Review At The Movies The Horse Boy On November 5th, a group of more than 50 people gathered at the Malco Paradiso to watch the Memphis debut of the critically acclaimed documentary The Horse Boy. Author and filmmaker Rupert Isaacson came to Memphis to personally introduce his film, about his trip to Mongolia to seek healing for his son’s Autism. Afterwards, he signed copies of his books. Some of those in the audience also have Autistic children and many work in therapeutic riding or a profession that provides services for mental disorders. The Horse Boy premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Isaacson has led an adventurous life. A travel writer, a journalist, human rights advocate, and horse trainer, his articles have appeared in Esquire, National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveler, The Field and many other publications. He was born in London, his mother from South Africa and his father from Zimbabwe. Research for his first book, The Healing Land, took him to South Africa where he studied the last group of Kalahari Bushmen still living in the traditional way. His book describes the remarkable displays of healing techniques by the Bushmen Shamans, juxtaposed against the social problems that a dispossessed people endure. His personal transformation and fascination with the Shamans and traditional healing set the stage for his next most difficult and rewarding adventure n taking his Autistic son Rowan to Mongolia in search of healing from the Shamans. Rowan’s worst symptoms were chronic tantrums and incontinence.The first great breakthrough with his son’s Autism came when Rupert placed Rowan on the back of his reliable mare Betsy. Rowan’s uncontrollable tantrums stopped and he spoke! “She’s a nice horse.” Encouraged by Rowan’s affinity for horses, Isaacson set out to heal his son’s Autism. The Horse Boy documents the family’s travels to visit Shamans across Mongolia. Isaacson’s horse training background is the other part of the foundation for the healing adventure. Isaacson has been riding horses since he was a small child. He used to train foxhunting horses in Kentucky and Virginia. “We got racers off the track, trained them to jump or do other sports, then sell them. The really mad ones you can’t sell, you keep for your own uses,” he quipped. His tales of foxhunting in England included descriptions of humongous fences the horses jump during the chase, which make Olympic size cross country fences seem small in comparison. In England he hunted in the area where foxhunting started, in Leicestershire, Staffordshire, and Darby. In the U.S. he has hunted with the Hillsboro Hounds near Nashville and Tennessee Valley Hunt near Knoxville, TN. He even wrote a book about foxhunting. Isaacson has continued his travels around the world seeking further healing and providing adventure for Rowan, who will turn 8 years old this Christmas. “Last year we went to Africa. This year we went to Northern Queensland, Australia. We plan to go see Shamans each year. This year’s healing will visit Native Americans here.” Isaacson also has a New Trail Center for teaching special needs children. “You can use the horse as a moving classroom, too, for example, to teach fractions, like going half-way around the pen, then a fourth way around the pen, etc. Bareback riding is a key element in therapeutic riding,” he said, because the rider gets good feel of the horse’s rhythmic movements. He has five horses, three of which are therapy horses. His horses are also “trained to do other jobs, like dressage, jumping, and tricks. I use a lot of trick training with therapy. Extreme collection, such as piaffe and passage, brings euphoria to the kids. It stimulates speech,” he said. He primarily uses 20” Western saddles, which allow room for a child and adult to sit in the saddle together.For more info about the film, visit www.horseboymovie.com. For info about The Horse Boy Foundation, visit www.horseboyfoundation.org.