The other day I was searching for a photo to illustrate a story when I came across a picture that caught my attention.

AP Photo

It was an old black-and-white of then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, his horse and a small child who was Richard Barnes, the 1964 poster boy for the National Association of Retarded Children.

What struck me most about this photo was the look on Richard’s face. Here he was, standing next to the president of the United States, but it wasn’t the man he was in awe of, it was the horse.

But I’ve seen that look before, many times.

I used to board my horses at a stable where there was also a group that provided equine therapy for disabled and mentally handicapped children. Many times I shared the arena with these children as they transformed from helpless, angry or unresponsive to smiling, happy and confident individuals.

Rupert Isaacson credits horses for helping his son, Rowan, deal with autism. It was a mare named “Betsy” that set Rowan and him on a journey that would change their lives.

“Rowan would have as many as 12 tantrums a day,” the 42-year-old father told ABCNews.com in April.

It wasn’t a typical toddler tantrum. These tantrums were full of deep distress where the child was inconsolable and unable to communicate his pain.

“All I could do was try to hold him and stop him from hurting himself,” Issacson said of he and wife Kristin’s attempts to soothe their son. ”When you see your child suffering like that it tears you to pieces.”

Issacson said he quickly learned that Rowan would calm down if he was allowed to roam and explore the woods outside the family’s home in Elgin, Texas, just outside of Austin.

“One day, Rowan went where I wasn’t expecting him to go and before I could grab him he was in my neighbor’s pasture, right next to a group of horses that happened to be grazing right there,” Isaacson said.

Rowan dived right under a horse. Issacson feared his son would be trampled and killed. Instead, what came next was life changing.

Photo courtesy of Little, Brown & Co. Publishers

“The old boss mare — who we later learned was named Betsy — walked over and pushed the other horses off,” Issacson recalled. “Betsy dropped her head and started making a chewing sound that horse lovers know as a sign of acceptance. I’ve never seen a horse offer that to a babbling 2-and-a-half-year-old,” he said. “Rowan and Betsy obviously had some sort of connection.”

It was that connection that would later take the family of three to Mongolia to experience the spiritual healing power of horses. Although Rupert does not say horses “cured” his son of autism, he does say it helped to heal some of the now-7-year-old boy’s worst symptoms, including the tantrums.

“Rowan is not cured of autism, but healing is a different thing,” said Issacson, who has chronicled his son’s adventure in a book titled “The Horse Boy” and a 2009 film called “Over the Hills and Far Away.” “He was healed of three terrible dysfunctions that were impairing his and our quality of life. He came back and was still autistic but his autism had quieted down and now it comes out more as a charming quirk. Now he is conversational; he’s in school.”

(To see more of Rowan’s story, watch the CBS News video below.)

But it’s not just children like Rowan or Richard who benefit from power of horses. We all do as well.

There’s not a person here who can’t tell me a horse hasn’t helped turn a bad day into a better one.

I believe God put horses in this world to help us and I’m not just talking about the physical things they do for us. I am talking about the spiritual. Horses lift our souls and heal our spirits.

So the next time your horse makes your day just a little bit better, remember to thank God for bringing him into your life.

The American Quarter Horse Foundation supports therapeutic riding. Click the link to learn more about America’s Horse Cares and how you can help. Remember, it all starts with one donor.

Wow! Did you catch the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby?

AP Photo

That come-from-behind victory by Mine That Bird was one of the most incredible runs I’ve ever witnessed. And what makes it even sweeter is that Mine That Bird has a Quarter Horse connection.

The gelding is owned by Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach’s Buena Suerte Equine, both farms that raise top racing American Quarter Horses. The gelding, who was last year’s Canadian Juvenile champion, is trained by Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr.

The New Mexican trainer was the most improbable to win the Derby, driving Mine That Bird more than 1,700 miles and 21 hours to Churchill Downs with a broken ankle he got in a motorcycle accident.

To read more about the journey of Mine That Bird and Bennie, go to ESPN.com.

Although racing experts say Mind That Bird won’t have much of a chance at Pimlico for the second leg of the Triple Crown, I would still drop a couple of dollars on the spunky bay gelding.

Tonya Ratliff-Garrison
Field Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal

The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue, subscribe now.