The kids at Aspen Ranch behavioral treatment center have to ride bareback until they "earn" a saddle. Working towards a relationship of trust and communication with the horse, they must be able to emergency dismount - jump off a moving horse (waiting till the horse has slowed down if cantering) and landing on their feet, or butt. (it's safer to land on than their head). Riding in full gear requires the student to know reining skills, plus the aids to make a turn on the forehand and turn on the haunches. The teenagers, who come with behavioral, self esteem and addiction problems, must demonstrate a balanced posture while riding.  The "saddle module' class, as it's termed, means homework in a horsemanship work –study guide. By the finish of the course, they will have shown they can work positively with the horse, instilling confidence in the horse and themselves because they aren't bouncing around, aren't hard on the horse, and know what they're doing, explains Chad Lyman, Equine Director at the Ranch.

A sixteen year old male at the Loa, Utah, school hadn't completed the horsemanship saddle test yet - so he was to hike behind the students in a mountain trail ride.

The student, who had come from another residential facility, was resentful that his parents had chosen was resentful that his parents had chosen a behavioral treatment school for its equine program. The youth exhibited a "I hate horses' attitude," as Lyman called it, and saw the horses as one more way for his parents to exert control over his life.

But he joined the group on the trek, and ascended halfway up the mountain in the wilderness therapy experience. He became tired. One of the group's riders offered to carry the overnight gear on his back.

The students process what they experience after the trail ride with an equine therapist. The once anti-equine student expressed his thoughts on climbing the 10,000 foot Fish Lake Mountain: "Maybe I am bitter - the horses have carried my stuff up. Maybe I'll give horses a chance." He softened towards his parents, peers and teachers.

The student went on through rehabilitation to complete a requirement where he helped train an unbroken horse. Being in the training seat shifts the kids to a parental role.

Lyman says the kids identify with a green horse - the unpredictability, short attention span, the need for direction. (Though all horses there are picked there for their trainability - saneness and sensibility. Safety is paramount, explains Lyman, who has a John Lyons natural horsemanship background)

The three year old sorrel Quarter Horse-Missouri Fox Trotter the student picked often ran through the bit - not stopping by bracing against the bridle and continuing in forward motion. "Why are you working with the sorrel mare?" the therapist asked. "She's not respectful," the teenager replied. "Is that like anybody you know?" his therapist wryly quizzed.

In many equine therapy programs, students pick their horse. A girl in early adolescence chose a Morgan-Quarter horse mare who wanted to be in charge all the time. Lyman said the girl wanted to work with big, powerful horses - she saw potential in herself to have the traits she admired.

The Ranch's horsemanship program and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy have a synergistic outcome towards the aim of awareness, communication skills and responsibility. The school's psychotherapy program facilitates intensive, deep psychological processing through work with the horse for its age 13 - 17 year old residents. Self - discovery, as Lyman notes, can come at various times through the course of a student's day with the horse, not just in a structured session.

Central developmental issues among adolescents include boundaries, (involving personal space, not taking what isn't theirs, not giving themselves to harmful or emotionally unsafe situations) peer relations, abandonment and depression, says Terry Lewis (right), Clinical Director for Great Strides therapeutic center in Damascus, MD. "With the horse, the kids learn to respect the boundary space of the horse, as well as learn to set a boundary around the horse respecting the human's space," she says. Teenagers disassociate a lot (disconnect from present, where they are emotionally). When they hit a difficult issue, they check out, explains Lewis. But "teenagers view therapy as a punishment," she says. "They need to do something to diffuse the intensity of their relationships." In the relationship created through the animal and therapist, the horse becomes the focus, so the therapist is not the enemy.