Reno, NV – Once a week, six-year-old Cody gets to do what he loves best, ride on another Cody, a white speckled Andalusian who was once a show horse. Cody (the horse) retired after a leg injury and moved to a little ranch tucked away in South Reno. Now, he’s little Cody’s favorite horse.

Laurie Roberts with Nevada Equine Assisted Therapy says, “When he's (Cody (the horse)) working with these kids, he is just so patient and so understanding and Cody, the little boy loves his horse."

Little Cody is autistic. He finds communication difficult and up until a year ago, he knew about 10 words. Roberts says, “Now we are seeing complex sentences, where he’ll ask questions, follow directions. He is an inquisitive and curious little boy.”

The program helps people working through emotional and social issues overcome those challenges by working with horses. For little Cody, his obstacle was interacting with others. His dad, Rudy Sandoval, says,” I’m happy because he’s actually socializing with other kids now.”