How a Pony in Biniali Gave a Child Her Voice Back

How a Pony in Biniali Gave a Child Her Voice Back

Animal-assisted therapy at Fundació S'Hort Vell shows small but lasting changes

The finca is not far from the village center of Biniali, where in the mornings a tractor creaks along the village road and the air smells of damp earth and olive trees. On a sprawling property of around 58,000 square meters there is an unusual clinic: stables, paddocks, the measured steps of ponies and the muted barking of eight dogs. Here therapist Marta Sáez Pérez works – four times a week she puts on breeches and boots and accompanies children, adolescents and adults to their first steps with the horse as a partner.

About 65 animals live at Fundació S'Hort Vell, but only some are specifically used in therapeutic sessions. Marta emphasizes that there are no quick miracles; improvements often appear slowly and individually. Still, parents and participants report significant changes: better connection, less anxiety, more joy of movement, easier everyday coping.

The work targets people with very different challenges: low mood, anxiety disorders, emotional blocks after bullying, as well as neurodiverse diagnoses such as ADHD, Asperger's or Down syndrome. Particularly striking is the case of a four-year-old girl with selective mutism. After about half a year of regular sessions on a pony, the child began to communicate outside the immediate family circle – and later even performed in a school show, where she sang in front of an audience. A video the parents later showed was for Marta one of those moments that make the job so meaningful to her. The school show where the girl sang is one of the small public milestones echoed in stories like When the Queen Falls: Eight-Year-Old Surprises Veteran in Palmanova.

The therapy takes place in Spanish and English; currently Marta accompanies around 16 regular clients. The work is organized according to recognized principles for animal-assisted interventions: Marta follows the guidelines of international professional associations, and in addition to practical experience she brings a scientific perspective. Other therapeutic innovations are reported in Virtual Sea Coves: How VR Calms Children in Son Llàtzer's Pediatric Emergency.

What matters for success is not the animal alone: it's about bond and trust between therapist, animal and person. Horses react sensitively to moods, they mirror behaviors and thus provide immediate feedback that cannot be reached in chair-based sessions. Marta describes the horse as an emotional partner that helps make inner tensions visible and dissolve them step by step. She mentions ideas about heart size or magnetic fields as her personal way to explain it, while stressing that such images help make change processes understandable – not as simple scientific facts.

For therapeutic work there is a simple model: four mounted sessions cost 290 euros per month. Families with limited financial means can apply for support; examples are funding programs from the island council or grants from education funds. Marta points out, however, that the speed of progress strongly depends on the individual's neurological conditions.

On Mallorca, where rural farms and the coexistence of people and animals are part of everyday life, this form of therapy has found its own, almost familiar place. It combines therapeutic know-how with a connection to the island: children who otherwise hardly speak find a different balance on the back of a pony; teenagers discover new resources when they learn to lead and read an animal. This is not a cure-all, but for many a new door. Local episodes such as Lucky pig in Llucmajor: How a 100-kg sow brought the neighborhood together reflect this closeness. Local initiatives are also chronicled in Two decades of RANA — how puppets, books and quiet persistence empower children in Mallorca.

Anyone who wants to know more or get in touch can reach Marta by email: saezperez.marta@gmail.com. And if you're driving the MA route toward Inca through Biniali: stop briefly, feel the dust under your shoes and listen. Sometimes the soft snort of a pony is enough to set things in motion. Local news also highlights urgent child-safety stories such as Riddle in Coll d'en Rebassa: Six-Year-Old Girl Found Ten Kilometers Away.

Why this is good for Mallorca: These offerings make use of the island's rural infrastructure, create jobs on farms and supplement regional health services without major construction. They also offer families a practical, approachable alternative that becomes visible in small successes – in a village choir performance, in a daily life with less anxiety, in a smile.

Outlook: Such projects could become more accessible on Mallorca if funding were better mediated and information services for parents expanded. For people here this means: more opportunities to find help along familiar paths – with animals that listen without pressuring.