Sue Miller-Harsin helped Deontae Young up on the horse's bare back.

   "Have you ever been on a horse before?"

   Young, a freshman at Omaha South High School, hadn't.

   In fact, he'd hardly been out of the city, where he spends his time playing football and basketball.

   But as he started to ride around the arena at Unbridled Acres - one of Unbridled Acres' help guiding by holding the reins - he seemed to enjoy it.

   "Try closing your eyes," Miller-Harsin said as he came around the first time.

   "I already did, " Young said.

   

Young was one of 27 young men who spent Friday at Unbridled Acres, which specializes in equine therapy, with other classmates in Omaha South's Greatness Academy.

   The students in the elective class range from honors students to "those who have had some challenges in the past," their teacher, Tyrie Fant, said.  Fant has taught the class for two of its three years, and last year, the class made its first trip to Unbridled Acres.

   Through activities like riding, painting symbols on a white horse and hiking a trail, students were encouraged to look for introspection.

   

"I recoginize more of my weaknesses that I have in life," Jalen Tate, a junior who also came last year, said. "I'm able to control myself more after coming out here."

   Tate, as well as Young, also liked being away from the city life they're accustomed to, "like cellphones and things like that," Tate said.

   Through the horses, the students were able to identify and conquer their fears, Miller-Harsin said, adding that horses can be metaphorical to life.

   Young agreed that while riding a horse for the first time was "scary," he had fun.

   "It was just wild," he said.  "I've never been on a horse before, and for the first time, it was just nice."  

 

 

From Washington County Enterprise, Tammy Bain