Miniature horse, oversized legacy
Brandy the miniature therapy horse brightened the days of thousands of people whom she visited with in nursing homes, retirement communities, schools, and other places. She died May 7 at age 13.
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Tributes pour in for Brandy the Marvelous Miniature Horse, who brought comfort and joy to hundreds around the region in need of a listening ear and a warm nuzzle
John and Kay Daughtry marveled at the peace and joy their miniature therapy horse, Brandy, gave to people in nursing homes and retirement homes as well as students in schools and families at the Ronald McDonald House. Brandy died last week at age 13. (Photo courtesy of Liz Kearley)
by Cristina Bolling
Kay Daughtry was in the throes of grief after the death of her niece in 2011 when, as a lifelong equine lover, she decided there might be something that could help her cope — a miniature horse, bred to serve as an assistance or therapy animal.
She had plans to visit three miniature horse farms in search of the perfect companion. At one of the farms, 18-month-old Brandy walked right up to Kay. And that was that.
“I know it sounds cliché, but she picked me out,” Daughtry says. “She was a magical little horse.”
Brandy died on May 7 at the age of 13 from an ailment called laminitis — a painful and often fatal condition of the hoof that’s a common cause of death among horses.
Miniature horses often live past 30, so Brandy’s sudden illness and death despite specialty treatment at N.C. State University were shocking not only to Daughtry and her husband, John, but to scores of those who knew and loved her through the hundreds of visits she’d made over the last decade to nursing homes, retirement communities, schools, Ronald McDonald Houses and private homes. Brandy, who often wore frilly outfits, was regularly featured on local TV stations and in newspapers. Spectrum News once called her an “everyday hero.”
Online tributes poured out as news spread last week, with people sharing their stories about how Brandy had provided comfort, joy and peace to themselves or loved ones.
Comments on Facebook included:
“So hard to believe! She touched so many lives. … She will be missed by all of us at Pineville Rehab! Thank You for sharing your girl with us!”
“She made people smile and children laugh. So grateful for her time on earth.”
“She brought us joy and laughter by nibbling my husband’s fingers looking for McDonald’s french fries. I hope heaven has fries. Rest easy, Brandy.”
For nearly 10 years, Brandy the Marvelous Miniature Horse made roughly 160 visits a year — free of charge — to groups and facilities as far away as Salisbury and Kings Mountain. When a group wanted to make a donation to Brandy, John and Kay asked them to instead send the money to the Anna Gordon Memorial Endowed Scholarship at the University of Alabama in honor of Kay’s niece, Anna Gordon, or to the non-profit Cookies for Kids Cancer.
“We’ve seen many, many people who were in bed or wheelchair-bound, and here they were, almost vacant with almost no life in their faces, and Brandy would just walk up to them, and she would know exactly how to size them up and what to do,” Kay Daughtry says.
Nursing home visits would mean checking in with 40 or more patients. Sometimes Brandy would lay her head on patients’ beds and let them stroke her head or her mane, or nuzzle up to their arms or neck. As a young horse, she’d gone through special training to be a therapy horse at the Mark Hausman Training Center in Waxhaw.
Brandy had a special way with kids, too. She’d sit patiently with autistic children who were hesitant to read out loud in front of other people. She delighted students at schools, one day dressing up as “Thing 1” for Dr. Seuss Day at Indian Land Elementary.
Once, a 90-year-old woman sat straight up in her nursing home bed and started crying when Brandy came in. “She thought she’d never see a horse again,” John Daughtry says.
Another time, a daughter asked if Brandy could make a house call to surprise her mom who was dying.
“She lit up like a Christmas tree,” Kay says. “She immediately started to soft-talk to Brandy, and Brandy would put her nose right up to the woman’s face, and they would talk to each other.”
Residents of nursing homes would often light up when Brandy would walk in the room, said Kay and John Daughtry. (Photo courtesy of John Daughtry)
At one nursing home, a former Marine who was a double-amputee softened each time Brandy came in the room. “He didn’t say anything to us, but to her, he’d say, ‘Oh Brandy, you’re exactly what I needed today,’” Kay Daughtry recalls.
Kay, a retired teacher, and John, a retired photographer, built an 8-foot by 10-foot child’s playhouse with a front door and two windows in the backyard of their south Charlotte home for 255-pound Brandy, complete with a small chandelier. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers the miniature horse breed to be a pet breed, not livestock, and the Daughtrys live in a regular suburban neighborhood.
“Most minis grow up around big dogs and big horses. I wanted everything to be petite for her,” Kay Daughtry says.
Kay took special delight in dressing Brandy up according to the seasons — flowered bonnets with bunny ears at Easter time, Western-style bandanas and straw hats around the Fourth of July, and always little shoes from Build-a-Bear Workshop, which fit her perfectly and kept her from slipping on vinyl or tile floors.
“She had 20 pairs,” Kay says.
Brandy had a packed calendar, right up until the month of her death.
She averaged 160 community visits a year, John Daughtry said, and had 17 booked for this month alone.
Kay says she learned something new from Brandy every day, and in the days since Brandy’s death, the lessons have continued — lessons about what Brandy meant to the community around them.
“She lived a life encouraging other people that made them remember her well,” John Daughtry said.
Added Kay: “She was my perfect princess.”
Cristina Bolling is managing editor of The Ledger: cristina@cltledger.com
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project