Greece's only miniature therapy horses bring joy to many, but their charity is struggling

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, a smile spreads across the little girl’s face. Blinking behind her glasses, she inches her wheelchair forward and gently reaches out to stroke the tiny gray horse.

Soon, 9-year-old Josifina Topa Mazuch is beaming as she leads Ivi, a specially trained miniature horse, standing no taller than her pink wheelchair, through the school hallway.

“I really want them to come again,” Josifina said of Ivi and a second miniature horse, Calypso, after a November morning visit to her Athens primary school for children with special needs. “They made me feel really happy.”

Ivi and Calypso are two of nine tiny equines from Gentle Carousel Greece, a Greek offshoot of Florida-based charity Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses offering visits to hospitals, rehabilitation centers and care homes.

Trained over two years to work comfortably in confined environments and with vulnerable children and adults, the horses, which stand about 75 centimeters (30 inches) tall, provide a form of pet therapy that carers say offers valuable interactions and learning experiences, particularly to people confined to hospitals or care homes.

But the charity they are part of is struggling to make ends meet — run by one woman who funds the entire operation herself, with one assistant and no support team.

Started in 2014 by Mina Karagianni, an interior architect and designer, the Athens operation is the only one affiliated with the Florida-based charity outside the United States. Karagianni came across Gentle Carousel while scouring the internet for information on caring for an abandoned Shetland pony she had rescued.

When she saw photos of the charity’s work in pediatric oncology wards, “I was touched and I was moved, and I said: ‘OK, we have to bring this to Greece,’” she said.

It took months to track down and persuade the U.S. charity to work with her, and even longer to obtain the requisite permits and arrange transport to bring the horses over. But after incessant efforts, six already trained miniature horses stepped off a flight from Florida via Frankfurt in November 2013.

Entirely self-funded through her day job, Karagianni now has a total of nine equines — the six American miniature horses, one that was later born in Greece, and two rescued ponies - Billy the Shetland pony and Giselle who was rescued from the island of Santorini.

Karagianni transformed her family land in Rafina, a seaside area east of Athens, into Magic Garden, complete with stables, a paddock for the horses to run free every day, a small café and an area to host children’s parties and baptisms.

At the time, she was open for visits every weekend, charging a small entrance fee to help cover running costs – specialized food for the horses, wood shavings for their bedding, grooming material, veterinarian visits and transportation to and from hospitals and care homes. She also began visiting schools and setting up an education program.

From 2014 when Gentle Carousel Greece first opened until the first COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Karagianni said her little equine team saw roughly 12,000 children.

But the lockdowns took their toll. Karagianni had to shut down the café and hasn’t been able to re-open since.

With even the tiny income from the café drying up, and Karagianni herself facing a health issue that took her out for 1 ½ years, “we fell apart,” she said. Unable to meet utility bills, both the electricity and water companies cut off her supply, leaving her relying on neighbors for water for the horses.

“I’m just starting to get myself back together again now,” she said. “With a lot of financial difficulties. But what can I do? I’m trying.”

She’s got the utilities running again, but still owes thousands of euros. Approaches to companies and institutions for funding have been unsuccessful so far. “Maybe I just don’t know how to ask properly,” Karagianni said.

Running Gentle Carousel single-handedly is taking its toll. “I’m making super-human efforts,” said Karagianni, who at 68 wonders for how long she can go on and is searching for someone to ensure the program’s continuity.

“I’m doing what I can. But I can’t do it alone,” she said. “I can’t do it without a team.”

Despite her financial struggles, Karagianni said seeing the horses' effect, particularly on children, makes her determined to continue for as long as she can.

During a visit to the Athens special needs primary school, staff lined up children in wheelchairs so each could spend a few moments with the horses. Some reached out to stroke them; others bent their heads forward over the miniature horses for a kiss.

“It’s incredible, the reactions. It’s like something awakens their senses,” said special needs teacher Eleni Volikaki.

The state-run school, which shares facilities with a private charity for disabled children, ELEPAP, caters to children aged 6-14 with cognitive or mobility problems, or both. Anything that encourages the children to make even small hand gestures, such as reaching out to stroke a horse, “is very important for us. Especially when it’s spontaneous and comes directly from the child and isn’t instigated by us,” Volikaki said.

“We saw things we didn’t expect. We saw children with autism, or children who are generally afraid of animals, coming very close, letting the (horses) get close to them,” Volikaki said. “And we saw … spontaneous contact that under other circumstances we wouldn’t see.”

The tiny horses don't just enchant children.

In the seaside area of Nea Makri northeast of Athens, residents of an adult psychiatric care home gather to greet Omiros – Homer in Greek – a 12-year-old miniature gray and white stallion with a flowing mane and blue eyes.

Some show their excitement at the long-anticipated visit. Others are shyer at first, but nearly all eventually approach Omiros, leading him around the home’s recreation room or simply whispering to him.

The interaction is invaluable, said social worker Alex Krokidas, who heads the staff at the Iasis home.

“It offers, even if only briefly, the chance to create a bond that isn’t threatening, that has tenderness, quietness,” Krokidas said. “Let’s not forget, these people have faced many difficulties in their lives.”

Meeting Omiros and having a few moments each with him “gives them the opportunity to be a bit calmer, to not feel threatened, to stroke the animal,” Krokidas said. “All of that is very therapeutic, it is deeply therapeutic.”

Giorgos, one of the residents, initially kept his distance before letting Omiros come close. He leaned his head near the flowing mane.

“He gave me a beautiful feeling when he was here,” he said after Omiros headed back into the recreation room. “Now that it’s gone, I feel an absence.”

Associated Press writer Lefteris Pitarakis contributed to this report.

This story corrects that the charity has a total of nine animals, not eight.

Homer, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, runs at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Calypso, left, and Ivi, miniature horses used for therapy programs, enter an elevator at a school for disabled children, in Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Founder of Gentle Carousel Greece Mina Karagianni, poses with Calypso, right, and Ivi miniature horses used for therapy programs, in Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Stable worker Ali Hussein, 34, from Pakistan, bottom left, tends to miniatures horses used for therapy programs, at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Homer, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, stands in a van, in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Homer, bottom, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, plays at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Homer, left, plays with its son Hercules, both miniature horses used for therapy programs, at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Stable worker Ali Hussein, 34, from Pakistan runs with Homer, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Founder of Gentle Carousel Greece Mina Karagianni cuts the hair of Odysseus, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Stable worker Ali Hussein, 34, from Pakistan dries Ivi's hair, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Stable worker Ali Hussein, 34, from Pakistan washes Odysseus, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, at a farm in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Haris, a resident of a psychiatric clinic for adults, left, plays a farewell song in piano for Homer, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, in Nea Makri, about 38 kilometres (60m miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Homer, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, stands in a van ahead of its visit at a psychiatric clinic for adults, in Rafina about 32 kilometres (51 miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Founder of Gentle Carousel Greece Mina Karagianni, right, and stable worker Ali Hussein arrive with Homer, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, at a psychiatric clinic for adults in Nea Makri, about 38 kilometres (60m miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Ivi, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, stands at an elderly care home in Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A resident of an elderly care home pats Calypso, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, in Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Stable worker Ali Hussein from Pakistan, 34, holds Calypso, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, during a visit at an elderly care home in Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A student at a school for disabled children touches Ivi, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, in Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Calypso, left, and Ivi, miniature horses used for therapy programs, enter an elevator at a school for disabled children, in Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Elli Salma, a resident of an elderly care home, looks up as Ivi, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, visits her room, in Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A student at a school for disabled children hugs Ivi, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, in Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Homer, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, smells a painting of its portrait, created by Stamatina, right, a resident of a psychiatric clinic for adults in Nea Makri, about 38 kilometres (60m miles) east of Athens, Greece, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Nine-year-old Josifina Topa Mazuch, a student at a school for disabled children, holds the reins of Ivi, a miniature horse used for therapy programs, in Athens, Greece, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

GENEVA (AP) — At least three feminist activists were detained on Friday after vandalizing a monument outside the United Nations complex in Geneva to protest Russia's war against Ukraine and what they see as the U.N.'s failure to stop the conflict.

Two topless women with the group FEMEN, which is known for its provocative protests, used a chainsaw to cut into the wooden sculpture known as the “Broken Chair.”

One woman with white flowers in her hair left several large gashes in a leg of the sculpture, a 12-meter (40-foot) tall giant chair with a broken leg. The artwork symbolizes the dismemberment caused by land mines and is a call to ban the devastating weapons, which have also been used in the war in Ukraine.

The two women wore bands in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag on their legs. They had words including “stop mines” and “F—- russia” painted on their bare chests and backs in near-freezing temperatures, and shouted expletives repeatedly against the United Nations and Russia.

They declined to speak to reporters afterward.

At least three women — including a colleague of the two demonstrators — were later detained by police officers in three cars.

“The U.N. was created to ensure peace, but its failure to stop the aggressor only adds to the tragedy of symbols such as the Broken Chair, a reminder of the human suffering caused by anti-personnel mines," a statement from the group read.

The group called for the expulsion of Russia from the United Nations over its war in Ukraine, which involved a full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022.

"Ukraine has become a victim of betrayal and military aggression, and the world cannot cover itself with monuments, remaining indifferent while we are being destroyed,” it said.

Activists of the feminist group Femen protest to support Ukraine and to demand Russia's expulsion from the UN, under the 'Broken Chair' Monument on Place des Nations in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Activists of the feminist group Femen protest to support Ukraine and to demand Russia's expulsion from the UN, under the 'Broken Chair' Monument on Place des Nations in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Activists of the feminist group Femen protest to support Ukraine and to demand Russia's expulsion from the UN, under the 'Broken Chair' Monument on Place des Nations in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

EDS NOTE: NUDITY - Activists of the feminist group Femen protest to support Ukraine and to demand Russia's expulsion from the UN, under the 'Broken Chair' Monument on Place des Nations in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)