By Bob Groeneveld/Langley Advance Times

Nobody expected to see a horse at Langley Lodge.

But Gunner was exactly the right size to bring back memories.

Alex Peters wanted to bring her miniature horse to the Langley intermediate care home where her grandpa lives.

She hoped it would jog his memory, or at least bring him back to happy times.

鈥淗e is one of my top male figures in my life,鈥� said Peters of her grandpa. 鈥淗e has meant all the world to me.鈥�

But Walter Willoughby has changed since he lived in Brookswood with his wife Mae.

鈥淓very day is a different day for him,鈥� Peters said. 鈥淗e still calls me by name, but I can鈥檛 call him on the phone or he doesn鈥檛 know who I am. He knows me when I show up in person.鈥�

The dementia that has slowed him down has changed him in other ways: 鈥淗e was always Mr. Serious, now he鈥檚 the jokester, always saying the funny thing.鈥�

Even his appetite has changed. 鈥淗e used to be the skinniest man in the world. He was picky,鈥� Peters said. 鈥淣ow he eats anything.鈥�

But Peters was hoping one thing hasn鈥檛 changed.

Horses have always been a big part of Walter Willoughby鈥檚 life, Peters explained.

鈥淪ometimes people with dementia can communicate better with animals,鈥� she said, as she prepared her surprise visit with Gunner. 鈥淗e might not understand why the horse is there, but maybe it will connect him to when he was in the barns and with the animals.鈥�

On Monday afternoon, not only was her grandpa enthralled, the Langley Lodge garden was veritably crowded with delighted residents who all had to say hello to Gunner.

Kyle Sanker, who works at Langley Lodge, said that Gunner was the first horse to visit the home, but was welcomed as part of a culture that offers a variety of experiences for residents.

Music, horticulture, and other programs try to involve residents with dementia in a way that help them to connect with something that they loved to do.

鈥淪ometimes,鈥� said Sanker, 鈥渢hey get a nostalgic feeling of being taken back to a point in their life 鈥� it comes back in a lucid moment.鈥�

Peters, who is planning to be a healthcare worker, was clearly pleased at the effect that tiny Gunner 鈥� he stands only nine hands, 鈥減robably the size of a great Dane鈥� 鈥� had on many of the Lodge residents.

She got the 12-year-old miniature horse as a resuce from Nanaimo, knowing little about him, except that his feet have been 鈥渕oderately deformed 鈥� not enough to stop him from doing what horses do, but they鈥檙e not right.鈥�

His feet certainly didn鈥檛 stop Gunner from delighting a 100-year-old Langley Lodge resident into expostulating, 鈥淚 never thought I鈥檇 see a horse again, not in my home!鈥�

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