Residents and staff of Bonaira Aged Care have enjoyed a visit from the Therapist on Hooves.

Trained by former aged care nurse Christie Hall, the 21 year old 16-hand horse is a gentle giant, happy to be patted and bring back memories. Ms Hall takes Bushman and another of her horses to visit aged care and disability facilities, and says he is a natural at giving comfort.

"We often have therapy dogs visit Blue Haven, but this is the first time we've had a horse at the new facility," says the Acting Director Blue Haven, Dale Wakefield, mentioning that one once came to the old facility.

"It was very well received then, particularly in the dementia unit.

"So many people who live here have grown up on farms or have been around animals a lot when they were younger. The look on their faces is just incredible."

He's keen to make it a regular occurrence, once an assessment has been made of this visit.

"It is the first time that an animal of 600kg has been in the facility," he says with a smile.

Wearing special shoes to make sure he didn't slip on the tiles, Bushman visited the dementia unit, the common rooms of the assisted living wings, and even visited some residents in their rooms.

Yes, he is house trained, so there were no accidents along the way.

Bushman's special indoor shoes