TIGER AND FRIENDS: Tiger, Princeton Public Schools’ goldendoodle therapy dog, has been a frequent visitor to all four elementary schools, and Princeton High School junior Kayla Resnick has founded an Animal Therapy Club with regular visits by therapy dogs and recently two miniature horses. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Moore)

By Donald Gilpin

Two unusual visitors interacted with students, parents, and teachers, on the front lawn at Princeton High School (PHS) on a Friday afternoon after school earlier this month. They were Bleu and Big Mac, two miniature horses accompanied by handlers from the Pegasus Therapeutic Riding Center in Philadelphia.

“Not a lot of people have seen miniature horses,” said PHS junior Kayla Resnick, the founder of the PHS Animal Therapy Club who arranged the visit. “Their reactions were partly the shock of ‘Oh, my god, what is that?’ Bringing miniature horses to our school is a dream come true.”

The handlers delivered a presentation about the work they do with many horses and hundreds of human participants of all ages throughout the Philadelphia area. “People couldn’t take their eyes off the horses,” said Resnick. “They were listening so well and asking a lot of good questions. They were all very excited to see the horses, especially once they got to petting them.”

Since she launched the club at PHS in the spring of 2023, Resnick has led two meetings each month and has seen interest grow steadily. “The idea started about a year ago when my mom and I were eating dinner and talking about how we love horseback riding and what it does for us. We were talking about animals and my mom said, ‘Imagine if we had that in school.’ And we both thought, ‘Oh my god. That could be a thing.’”

Assisted by classmate Sarai Martinez and others, Resnick filled out the necessary forms to start a club, met with the dean of students, gathered the necessary signatures, put up posters advertising the new club, attended the club fair, and soon had a sizable roster of members.

At one meeting each month they have a visit from a therapy dog, often from Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. in Morris Plains, or the Attitudes in Reverse (AIR) Foundation based in Princeton Junction.

At the second meeting each month Resnick often invites speakers to talk about different types of service and therapy animals. She emphasized the difference between service dogs, that require a lot more training than therapy dogs and are trained for just one person, and therapy dogs, that go to schools, hospitals and other public places.

“There’s a big difference,” she said. “You can go up to a therapy dog and pet it, but don’t go up to a service dog and pet it. A lot of people get that mixed up.”

“When the animals are there I try not to interfere as much as I can, because I want the students to do whatever is comfortable for them,” said Resnick. “I don’t want to get in the middle of that. I’m there to make sure the dogs are comfortable, that the owners are comfortable, and to make sure the dogs don’t get too overcrowded. Sometimes I tell people to step back a little bit.”

Resnick commented on the growing popularity of the club, especially on days when animals visit. “I’ve heard people say, ‘I’ve really needed it this week’ or ‘This just brightened my day.’ It’s been amazing.”

Though there have been no reported horse visits to the elementary schools, a regular visitor with pre-K through fifth grade students in all four elementary schools is Tiger, a goldendoodle under the guidance of Elementary Education Supervisor Sarah Moore.

“Tiger has come in to talk about social emotional learning, has had students read to him, and has come into quite a few classrooms as a special surprise when students finish reading Because of Winn Dixie [a story about a dog named Winn Dixie after a Southern supermarket],” said Moore.

She added, “Last week Tiger joined in on our staff wellness professional development session and was able to spend time with staff from across Princeton Public Schools. Tiger enjoys getting to meet friends across Princeton and helping students celebrate their learning. He has had a tremendously positive impact on school culture and climate within our four elementary buildings.”

Resnick reflected on the positive effects of animals on individuals and groups. “The environment at PHS seems very friendly, but it’s so competitive,” she said. “It’s really easy to get caught up in that and to forget, ‘Hey, I need a moment for myself too.’ Animals are something that we take time out of our day for. They bring your heart rate down when you pet them. There’s a great release, and therapy animals love being around people. It just creates such a nice environment.”

Resnick looks forward to seeing the Animal Therapy Club continue to grow, with regular monthly visits by dogs and perhaps a return visit from the miniature horses Bleu and Big Mac — and the AIR Foundation claims to have a therapy goat that it is eager to introduce to the PHS community.