Jake Thorson,
Horse Professional
What’s the secret to good horsemanship? “Give the horse the best deal first,” explains Jake Thorson. Jake’s been working with Discovery Ranch students for the past two years, both in the boy’s house as well as the equine therapy program.
His career with troubled youth began in 2002 when he went to work for a wilderness therapy program. An avid outdoorsman, he initially took the job because he loved being in the wild. He also discovered he loved working with teens.
Jake’s career working with youth was placed on hold when, as a member of the National Guard, he was deployed to Iraq for fifteen months.
When he got home he saw an on-line employment ad for Discovery Ranch. “I started as a mentor and then after about eight months I got moved to a supervisor. I did that for about six months and then a position opened in equine therapy.”
Jake’s been riding and training horses for the past 13 years. As a teenager, his best friend lived on a ranch and the boys enjoyed spending their free time on horseback. Over the years he’s developed his own style of training.
“Ask and wait instead of force,” Jake says. “You use light cues and try to get the relationship built so that the horse wants to give you the movement when you give him the cue,” he explains. “You have to wait on the horse until he’s ready to trust you.”
He says that approach fits hand in hand with working with teens. “You provide them with all the tools they need and try to give them the experience they need to learn from – but you can’t force them to learn.”
Discovery students learn by doing and there’s plenty to do at the ranch. Students are responsible for hauling hay, cleaning stalls, and feeding and watering livestock. Jake says there are 20 horses at the ranch and between 40-60 feeder calves. Students are responsible for all of the animals care.
“Most of the kids that come to the ranch don’t know how to work when they get here,” he notes. “They all know how to work when they leave.”
Brandon Hanks,
Girls’ House Day Supervisor
Brandon Hanks has never been afraid of hard work. He was working construction when Leslie Giles, Discovery Ranch’s residential director, convinced him to make a change in is career plans. It was a choice that changed his life.
“It only took a week for me to know that this was the job for me,” Brandon recalls. That was almost three years ago. “I really like the opportunity to work with the kids,” he says.
Brandon began his career at the boys’ house. This year he became the Girls’ supervisor. In addition to his residential duties, Brandon’s also responsible for the feeder calf program at the ranch.
“At any one time we have about 50 calves,” he says, “and they’re all bottle fed.” Caring for them is a tremendous amount of work but Brandon says that’s what makes Discovery Ranch unique.
“There are a lot of other programs out there but they don’t give the kids an opportunity to work outside or be involved with animals,” he says. Brandon believes students and staff working side by side is another key element to the Ranch’s successful therapy.
He says the kids and the calves have something in common. “When the calves first get here they are all bottle fed. As they grow older, they move out of the hutches and become less dependent,” Brandon explains. “They function more as a group with just a few students caring for several calves.”
He adds, “When the kids first get here they’re very dependent on staff. As they grow and mature they become less dependent. They learn to work as individuals and as a group until finally they’re also ready to leave the ranch.”
Although he never pictured himself working with teens, Brandon says his job is difficult, but rewarding. “This job is a lot more mentally draining than it is physically, and we do a lot of physical work around here,” he says. “It’s tough trying to constantly make sure every student is getting the attention they need and deserve.” He adds with a laugh, “I’ve learned I have a lot more patience than I thought.”
Welcome to the quarterly newsletter for Discovery Ranch. We’re pleased to offer news and information to enhance your family’s DR experience. In the coming months you’ll see updates on programs, information about our staff, relationship helps and parenting tips from respected authors and speakers. We also welcome your contributions. Please give us your feedback at editor@discoveryranch.net
By Clinton Dorny, Executive Director
Recently I was in a meeting where I heard someone from another program describe Discovery Ranch as someplace where “they really emphasize DBT.”
This individual was only partially correct. We do teach our students how to use Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, or DBT.
The DBT therapeutic model teaches mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness and distress tolerance. It’s been recognized for years as an effective therapeutic tool in helping individuals discover their “wise mind,” or the place within them that is capable of managing stressful, even fearful, situations.
Many of our students have been living a life ruled entirely by their emotions. They often create chaos in their environment in order to see how much people care about them. They are always the “victim.”
DBT skills such as being able to identify what they are feeling at any given moment, help students move beyond operating emotionally to logically evaluating a situation or a choice and making positive decisions.
However, DBT is not what makes Discovery Ranch such an effective therapeutic program. What makes us unique is we create opportunities for the students to practice those DBT skills every day, 24/7.
It takes a tremendous amount of work to specifically structure activities that become learning environments. It takes communication from therapists to residential mentors to equine and ranch professionals to front line staff.
We make sure that communication happens every day. We do that, in part, through the use of a common language – the language of experiential. Unlike many other programs, our staff work side by side with our students. We train our staff to look for opportunities to ask students, “What DBT skill could you use right now?”
Let’s use George* as an example. One day the George and his fellow students were moving calves from one pen to another. George was blocking the way for the calves to enter. Did he even realize he was holding up his group’s progress? His mentor saw the metaphor and asked, “George, do you see what you’re doing? You’re blocking the calves’ progress. How do you do that in your life?”
This is what we call “real time” therapy. At Discovery Ranch “real time” therapy happens all the time. We can offer this type of on-going therapy because of the close cooperation of everyone involved in your child’s care.
I believe if we’re not creating a learning experience for your child we are simply filling time. While that may work for other programs, it’s not good enough for Discovery Ranch.
Our goal, every day, is to make sure everything we do gives your child a chance to learn and practice successful living skills.
* Name has been changed.
Kodiak and Otis, two starving horses rescued by Discovery Ranch, are making remarkable progress. The two arrived at the ranch a year ago after their previous owner abused them.
Discovery’s equine team predicted it would take at least a year to restore them to health, even longer before they could be ridden.
“The hardest part was getting them to trust us, getting them to want to have a relationship with us,” says Jake Thorson, Discovery’s Horse Professional.
Students helped nurse the horses along by making sure they had all the grain, alfalfa, and hay they could eat. The horses, who were emotionally fragile as well, were allowed to be stall-mates so each would be comforted by the other’s presence.
The eating disorder groups have been closely involved in the animals’ care, looking for parallels in their own lives. One student even produced a video documentary about how the horses abuse was similar to the way she treated her own body.
“The change that came over the horses really helped the kids with eating disorders see how they could be healthy again and how they could be kind of like new,” Jake notes.
Watching them in the pasture, it’s clear Kodiak and Otis have regained their strength and energy. Now Discovery’s most experienced riders are allowed to ride the pair.
“I’m amazed at how well they have rehabilitated, how healthy they look compared to a year ago. Looking at these horses now, you would never know they were neglected and starving.”
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