The “Cavallo Amico” (“Horse for a Friend”) project was presented on December 14th at the Roma Polo Club. This project is the result of a collaboration between the Roma Polo Club and the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro - Internazionale, which aims at studying how interacting with horses impacts elderly cardiac patients who suffer from post-operative depression.
The trial phase of the project, carried out at the facilities of the Circolo del Polo, involve the participation of 10 patients, over the age of 70, who, once a week for two months, assisted by experienced staff, will carry out a series of activities that entail caring for horse.
Bonding with a horse is, in fact, a powerful means of restoring relational and emotional capacities, freeing oneself from judgments that are typical of human interactions. This unique connection not only promotes an improvement in body perception but also contributes to an increased confidence in one’s abilities and self-esteem. This experience also promotes greater social involvement and highlights the significant role that the “Horse for a Friend” project plays within the context of the psychological and physical well-being of elderly cardiac patients who suffer from post-operative depression.
The conference began with speeches by the President of the Roma Polo Club and Captain of the Italian national polo team, Stefano Giansanti, and by Prof. Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele, a long-time promoter of important philanthropic initiatives and former President of the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro - Internazionale, which is currently headed by Prof. Alessandra Taccone, who also delivered a short speech. The aspects of the pilot project, which involve scientific and social implications, were also explored, with interventions by experts in the field, including: Dr. Bruno Morabito of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome; Attorney Marco Di Paola, President of the FISE; Paolo Grillini, federal instructor.
Prof. Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele commented: “The commonality in views I had with Stefano Giansanti, President of the Roma Polo Club, regarding the opportunity to create a project that would enhance the benefits of hippotherapy – a discipline that, in the wake of my father, who was a doctor and was a convinced advocate, I have always considered salvific – was immediate. Thanks to this initiative, the emotional relationship with the animal becomes an effective means for restoring vigor and a desire to live in those who have undergone an invasive, delicate, and important operation, such as heart surgery. I’m pleased to recall, among other things, that the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro - Internazionale is not new to projects of this kind. Last year, on my initiative – and in collaboration with the ECOS association and the Fondazione Real Sito di Carditello, benefiting once again of the hospitality of the Polo Club Roma – we promoted the “Viaggio del Persano per la salute mentale” (Trip of the Persano for Mental Health), during which a Persano horse, accompanied by a rider for several months, completed 50 stages in just as many rehabilitation and social-educational therapeutic communities scattered throughout the national territory. The goal of this project was to raise awareness in the public, private and active citizenship sectors with regard to protecting mental health, as well as the importance of supporting traditional therapies in the social community.”
Prof. Alessandra Taccone, President of the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro - Internazionale, followed with her message: “I really care about this project, which arose from the synergy between Prof. Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele and Stefano Giansanti, President of the Roma Polo Club. This is an initiative that is important on both a social and a healthcare level. Again, with the contribution of the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale, which I am honored to preside over, the covered riding stable inside the compendium of the Polo Club Roma will be fixed. A project that we hope will become structural over time and one that aims to be replicated, on a scientific basis, in a broader manner, creating free courses, carried out by federal instructors, who will be constantly assisted by a medical team, so that the activities will be supported by actual scientific research.”  
The initiative will benefit from the collaboration of experts in the field, including Professor Alessia Rabini and Dr. Cristina Di Gregorio of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome..

Photo credits: Antonio de Paolis