On a sunny fall afternoon, four-year-old Ray Janicke arrives at AHC for his fourth therapy session on Hal, a handsome chestnut quarter horse. First Nancy King asks if Ray wants to walk one of her three miniature horses. He picks Penny, a shaggy pinto, and they set off down the long driveway, Ray holding the rope confidently while King walks alongside.

His parents, Ray and Lisa, watch fondly. “The first time he was hesitant, didn’t want to get on the horse,” relates Ray, Sr. “They stood him on a box on one side of the horse, and they handed a brush back and forth to him over the horse’s back. Then the staff took turns getting on the horse, and eventually he wanted to try. Now he gets on immediately. Last time he grabbed Hal and started walking him.”

On the way to the center, says Lisa, “He has a big grin on his face. At home, I notice his balance has improved.” Ray was diagnosed with autism at the age of 18 months.

You’ve heard of therapy dogs, which foster emotional healing in patients at hospitals and other medical facilities. Now we have therapy horses, whose services are a boon to people with special needs, especially children on the autism spectrum.