Arivaca Boys Ranch puts kids on right path
By Mike Touzeau, Special to the Green Valley News
Published: Friday, June 5, 2009 6:28 PM MDT
A precious last chance lies waiting for frustrated families in the scenic rolling Arizona rangeland near the Mexican border.
Surrounded by majestic rock formations and historic cattle territory, Arivaca Boys Ranch is tucked away in a quiet corner of the country that serves as a perfect setting for a troubled teen boy to find his own way back onto the right path toward becoming a man.
Founder and director Ron Searle has brought nearly 30 years of experience helping young people to a 23,000-acre spread that continues a 130-year tradition as a working cattle ranch in an effort to coax and encourage struggling boys to turn their lives around.
A seasoned veteran youth therapist, Glenn Banks Jr., joins former wilderness survivor program founder and youth counselor Mike Stroud and his wife, Margaret, who live on the ranch, in assisting Searle with his dream of using equine therapy as a proven therapeutic tool to guide young men through the nine-month program.
Each boy trains a horse assigned to him, learning responsibility through hard work, but more importantly, some unique insights from remarkable animals that can sense even the slightest emotions and behaviors in people.
“It’s amazing how powerful the lessons are as each boy interacts with his horse,” Searle said.
Bringing them along
Max’s methadone mom forced him into one foster home after another, so his horse sensed his anger early on, bucking him off. He’s trying to work his way back on, knowing he has to find a way to handle it first.
“There are two ways to break a horse,” explained Searle, who like the rest of his staff has years of experience with the animals. “You can force him or invite him, and it’s the same with the kids. We could force you, but you would resist, but if we invite you, you’re more likely to do it,” he said.
The boys' names have been changed for this story.
Jimmy, like his bunkmates, openly admits he was into drugs and in trouble with the law when he came here from a large East Coast city. After more than seven months, his biggest challenge, he says, will be to walk away from old buddies who will want him back on the streets with them when he returns.
“I’m going to have to eliminate a few of my friends,” he said, “but I know if I hadn’t been here, I would’ve been in jail probably.”
Nobody can predict what the real long-term effect will be for these boys, but Jimmy says he’s found self-confidence, a work ethic, and some self-respect he never had.
“I build stuff, I learn stuff,” he said as he was saddling his horse for a trail ride with three other boys led by Stroud, “but the main thing is I deal with people better.”
“It has changed my relationship with my parents by helping us see each other out of the box — no lying, tricking or power struggles.”
Ricky’s father wasn’t there for him, and his mother pulled on him so hard that he rebelled, he explained, as he worked on the computer lessons that are part of each boy’s daily schooling set up through an accredited program of online learning.
“I never paid attention in class anyway,” he answered when asked if he missed all that his modern high school had to offer compared to this.
“There are no distractions here.”
Boys ranch, unplugged
Guitars and ping-pong tables replace video games and cell phones. There is no television.
The boys rise from their bunks to chores, school, caring for and learning about their horses, grounds maintenance, and even regular round-ups. Evening recreation is encouraged till lights out at 9:30.
They earn “ranch bucks” for their work, redeemable at the ranch’s mercantile, and can be fined for violations.
There are individual and group therapy sessions, “trail time” with wranglers trained in conflict resolution and recognizing self-deception, and community service projects, including cleaning up trash left by illegal immigration traffic in the area.
Most of the boys come from big cities, but they learn to weld, paint and repair everything associated with the ranch — equipment, infrastructure, saddles and bridles, as well as how to round up and brand cattle, and perhaps most importantly, how to get along with each other and the adults who teach them.
“The boys made fire pits in the welding shop to raise money to have their own pizza parties,” Searle remembered, “but they decided to donate all the money to a church here instead. Nobody told them to do that.”
Working their way up
There is 24-hour staff contact. They earn privileges, such as a chaperoned movie in town, horse show, or overnight trail ride by achieving levels the staff has put names to, from greenhorn to graduate.
Requirements for advancement are outlined to the smallest detail, including training specifics with their assigned horses and helping other boys to learn and advance.
No one enters the ranch unless staff knows them and workers who come in have to sign releases regarding drugs, weapons and alcohol.
Tough first day
Tim just arrived last night at one in the morning, refusing to get out of his mom’s car.
Glenn and Ron talked him out and the other boys were able to calm him down, telling him it wasn’t so bad, and nobody was going to force him to do anything.
Glenn spent much of the late morning letting him work through it, getting him acclimated to what he knows will lie ahead.
“Tim will probably tell us what he thinks we want to hear for the first couple months,” Searle explained, “then he’ll refuse to do anything. We know what’s coming. Eventually he’ll come around.”
“These are just boys who made bad choices.”
Ricky’s getting close to graduating, so he continues to put in extra time in the small classroom, watching videos on how to keep improving his skills with horses.
He admits he’s already been through previous programs that didn’t work for him, including a boot camp-style one.
This is his last chance, he figures, and he feels he has made it this time.
“Those others were band-aids on a wound,” he says, looking up from the screen, “but this stitches it up and lets it heal.”
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You will be amazed, like us, to know what can & has been accomplished in only a month with our son! -Parents