Equine therapy has long been a staple activity for special-needs children and adults, and its physical benefits are evident. In Riding Home, Tim Hayes uses his own vast experience working with horses combined with scientific research to show us how and why horses and our relationships with them are also able to heal our emotional and psychological wounds. Riding Home provides riveting examples of how equine therapy has become one of today s most effective, cutting-edge methods of healing where so often traditional therapy and prescription drugs have failed. The natural ability of a horse to accept, without judgment, a soldier with PTSD who has seen or done horrific things, and by so doing, express compassion and benevolent acknowledgment often preventing suicide is extraordinary. At-risk youth in equine programs find that horses don t judge or criticize them, allowing them to express painful feelings for the first time. This is a book for horse lovers, but also for parents of teenagers who might be slipping into violence, crime, and drugs. It is a book for loved ones of soldiers returning from the war, a book for families of autistic children, and truly anyone who needs help or has lost their way. It is accessible, moving, and shows us a way to approach healing from an entirely new perspective.

Horses help us discover hidden parts of ourselves, whether we re seven or seventy. They model relationships that demonstrate acceptance, kindness, honesty, tolerance, patience, justice, compassion, and forgiveness. This amazing power of horses to heal is accessible to anyone. Additional resources for therapeutic and nontherapeutic equine programs are also at www.ridinghome.com ".