture is an adorable child with an adorable horse.. don't know how anyone can look at that and see something political. The picture is just heartwarming.
These kids are SO BRAVE, and getting a little cheer and support from a superb little friend should never be denied! It goes back to the silliness of Dr Seuss's "stars upon thars", no difference should be seen!
Very sweet photo, but can't help wonder why it's been photoshopped? Pic of girl and horse is legit but it's been photoshopped onto the background. Second photo of the horse in the pasture appears to have been photoshopped as well.
I don't think the second one is photoshopped. The first one does look a little dodgy, but the almost Photoshop-like effect is from the camera flash. Cameras do that when you have flash on, and if you look closely you can tell. I'm not sure if the first one is the same case, but I think it might be.
Load More Replies... I honestly just saw a picture of the cutest little toddler girl, love her bow, and a cute miniature horse. That's it. This picture is about as innocent as it gets.
This is a sweet image. I love the idea of therapy pony's. It's just a little bit odd that the pony's feet don't have a shadow. It looks photoshopped and there's some blurring too. It doesn't matter to the beauty of the idea but the image looks off to me.
Not to get way off topic here but, didn't Malcolm's brother, Francis, have a friend named 'Circus'? I'm just saying, it's a good name.
I see nothing save an adorable little girl with an adorable little horse. I honestly want to use those haters as a punching bag and give them a little hint about what I think of them. Scum. Every single one of them. F*****g scum.
Dude what kind of degenerate lack of human beings can see a child and spew hate speech?! Who are these people?! I thought they were super cute photos! Even if she was an adult, why? Why do some people look at others and treat them like c**p because the color of their skin? Why does skin color even matter?!
How does one make a racist comment off a picture like this? Where does the inspiration come from? Its a kid with a pony.
OMG - what is WRONG with people???? I looked at the picture of the adorable little girl AND the adorable little horse and just smiled. We're all a shade of brown people...some of us are just lightly tan and others are semi-sweet. And don't be hating on little girls that did nothing to deserve it.
Why?!?!?! That is a sweet and innocent child. I hope that she feels better soon. And that the jerks get a life tbh.
What is wrong with people? How could anyone not love the picture of a pretty little girl with gorgeous little horse? So glad I did not have to read that cr*p!
The people who send hate comments about anything are very damaged people and should be pittied. They should also be blocked and reported.
I absolutely hate people sometimes! This is a great picture keep up the good work!
What kind of insecure, Un-"Christian", unkind person would look at that sweet picture and immediately come up with a racist, insane rant? That's like picking on Sparkle for the color of her fur! Unfortunately, the next 5 months are going to be awful, and the best we can do is to call these people out on their behavior. Silence on these matters isn't going to calm it down, it only emboldens the trash that believes this cr*p
OMG.... racism everywhere!!!!!!!!!! Is me wearing my black shoes racist too? How about me, a white person with black hair, does it bothers you because i'm not blond??? Get over it people, racism won't end anytime soon. America hates Mexicans as much as blacks loathes white people's power. And let's no bring how the U.S. have the Native Americans secluded in some hole. Why can't you seclude black people too?
I hope anyone who posted actual racist comments (child is xyz because she is black, or profane slurs, not just uncomplementary comments people decided to call racist because the child is black) gets only African American doctors when they come to that hospital for their own medical problem. Let’s see how racist you are when there’s a bone sticking out of your leg and the guy holding your morphine shot is black....
I’d be interested to know what the racist posts said. These days, anything that isn’t viewed as complimentary is deemed racist just because of the color of the person’s skin they refer to, which is usually a more racist sentiment than the initial comments. But yes, anyone actually saying child is xyz because she is black, or using slurs, absolutely banned for life. And when those people have a life threatening I’ll see themselves and come to that hospital for help, I hope they get only African American doctors seeing them. Let’s see how racist you are when you have a bone sticking out of your leg and the guy holding your morphine shot is black....
Maybe some of the Facebook comments about masks were just people sad about the new normal. It breaks my heart that it's come to this for every child, but that's not the same as it being unnecessary. I'm aware I'm being generous to what may have been trolls. Can't be as generous to those who picked on her skin color. That's just terrible.
Some people are just plain mean and ugly a picture is worth a thousand words this picture brings many mind beautiful touching I can only imagine today the traumatic events in this childs life so much sickness and violence in the world hell I'm almost 70 and what's going on in the world is traumatic to me how does this baby feel those who bad mouthed her SHAME ON YOU ALL
Let me quote @LieselSkywalker: "Politicizing the wearing of masks during a pandemic. Wow, which idiot came up with this? (Rhetorical question.)"
The hateful comments that now appear in every post and every topic are fueled by a response. When ignorance no longer draws the attention and response it desires it goes away.
And why would they spread and promote that hate by giving examples? We don't need examples; there are already far, far too many of them. Ever hear Trump speak, for "example"?
Load More Replies... It has the upside of bringing them publicity - very tough for charities right now so hopefully it help to bring in some additional funding.
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