New Beginnings For At Risk Youth By Nancy Brannon The term “at risk youth” evokes images of teens or preteen children who may be beyond parental control, may have trouble in school, may be involved in drug use, or may be involved in some type of gang or criminal behavior. Mike Archambault takes in “at risk youth” at his 200-acre working horse and cattle ranch, Cedar Creek Cattle Company, located on the Cumberland Plateau in Clarkrange, TN. He runs a full time program, a part-time day program, and a transitional living program for older kids ages 18-22 in his New Beginnings Youth Ranch. But the “at risk youth” at Archambault’s ranch are the opposite of what you’d expect. They are polite, articulate, patient, respectful, courteous, responsible n have I left out any other positive adjectives? They are some of the finest kids you would ever want to meet. New Beginnings Youth Ranch is Mike’s mission, his purpose on Earth, what he was “called” to do. Here is Mike’s story about how he came to found New Beginnings Youth Ranch. “As a youth, I had a hard time expressing and controlling my feelings and emotions. Some times, I even wanted to die. This spilled over into my young adult life, leading me down a path of self-destruction. Jail, mental hospitals, drugs and alcohol were consuming me. “But my life changed one day when I awoke in a hospital with a couple hundred stitches in my face from a car wreck. As I lay in bed, a voice, God’s voice, told me that if I ever drank again I would be taken from this world. I was 30 years old then, and I never drank again. “Life began to get a little better for a while. Then my father died and I was devastated. I could not understand why he died so young. We were just beginning to get along. Then I met Jesus the Son of God, and He showed me that He would walk with me, talk with me, and be with me when I could hardly stand. That is when life got really good! “I married my wife Jo Ann and life was going well. She is the worrier of the family, but somebody has to worry. We had bought a new farm and made new commitments, when suddenly we received an unexpected surprise: Harley, a beautiful special needs granddaughter. We thought we had just gotten rid of the Kids! Ha, Ha. Harley is now seven, and what a blessing she has been. Even though she can be a challenge, our Lord gives us the strength to endure. Now the Lord has laid this on my heart: young men starting out in the world without the tools they need to succeed. To give them the tools they need to succeed is the reason for The New Beginnings.” What is it about Mike’s program that transforms these “at-risk youth,” gives them the skills they need to succeed in life? Mustangs are the main ingredient in Mike’s program. He gets yearlings through the Mustang Heritage Foundation and the Bureau of Land Management every year. In his modest, nonchalant demeanor Mike says, “All I have to do is facilitate. Mustangs make a better therapeutic tool than anything else! If you show them attitude, you get attitude. If the child is nervous, you get a nervous horse. Horses teach patience to kids. As the kids work with the horse, the horse comes to reflect their personality. The horse reflects the person you are.” Mike told the story of Marcus, who has been at New Beginnings a year. “His parents just dropped him off three days before Christmas. They couldn’t get along with him. He had been to Wilderness camp, then to college. It was too great a transition from a totally controlled environment to one where he was on his own to attend class and do his work. So he failed. I’ve been mentoring him since he came here and now he’s enrolled in community college full time and he works here at Cedar Creek during the day. He is also learning farrier work. He worked for the Mustang Heritage Foundation this summer and is now in the TIPS, or Trainer Incentive Program. He earns $700 to $850 for each Mustang he trains and gets adopted; he has 90 days to do the work on each horse. He also works with the younger kids on the Mustang Challenge. Marcus has helped all the kids at one point or another. He helped them with the basics, with grooming, getting the halter on, etc. This is the third such event we’ve had. We placed 54 yearlings last year and the Challenge has placed almost 100 horses so far.” Barrett Velker, age 14, explained the work he did with his Mustang yearling Angel. “The Mustang Challenge is a good way to get over your fear of horses! They’re really just babies. I first started just trying to touch her. Then I got the halter on. They learn how to pick up their feet so we can clean them. Then we longe them. Later we teach them to go over a small wooden bridge, foreign objects, then jump over barrels.” Barrett won the Mustang Challenge by having his horse go at liberty through the obstacle course. She went over the teeter totter, then backed over it at liberty! This was the first time Barrett had ever trained an animal. In fact, he had never even had a pet before. All his work paid off, too, since he gets to keep the horse and will eventually train her to ride. Next year, he plans to train another yearling for the 2011 Mustang Challenge. Katy Gray trained her bay Mustang yearling Electra for the Mustang Challenge. “Longing and the barrels were difficult,” she said. “She was not as easy to train as the others. But now, if I ask her to do it, she’ll go.” John Thompkins trained Pluto, who is about 20 months old now. He has already trained his horse to be saddled and has ridden him some. Mike’s ultimate goal is to house about 15 young adults and use Mustangs as a tool to teach them life skills for success. He would like to link with TAFF, the juvenile facility in Pikeville and work out a transition living program. He has space to house six kids now, and plans for extending the bunkhouse living quarters to house 15. His present program has two full time kids and ten part-time kids who come throughout the week for the day program. “Some are home schooled, others come after school,” he said. For some reason, lack of money has not been an obstacle to achieve success with the kids. “It costs about $300 to do the 90-day program with the Mustangs. This is what God called me to do. Some way, we always seem to get enough money to pay the bills.” Still, there is always the need for additional donations. For more information about New Beginnings Youth Ranch, visit http://www.newbeginningsyouthranch.com/. To make a donation, click on the “donations” link on the main page. Donations can be as simple as prayers, or donations of tack, equipment, feed, building materials, or the universal gift n money. You can call Mike Archambault at (931) 260-1650.