There was quite the commotion outside the St. Louis University library on Tuesday.
Three miniature horses were surrounded by students eager to pet and take selfies with the majestic animals. The miniature horses are therapy animals from Taylorville, Illinois. The organization Heartland Mini Hoofs makes about 175 stops a year to help offer a calming presence to people in stressful situations.
“Immediately as soon as you touch that horse blood pressure goes down, your endorphins go up, your stress goes down,” said Andra Ebert with Heartland Mini Hoofs.
The university’s department of public safety had the idea to bring the horses to SLU to help them de-stress before finals begin this week.
“We know finals are a little bit tough or a lot tough depending on what you're studying. This gives them a quick break from studying. We know it's hard, maybe he will bring some good,” said officer Josh Johnson.
Johnson joked with students about petting Jasper the miniature horse. He said the more time they take to pet the horse the better the grade on the final exam.
“Are you going to give me an A on my exam?” one student jokingly said to Jasper.
“I've been feeling very stressed this week and the second I saw this horse everything disappeared. He's so soft,” said freshman Molly Dippel.
