This 14-year old, former show horse galloped away from the dressage shows and now heads to hospitals to help look after the sick and raise spirits.
Peyo is the horse’s name and its owner is Hassen Bouchakour.
According to Bouchakour, Peyo has always been very special. He would go up to random people in the crowd after shows. But, it actually was not at random.
Peyo has a unique ability that allows him to sniff out people suffering from illness or even cancer. “He’s a horse that behaves differently with people in delicate condition,” his owner stated, according to Aleteia.
Dr. Peyo resides in France and “works” in hospitals from Nice and Antibes to Calais. Five hospitals in all and nearly every day of the week. He tells his owner, and co-workers, which patients need his attention by going to their door and raising one leg.
And yes, he follows safety and sanitary protocols. When he needs to use the facilities, he notifies his owner through special movements that he needs to journey outside-- never inside the hospital.
“It was very complicated to no longer be the master, and to be forced to admit that when [Peyo] detects someone [is sick], I am no longer in control. When he decides, I cannot hold him back, it’s a need, it’s visceral, it is in him, he needs to go, and cling on to the specific person he has chosen,” Bouchakour adds.
Since his change in profession, Dr. Peyo has helped more than 1,000 people.