A Family's Success at Aspen Ranch

When kids are in trouble, they usually try to hide it from their parents. The Smith family was lucky in that their son chose to confide in them before his problems skyrocketed out of control. "Last year Scott came to me," Cindy recalls, "and he asked to go to a wilderness program."

Cindy and her husband Bill did not know that their son was struggling. Though school was difficult for their son, he didn't appear to be in any crisis. "He never had a problem with drugs," Cindy says. "But I found out that he was smoking marijuana, and marijuana is a problem. And I found out too late. He hid it well. I didn't see many signs because he still went to school, he still did his chores, he was home at night, and he was an active boy scout. So we were pretty stupid - at least that's how we feel at the moment. But we're not any more."

A friend of Scott's had gone to a wilderness program, and she came back wanting a new life. "I think our son felt that he was getting too carried away with kids that weren't doing well," Cindy says. "School was always really hard for him. For the first time, he ditched a class one day, and realized he needed to get some help. He did see a therapist here, but they never discussed anything other than cars and silly things to be honest." So Scott's parents did some research and sent their son to a wilderness program. "While he was there, all my research indicated that the 6 to 10 weeks in a wilderness program is not enough for these kids, and so we were thinking of putting him in Aspen Ranch," Cindy says.
One Saturday night, Scott didn't answer his cell phone. When he got home, and Cindy decided to take his cell phone away, Scott suddenly admitted he need help. "I know that sounds very odd, but we listened," Cindy says. "When he was away, we did find drugs in the house. I was home, the kids were here or they would hang out at the local parks, his friends didn't change, but you know, you don't see everything."

He said that he felt he needed to go away someplace where he could get some help. "He felt paranoid, he felt like he was being chased, and he wasn't able to stay in school," Cindy explains. Scott's parents had taken their son to a psychiatrist earlier that year, and they had started him on medicine for ADHD, but his behavior got progressively worse. "For the first time he stopped wanting to go to school," Cindy recalls. "It was a very short period of about two and half weeks when school started, and everything changed, and in my gut I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't pinpoint it."

The family hired an advocate. "The Equine program at Aspen Ranch happened to be our advocate's favorite program," Cindy says. "The advocate didn't want him in a locked facility. My son loves the horses, and she recommended Equine Therapy the first time she met Scott. When we went to see Aspen Ranch, we couldn't believe how beautiful it was."
When Cindy spoke to other parents of children that were enrolled in the Aspen Ranch program, she heard stories of kids resorting to extremes, and she felt grateful that her son hadn't reached that point yet. "But would he have?" Cindy wonders. "The answer to that would probably be yes. We just caught it in time. Our son knew something was wrong, and told us, and we listened. So I think we're lucky."

When Cindy and her husband sat in on two parent conferences at Aspen Ranch, she realized that many of the kids there have excessive drug use and prison records. "Our son didn't have any of those problems, I believe that a lot of our son's problems were because his self-esteem was just so low."

Although Scott is ecstatic about the horses at Aspen Ranch, Cindy says he misses home a lot. "But he loves the horses," Cindy notes. "I can't emphasize that more. I think Equine Therapy is something he's going to want to always do - he likes the horses that much. He always was a very sensitive kid, and I think it has helped his confidence. He's a really good rider. He does every exercise he can with the horses."

There's a level system at the Ranch, and the higher the level you achieve, the more privileges you receive. "My son's at a level now where we were able to take him to dinner the last time we were there," Cindy says. "He's working very hard for his next level, where we can actually have Utah visits that would be overnight, and with that level, he can have what's called a project horse. I guess that he would be assigned a young filly, and they're wild horses. He would train the horses, and only he could ride that horse. I guess the ultimate goal is that they can eventually take their horse home. I know that's something that my son would really love."

At Aspen Ranch, Scott's academics have improved. "The school has a very small amount of kids in the class, from four to tens kids in class," Cindy reports. "It's amazing." He's also made some friends, but it hasn't been easy - except for his bond with the horses. "I fully believe our kid just loves those horses. He has one particular horse that he really, really likes. She's quite a wild horse, and Scott's just incredible on this horse. He's always been very athletically gifted. He sits tall, and he loves riding. The people who are in the barn are wonderful. They're really kind, wonderful people."
When Scott goes home, Cindy hopes the family will integrate horseback riding into their life. "We don't live that far from horse country," she says. "My son might be able to get a job on ranch. He's that good with the horses."

* All family names in this interview have been changed to protect the privacy of the family.