ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Who knew mini-horses could be great teachers for people with disabilities and those dealing with trauma?

That is the vision Liz Delfs had when she started the local nonprofit My Little Horse Listener in 2016. She wanted to be a disability rights lawyer and to show that people with disabilities aren’t as limited as people think.

“Kids who, for whatever reasons, and it’s a whole host of reasons, why kids might feel marginalized. Kids with disabilities, we often know are left out of things, and often just assume, or their family assumes, that something will not be for them, will not be accessible for them. And so that’s why we built the learning park,” she said. “I know these kids are very young, but we really want them to get the message that this world is for you too, that they experience it in a different way, but it’s a wonderful thing, and it could be for you. Just reach out for it.”

Their most recent visit was from students at the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Three and four-year-old students spent Tuesday morning petting, brushing and feeding the mini-horses.

“They realize I touch a horse, I can smell a horse. In the sensory station, they’ll have everything that’s in a horse’s life, they’ll actually be able to feel that,” Delfs said.

It seems like a spa day for our four-legged friends but the kids get a lot more out of it than they do.

“And what they learn from the horses are qualities that really can help us in our everyday life. Things like trust, things like good nonverbal communication, good decision making,” Delfs said.

In addition to hanging out with the horses, kids got to feel Thor’s sensory farm. They also chilled out in Hot Dog’s Hideaway and felt all that comes with taking care of the mini-horses.

“If you or your child has a disability, we have a wheelchair-accessible walking path. For kids with neuro-divergent kinds of issues, we have a sensory room where they could go in. We have Braille in various places around here,” Delfs said, adding they completed the sensory park in June.

If you’d like to visit My Little Horse Listener Park and Ranch, visit their website at this link.