Special Needs, Special Horses: A Guide to the Benefits of Therapeutic Riding

Chapter 14: Helping Troubled Youth

99 Chapter Fourteen Helping Troubled Youth Emotional฀distress฀can฀be฀devastating.฀It฀doesn’t฀show฀on฀the฀outside ,฀except฀by฀a฀person’s฀actions,฀and฀is฀often฀misunderstood฀and฀discounted ,฀the฀troubled฀person฀told฀to฀“just฀get฀over฀it.”฀Of฀course฀it’s฀not฀ that฀easy,฀especially฀for฀children. Rocky฀ Top฀ Therapy฀ Center’s฀ program,฀ Right฀ TRAIL™,1 ฀ begun฀ in฀ 1994,฀has฀helped฀children฀cope฀with฀emotional฀problems฀by฀teaching฀ discipline,฀ responsibility,฀ team฀ spirit,฀ work฀ skills,฀ and฀ patience,฀ in฀ a฀ structured฀environment.฀It฀is฀a฀program฀for฀helping฀troubled,฀at฀risk,฀ youth฀find฀the฀“right฀trail”฀to฀a฀better฀life. The฀program฀operates฀in฀conjunction฀with฀the฀Keller,฀Texas,฀school฀ district.฀School฀counselors฀assemble฀students,฀age฀nine฀to฀sixteen,฀with฀ similar฀needs฀in฀areas฀such฀as฀self-esteem,฀behavior,฀academic฀performance ,฀social฀skills,฀or฀coping฀with฀grief.฀Groups฀of฀six฀to฀ten฀girls฀or฀ boys฀are฀bussed฀to฀the฀ranch฀after฀school฀during฀the฀twelve-week฀course.฀ Sessions฀are฀co-conducted฀by฀certified฀therapeutic฀riding฀instructors฀and฀ a฀school฀counselor. Program฀Coordinator฀Deb฀Bond’s฀words,฀and฀the฀true-to-life฀experiences ฀of฀her฀students,฀define฀the฀objectives฀and฀achievements฀of฀Right฀ TRAIL™. “This฀psychological,฀therapeutic฀program฀combines฀horses,฀a฀challenge ฀course,฀and฀other฀experiential฀activities,฀together฀with฀counseling,฀ to฀help฀youth฀better฀manage฀their฀lives฀and฀foster฀positive฀relationship฀ with฀family฀and฀others.฀We฀who฀work฀with฀the฀young฀people฀enrolled฀in฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀99 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:26฀PM THERAPEUTIC RIDING AND ACTIVITIES 100 this฀program฀see฀the฀small฀steps฀forward฀that฀are฀made฀each฀week,฀all฀of฀ which฀lead฀to฀more฀understanding฀and฀improvement฀in฀their฀emotional฀ and฀social฀lives.” Deb฀ recalled฀ several฀ incidents฀ that฀ exemplify฀ the฀ successes฀ often฀ realized. “This฀student฀enrolled฀with฀low฀self-esteem,฀poor฀social฀skills,฀had฀ been฀‘picked฀on’฀by฀her฀peers,฀and฀had฀no฀friends.฀Helmet฀on฀her฀head,฀ tears฀in฀her฀eyes,฀the฀little฀girl฀stands฀next฀to฀the฀horse.฀In฀a฀tiny฀voice,฀ she฀says,฀‘I’m฀afraid฀of฀horses.’฀The฀group฀encourages฀her,฀assuring฀her฀ she฀doesn’t฀have฀to฀mount฀if฀she฀really฀does฀not฀want฀to.฀The฀instructor฀ asks฀what฀she฀needs฀to฀feel฀safe.฀She฀buries฀her฀face฀into฀the฀horse’s฀ side.฀Her฀response฀is฀quiet,฀barely฀audible:฀‘I฀don’t฀know.’ “All฀the฀while,฀she฀strokes฀the฀horse,฀her฀internal฀struggle฀visible฀on฀ her฀face.฀After฀several฀minutes,฀the฀instructor,฀by฀her฀side,฀suggests฀she฀ stand฀on฀a฀mounting฀block฀and฀pet฀the฀big฀animal.฀Agreeing฀to฀try฀just฀ this฀small฀step฀toward฀her฀goal,฀she฀leads฀the฀horse฀to฀the฀block.฀Head฀ up,฀she฀says,฀‘I’m฀taller฀than฀he฀is.’ “Continuing฀to฀stroke฀him,฀cheered฀on฀by฀her฀peers,฀she฀at฀last฀requests ฀help฀onto฀the฀animal’s฀back.฀Fears฀faced,฀tears฀dried,฀she฀asks฀for฀ the฀horse฀to฀walk฀a฀few฀steps.฀Now฀smiling,฀she฀attempts฀the฀emergency฀ dismount.฀Landing฀on฀her฀feet,฀she฀is฀applauded฀and฀hugged.฀All฀smiles,฀ she฀comes฀to฀the฀circle฀where฀the฀discussion฀is฀about฀taking฀risks,฀and฀ emotional฀needs.฀She฀is฀able฀to฀share฀the฀revelation฀that฀fear฀can฀keep฀ you฀from฀having฀fun. “The฀student฀in฀this฀story฀is฀shy,฀withdrawn,฀and฀unwilling฀to฀accept ฀authority.฀He฀also฀has฀low฀self-esteem,฀low฀self-confidence฀and฀ poor฀ social฀ skills.฀ He฀ stands฀ off฀ to฀ the฀ side,฀ unwilling฀ or฀ unable฀ to฀ participate฀in฀the฀selection฀of฀horses.฀Head฀down,฀he฀kicks฀the฀dirt,฀ appearing฀to฀be฀uninterested฀in฀the฀activity.฀Unresponsive฀to฀his฀counselor ฀and฀instructors,฀he฀resists฀the฀urging฀of฀the฀others฀to฀join฀in.฀The฀ instructor฀approaches฀the฀boy,฀asking฀him฀to฀stroke฀the฀horse’s฀neck.฀ He฀complies฀once,฀then฀turns฀away.฀The฀horse฀reaches฀out฀with฀its฀ muzzle฀to฀sniff฀the฀boy’s฀neck.฀The฀boy฀turns,฀coming฀face฀to฀face฀with฀ the฀large฀animal.฀Hesitantly฀at฀first,฀he฀reaches฀his฀hand฀up฀to฀scratch฀ the฀horse’s฀ears.฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀100 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:26฀PM HELPING TROUBLED YOUTH 101 “Taking฀a฀cord,฀the฀instructor฀loops฀it฀around฀the฀horse’s฀neck฀and,฀ with฀the฀boy’s฀hand฀in฀his,฀begins฀to฀lead฀the฀animal.฀‘I฀can’t฀do฀it,’฀the฀ boy฀ says.฀ ‘Sure฀ you฀ can.฀ You’re฀ doing฀ it฀ now,’฀ the฀ instructor฀ replies.฀ Slowly฀the฀boy’s฀demeanor฀changes.฀Encouraged฀by฀his฀peers,฀his฀confidence ฀increases.฀Visibly฀more฀aware,฀he฀begins฀to฀talk฀to฀his฀new฀1200pound ฀friend,฀responding...