Willie the pony wears blue socks to work: a therapy pony's rounds at Akron Children's Hospital

The celebrity arriving at Akron Children's Hospital once a month comes by white van, wears blue socks for the journey (they keep his hooves clean), and gets two baths before he is allowed inside — one with surgical scrub. Willie Nelson is a pony: a therapy animal of eight years' standing, trained for eight months by Sue Miller of Victory Gallop therapeutic riding school, starting with walks around her kitchen while pots and pans were banged to prepare him for hospital noise. Inside, he walks the hallways visiting patients in the burn unit and beyond, standing patiently while small sticky fingers pet him from all directions. 'He made me very happy,' said one teenage patient. 'It was a surprise seeing him in the hospital.' Studies link therapy-animal visits with lower anxiety and stress for patients and caregivers alike. Willie's professional review is simpler: barely a flicker, all visit long — then, as his namesake would put it, on the road again.