Teddy Mountain donates shoes to miniature horses at Soul Haven Ranch

The next time you’re out on the West Orange Trail, you just might see a white miniature horse rocking a set of black skull shoes or a brown one strutting her stuff in small, purple sneakers.

At Soul Haven Ranch in Winter Garden, there are four miniature horses that either are certified already or in the process of becoming a certified therapy horse. And yes, they do sometimes wear shoes.

When the minis are visiting hospitals, nursing homes or elsewhere, they need something on their hooves for both safety and sanitary reasons. The solution at Soul Haven came in the form of small shoes that are actually made for teddy bears.

Teddy Mountain, a build-your-own-bear business headquartered in Kissimmee, sells sets of sneakers for its stuffed animals. These sneakers also fit the mini horses perfectly — and they last, too.

And on Friday, Feb. 16, Teddy Mountain Chief Production Officer Jenni Green and her daughter, Jordan, hand-delivered eight sets of shoes for the minis.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HORSESHOE

Susan Nastasi, owner of Soul Haven Ranch, first heard about Teddy Mountain’s shoes from her cousin, Jodie Diegel, who runs a similar program called Soul Harbour Ranch in Illinois. Diegel had talked previously with Green about using the shoes for her own mini horses. Green decided to sponsor the shoes for the minis at Soul Harbour Ranch.

“It’s probably been a couple of years now that Jodie and I crossed paths at Soul Harbour Ranch, and we had been providing the shoes for their minis and following all of the amazing work they do — you know, taking their minis out into the community and helping people,” Green said. “Then she introduced me to Susan, and the rest is history. We started chatting, and we were so excited to find that there is a Florida connection. We are very proud to sponsor the shoes for Soul Haven and Soul Harbour ranch(es).”

Prior to Diegel reaching out to her, Green wasn’t aware that Teddy Mountain shoes could serve such a purpose. It came as a surprise that the teddy-bear shoes held up so well when used by the horses.

“We had no idea,” Green said. “When we got our first call — which was from Jodie — that was a big surprise to us, like, ‘Our shoes can work for this?’ They’re made for teddy bears; we didn’t know how well they would last and how well they’d hold up. 

“To find out how well they hold up and that the soles are made well enough that the horse can wear them and do work in them, and that they can sustain the washing, is really cool,” Green said. “We do toys for children, and we love bringing joy to the kids and such.”

TEARS OF JOY

Nastasi and Diegel began talking more about the shoes, and one day Nastasi got the call that Teddy Mountain wanted to sponsor her mini horses, too. After investing in the horses and spending the time to develop relationships with and train them, it was affirmation that her dream of giving back to the community in the form of animal therapy was coming together. 

“When I got the (call) from Jodie, honestly, I actually started crying,” Nastasi said. “It was really tears of joy, because horses have been my passion my whole life, and to really see all of this coming alive … it’s been a wonderful journey and just the fact that we have the opportunity to go out and serve (is amazing).”

Even if Teddy Mountain is helping the mission of Soul Haven Ranch in just a small way, Green said, they are happy to be in a position to contribute.

“We’ve seen the joy that the minis bring,” Green said. “When they (people) look at the shoes and folks’s faces light up and they get so excited, that’s really the coolest thing for us — to see our product being used in a different way and how much joy it brings.”