Tiny Comes to Town

Students like Nie’ma are interested in animals, but do not have many options to interact with animals beyond typical household pets. This project is an opportunity to learn from and with large animals.

I choose to try to expose Detroit Community School students to horses. Horses good animals for this job because they can do a lot for humans and are the perfect level of exotic for children living in urban areas. Horses are large, imposing, and need to be taken seriously, which gives them power and mystique. On the other hand they are highly domesticated farm animals and most kids are familiar with what they are. The students at Detroit Community School are also more likely to come into contact with a horse again unlike, say, a tiger. Horses provide many emotional, physical, work, and cultural benefits as well. They can play an important role in therapy and rehabilitating prisoners. As prey animals horses are great teachers of empathy. Horses are also great workers on farms and rescue teams. They not only do jobs, they also provide them. Horses can also have mental benefits teaching people responsibility, teamwork, work ethic, commitment, leadership, patience, determination, confidence and self-awareness. There are also the obvious physical benefits of working with or riding horses. Horses can teach respect for all animals which is important now in this time of environmental strife, and finally, they are an essential part of our American culture and identity.

My response was to get the Detroit Mounted Police to do a school visit and allow the kindergarten through second grades to visit with the horse. The opportunity for the kids to pet the horse and learn what horses can do for people addressed the lack of exposure to animals in Brightmoor. I hope to continue addressing this issue by starting a mentorship program between high school students at DCS and the Detroit Mounted Police.

Lauren Walkiewicz