HELENA — Horses such as Lucas and Radar at the Carroll College anthrozoology department are helping students stay 'stable' during a stressful time of year. These horses play a big role in supporting mental health, offering calm, connection, and a little holiday magic.
Miriam Tangen, a student in the program, said, “I truly love horses, and I love working with them and love sharing that with other people, and anthrozoology really bridges the gap of bringing people and animals together.”
Madelyn Heath reports - watch the video:
The department did just that on Friday afternoon, walking two of the horses through campus, all while singing Christmas carols.
“I think it’s just a good stress reliever before finals, and it will bring a lot of smiles to a lot of faces,” Joslyn Herrin Morrison, a student in the program, said.
The anthrozoology program currently has seven horses, and for student Joslyn Herrin-Morrison, she has seen how they help her and hopes their holiday spirit will do the same for her fellow students.
“I think just being around animals in general is a good way to relieve stress, and being around the horses, especially for me, that’s my happy place, is around them,” Herrin-Morrison.
Tangen says she has learned so much from the horses, not just the courses, “We can learn a lot about friendships, interactions, how important our body languages are, and can tell us a lot more about ourselves than sometimes we can.”
