"The Horse Boy" Rides Today: The Healing Power of Horses Illuminates Our Need to Know More About Autism

"This is a story everyone needs to hear."
--Animal Behaviorist Temple Grandin PhD
(who is also autistic)

Today is the USA release day for the new book The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson, a book that has nothing to do with hooves and everything to do with horses on the most elemental level: the power of horses to let us be ourselves and to bring out the best in us.

If you had a child who needed your help with a massive problem like autism, where would you turn after you had been to all the doctors, all the clinics, and all the psychologists? Would you pace around your own dusty Texas backyard, and then turn to your neighbor's Quarter horse mare, to see if she might be able to help? Horses helped you when you were a child, didn't they? And if she did help him...then what? Would you stop there?

Or would you go to the ends of the earth to try to help your child? If a little bit of horse is good, would a lot of horse be better? Would you set aside all the cultural and belief systems you hold and look for help in a place so strange and foreign that only the smell of the horses was familiar?

If you did those things, it would sound and look like the story and photos in this important new book, the true story of a family on the run toward hope, because they already know it is futile to stand still. "It's important to do something," the experts tell them. But no one expected a young family to take on an adventure like this.

A photo by Justin Hennard who accompanied the family on their Mongolian journey.

You may know someone who works with therapeutic riding programs, a special needs teacher or volunteer, a parent or family member with a child who needs some hope, or someone who believes very strongly in the spiritual power of horses to heal humans on many levels. Please tell those people about this book. However, The Horse Boy is not a how-to book, and it's not a text on autism or horse-assisted therapy: it is one family's story...that happens to be a great adventure.

Here's a short clip from the documentary film made about the family's journey to Mongolia. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this winter and will be in theaters across the US and Britain this fall.

A year ago the readers of this blog forwarded Molly the Pony's story around the world and back again. If you can possibly forward this post to friends today, it might make the difference to some children or some therapeutic riding programs somewhere. I am sure that the publicity surrounding this book will be wonderful for all who are involved with equine-assisted therapy. Let's get the word out! The copy-and-paste address for this blog post is: http://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2009/04/horse-boy-rides-today-healing-power-of.html The book can be ordered now from Hoofcare Books (see below), or possibly from your local independently-owned bookstore. Editors, journalists: Please contact Fran Jurga about The Horse Boy's horse-related publicity. Click here to read an article about the book in today's edition of the New York Times. Ordering info: Mail checks in US funds to Hoofcare/Horse Boy, 19 Harbor Loop, Gloucester MA 01930. Tel orders 978 281 3222; Fax orders to 978 283 8775; email orders horseboy@hoofcare.com. Cost per book: $25 plus US postage: $6 first book, $4 each additional book. Canada and the rest of the world: $25 per book plus $13 post per book. Note: postage rates subject to change without notice. Please include telephone and/or email contact information with all orders. THE HORSE BOY was published in the USA by Little,Brown on April 14, 2009; it is 368 pages, hardcover with dust jacket, color photographs. Click here to download a printable/mailable/faxable order form.

New Book Announcement: Therapeutic Farriery Available from Hoofcare Books

Therapeutic Farriery: A Manual for Veterinarians and Farriers by Yehuda Avisar has made its way east.

"Yudi" may not have a name that is a household word in vet/farrier circles, but I don't know of many well-known experts who would have the time and perseverance to complete a project like this. He has paid his dues; this Israeli-born veterinarian worked as a farrier at the side of the legendary Charles Heumphreus, longtime resident farrier at the University of California at Davis' vet school, and many of the photos in the book show examples of his work on cases at the school.

This new book is very well-researched and referenced. Many of the photos look dated because they are from the Heumphreus archive, but this is the closest thing we have had to an actual new textbook on farriery in many years. You won't find banana shoes or plastic shoes or inflatable hoof pads or even Natural Balance shoes. There are no justifications for hoof balance theories and hardly a word about wild horses.

If there is such a thing as a subjective science, hoof science is it. Every author is noted for his exclusions and his biases and this book is no different in that respect. And the cases are all illustrative of the dry California hoof, something that has been missing from hoof reference books to date. The author's specific division of hoof problems into subsets is inspiring--he even has separated heel dermatitis from foot mange and defines things like "false quarter". He gives references to people like Don Birdsall, a California farrier who was way ahead of his time in "mapping" the foot and studying coronary contour and dedicates a small section to the oft-overlooked (or misdiagnosed) problem of coronitis. Most interesting to me was a section on frostbite and, conversely, burns in the hoof caused by power tools or resin curing.

One could use this book to reference many concepts in farriery and find both text and clear diagrams to back up a certain technique. It would make an excellent textbook for a college or professional course, and I think that may the author's intent. The book is nicely designed, with references in color to offset them from the text.

The tendency in farrier publishing is for an ever-rising standard of photography and graphics, thanks to the influence of talented visually-oriented people like Chris Pollitt. This book takes a step or two backward, to the text-centric, footnoted reference books of the pre-Internet, pre-PowerPoint age. When you need a reference book, this book can be a treasure on your bookshelf.

Therapeutic Farriery costs $90. You can order it from Hoofcare & Lameness; please include $6 for post in the USA and $13 for post to most other countries. It is hardcover, 292 pages, and is fully indexed and illustrated. Click here for a printable, faxable/mailable order form, or send an email with Visa/Mastercard info and your full name and address to books@hoofcare.com

And how's your book coming?