A disabled soldier, back from fighting in Iraq, leaned forward and rubbed the small gray mare's neck. He whispered to the horse, as if confiding in a girlfriend.

Across the arena, another injured warrior, a larger man, was leaning back in his saddle and actually appeared to be dozing off as a gelding named Dakota walked along gently in the arena at Maryland Therapeutic Riding in Crownsville.

"Talk about being in the moment - when you are up there, everything else is blocked out, everything else goes away," founder Naomi Parry, said as she looked out over the riding area.

Tears came to Parry's eyes on...