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Tornado Ranch to Offer Equine, Animal Programs; Honors Retiring TJJD Director Reilly


GAINESVILLE, Texas – The Gainesville State School broke ground Wednesday, Dec. 20, on a new, unique facility and program that will help students in custody learn agricultural skills and access a special type of horse therapy that has been proven to help at-risk youth with complex trauma, attachment disorders, and mood disorders.
The dedication of Tornado Ranch, as it’s named, honored retiring TJJD Director David Reilly, who has championed animal therapy programs as a way to reach and help troubled teens. Reilly was the impetus behind both the equine program, which will begin operation shortly at Gainesville, and the PAWS (Pairing Achievement with Service) canine program, already in place at the Gainesville, Giddings and Ron Jackson campuses.

Gainesville Superintendent Mike Studamire and Assistant Superintendent Deidra Reece presented Reilly with a handcrafted metal Texas “badge” made by youth in the metal shop and also unveiled photos of the new animal shelter at Tornado Ranch, which will be named The Reilly Equine Center.
Studamire and Reece gave a tour of the facility, which already houses two donated horses, Marquis and Delano, as well as two pot-bellied pigs, Hamlet and Bacon Bit, and their piglets.  The plan calls for the ranch to add more pigs, goats and cattle that the youth will help manage. Donated rescue horses and trained riding horses will share the land and participate in the Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) program, a signature feature of Tornado Ranch.
Those in attendance at the groundbreaking included TJJD Board of Directors members Edeska Barnes Jr. of Jasper, Texas, and James Castro of San Antonio; and TJJD Chief of Operations Chelsea Buchholtz. Barnes is the chief juvenile probation officer for the First Judicial District Juvenile Probation Department and is on the board of directors for the Texas Probation Association. Castro is the former CEO of the St. Peter-St. Joseph Children’s Home. 
TORNADO RANCH
Tornado Ranch, which will occupy 80 acres across the street from the Gainesville campus, has been in the planning stages for many months. It will be supported by a ranch foreman, correctional staff and an equine therapy specialist, among others.
“We’re extremely proud of our Gainesville team for taking on this major project, which will add an important new dimension to our rehabilitation and vocational training,” Reilly said.  “We’ve seen this therapy offer a tremendous boost to students in county probation programs, such as those in San Antonio and Georgetown, and look forward to putting this proven method to work for youth in selected state facilities.”
Added Studamire: “We’re discovering some of our kids come from this area and worked on farms growing up. They’re excited about earning the right to work on the farm and learn more about activities they already love to do.”
“This is the ultimate win-win situation: We are giving our animals a second chance at a great future, and giving our kids a unique way to learn and achieve,” Studamire said. 
Rather than solely relying on taxpayer money, Tornado Ranch is supported by multiple members of the community, including corporate investors, with a vested interest in improving the future for the youth served by TJJD.
THE EQUINE PROGRAM
The focused equine program will offer innovative treatment options for youth not well served by traditional treatment programs. Equine-assisted learning is a structured experiential form of learning proven highly successful in helping participants build personal and social skills.
Horse therapists in programs in Texas and across the US report seeing youth improve communication and problem-solving skills, and build empathy, patience, self-awareness and self-confidence.
In EAP, students can learn these life skills in small, cost-effective groups that studies suggest positively impact mental health and help troubled youth build resilience.
EAP’s interactive therapy, which involves extensive ground work and riding, works by forming a therapeutic alliance among a licensed mental health professional, a youth, and an equine partner (i.e., a horse).  Studies suggest that this novel therapy helps at-risk youth recover from complex trauma and attachment and mood disorders. Guiding, grooming and riding the horses buoys the youth’s mood and triggers the release of stress-relieving endorphins.
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