Horse school is for troubled kids

The program incorporates academics with performing farm chores.
BAINBRIDGE, Ohio (AP) -- Holly Coe dreaded school.
The walls at Geauga County's Ledgemont High seemed suffocating to the quiet teen, and she wilted under the academic and social pressures.
Ds and Fs filled her report card. Stress filled her mind and body. Holly felt like an outcast.
But that was all before she met Grace.
The two get together every school day around 8 a.m. For the first time, Holly says she feels comfortable enough to open up and voice her innermost thoughts and feelings. Grace just listens, and does not judge. Best of all, she will never share Holly's secrets.
Grace is a horse, after all, and what's said in the stable stays in the stable.
Holly is one of nine area high school students with emotional disabilities spending each school day at Fieldstone Farm in Bainbridge Township about 25 southeast of Cleveland. The troubled teens split their time between academics in an on-site classroom and vocational training in the barn.
The pilot program dubbed Gaitway may represent a first in the field of equine therapy, officials said. The venture started this fall, a collaboration between the Geauga County Educational Service Center and the Cuyahoga East Vocational Educational Consortium, or CEVEC.
So far, all of the students are far exceeding previous academic marks. Some now speak of attending college, something they once hardly considered possible.
"Not everyone fits into the traditional school model," said Chris Lauretig, a CEVEC job training coordinator involved with Gaitway. "It doesn't mean anything's wrong with them. It just means they need a different setting."
Its benefits
Students selected for the program carry an emotionally disturbed disability classification with histories of lashing out, Lauretig said. Many have been diagnosed with conditions such as depression, anxiety and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders.
The slower pace and individualized attention of Gaitway suits the students.
"At regular school, there were too many subjects, too many bells," said Tim Pritchett, a sophomore from the South Euclid-Lyndhurst district.
The students begin at 8 a.m., grooming horses in the stables for a half-hour or so before heading to lessons in core subjects like English, math, science and social studies. They bounce back and forth between class work and farm chores -- cleaning stalls, mowing grass and loading hay in the barn -- before leaving at 2:30 p.m.
Counseling also is offered with an on-site social worker.
How the schedule operates
The schedule is fluid and every day differs, said Patti Hlavin, the primary academic teacher. A student growing flustered in class, for instance, may be excused to go to the stables and work out their issues before the situation boils over into an outburst.
The teens say they find calm interacting with the horses.
"They relieve stress," said Noel Jones, a junior from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school system. "When you're feeling down, you have someone to talk to. They've got nothing to do but listen."
But they also teach discipline, Lauretig said.
A teen's defiant attitude won't go far with a horse. The students are forced -- for their own protection, really -- to listen and follow the rules.
"When you're dealing with a 1,000-pound animal," Lauretig said, "you don't challenge."
There's a waiting list to enter Gaitway, which may be expanded next year, said Valerie Parker, who oversees programs for emotionally disturbed students in Geauga. Gaitway costs about $27,000 per student, with costs picked up by local districts.
Students say they realize the opportunity they're being given.
"As soon as I walked in here, I knew it was the right place for me," said Heather Bolton, a senior from Kenston High School who just entered the program. "It gives you a chance."