This isn’t Panda’s first visit but this is the first time he tried to break free to visit.
Panda’s human mom, Maija, once took him to the dementia unit in town and loved his visit. The patients loved Panda and they even fed him carrots. This became a core memory for Panda who could never forget this moment.
Unfortunately, Maija has not taken him back to the dementia unit for the carrots.
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Panda needs to take matters into his own hands.
He needs to devise a plan so he can break out and escape to the dementia unit. Horses have a good memory and because that particular memory elicited a great feeling in Panda, he will never forget it.
And he will try to replicate it again and again unless it is modified or corrected.
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“Horses learn through a system of repetition, reward, and correction. They tend to repeat behavior that brings a favorable response and avoid behavior that evokes a response from the rider or handler,” The Vet Expert reported.
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This isn’t the first time that Panda escaped to go back to the dementia unit.
In the first part of this “escape,” Maija said that Panda had already escaped another time to grab himself carrots from his “friends.” Someone even joked that Panda may have forgotten some of his training but he could never forget the carrots.
Maija finally found him in the parking lot of a building.
We’re not sure if this is the dementia unit they visited or Maija just happened to catch up to Panda at this location. It was so obvious that Panda was torn between going forward with his initial destination or going back with Maija.
His training still overpowered his wanderlust and he went back with Maija.
The people who saw this video loved Panda’s trip and said nobody would believe this story if they told it, especially the dementia patients. Someone also said that Panda had to go back because the patients have already forgotten his visit. Some of them also said that maybe Panda wants to be a therapy horse and he wanted to start with the dementia unit first.
Can you imagine the older patients riding Panda?
Good news for Panda though. He was featured with Maija on New Zealand’s Prime News and the news crew wanted to film them at the dementia unit to relive the memories. And do you know what happened?
Panda got fed with carrots again! One of the patients was sitting outside and Panda was beside her while she fed him carrots.
That must have made Panda’s day!
Someone asked if Panda jumped out to visit his friends but Maija said that Panda sneaked out the gate. This horse knew what he was doing, that’s for sure!
Maybe they need to have a constant supply of carrots at the stables so Panda is less tempted to sneak out.
Or is it the company of his friends he craves?
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Would you like to see Maija try to catch up to Panda? Watch the video below.
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@maija.vance Replying to @mercury.n.the.snail #therapyhorse #horses #palominopaint ♬ original sound – MAIJA
