Synopsis
What happens to a racehorse who hurts his leg? Used to a world where the strongest and the fastest wins, how will he ever feel special and important again? Taken to a new place, the horse is soon carrying some very special riders. Some of them can’t walk and some of them can’t even see, but they play games, they wave, they smile. Like the horse, they may not be the strongest and the fastest, but they are all special and important. In this simple and sensitive story, Peggy Perry Anderson reveals the interconnection between everyone involved in hippotherapy and the benefits they all share from the experience.
Francine Thomas - Children's Literature
This uplifting tale is relayed through the eyes of a racehorse. When the horse is the fastest, strongest horse on the track, he feels special and important. But after his leg is injured, he must learn to live a different kind of life in a new place. Thankfully, the horse is well cared for. After being combed and brushed one day he is fitted with an unusual saddle, and a boy who arrives in a wheelchair is placed on his back. A walk around the ring makes both the young rider and the horse feel special and important. With economy of words and effective, colorful drawings, the author conveys the circle of hope drawn by the involvement of horses and volunteers who offer freedom for the disabled through a special form of physical therapy. Some of the disabled cannot walk, talk or even see, but with "hippo therapy" they are able to break through the confines of their physical limitations. An encounter at a therapy ranch in Oklahoma, one of many such ranches in operation throughout the country, inspired this book. It is there Peggy Anderson meets a twelve-year-old boy who has been riding since he was eighteen months old. Hunter is an amazing example of the progress possible through this type of therapy as the rocking motion of the horse relaxes tight muscles and strengthens weak ones. A concluding note explains more about the program. Hopefully, this book will enlighten readers, produce new volunteers, open fresh avenues of hope for some and rewarding possibilities for all. 2004, Houghton Mifflin, Ages 4 to 8.