Florida Using Horse Therapy to Rehabilitate Teens [video]

Texas isn't the only state using animals to rehabilitate its juvenile hall residents. For the past 12 weeks, eight young men from the St. Johns Youth Academy in Florida have spent their Friday mornings caring for and learning about horses.

The program was started by college student Jovie Reeves, who grew up riding horses. Jovie joined employees at Haven Horse Ranch in showing the boys how to care for and ride the horses.

In an interview with First Coast News, Jovie explained, "It made me realize how many things I had personally learned from riding horses that I had never realized like responsibility and accountability and respect."
One great outcome noticed by St. Johns staff, is the noticeable improvement in the boys' behavior and attitudes. 
Are there other juvenile hall facilities using animals to teach residents compassion, accountability and responsibility?

Liz Wu is a Digital Accounts Manager at Prichard Communications, where she oversees digital outreach for Reclaiming Futures and edits Reclaiming Futures Every Day. Before joining the Prichard team, Liz established the West Coast communications presence for the New America Foundation, where she managed all media relations, event planning and social media outreach for their 6 domestic policy programs. Liz received a B.A. in both Peace and Conflict Studies and German from the University of California at Berkeley. She tweets from @LizSF.