Troubled Boys Ranch

Triangle Cross Troubled Boys Ranch

At Troubled Boys Ranch, we know that behavioral issues, substance abuse, and other youth challenges occur year-round, not just during the school year. We provide a complete year-round program.

Triangle Cross Ranch, LLC is a special place where your son will learn the lessons of a lifetime. Every boy has dreamed of being a cowboy. Picture your boy helping round up one thousand cattle on horseback in America’s breathtaking Yellowstone Park region!  Life struggles impacting pre-teens and teens in today’s culture disappear as boys unplug from devices and learn important life principles in a unique, transformational approach.

With over 30 years of experience with boys (ages 10-17), we enlist respectable mentors in our approach to instill principles of family and love as well as the “Cowboy Code of the West” – an honest, manly approach to life that is still alive and well in Wyoming.  This approach is based on our strong Catholic faith, and we accept families from all Christian traditions. We call this “Reality Counseling,” and your son will never be the same. Our experienced, caring, and committed staff provides solid academics and trade school education.  

Our Goal is to Help Troubled Boys

We strive to achieve excellence in all of the components of our philosophy: Education, attitude, responsibility, work ethic, and service. Here, boys start their journey toward understanding that a complete life means sacrifice and self-respect and that these qualities require constant attention. Life is sacred, and the consequences of our actions are the result of the choices we make. Boys understand that good results come from good effort and choices.

As your son enters our program for troubled teens, he is introduced to an uncertain yet exciting way of life. Part of the experience in our boarding school for troubled teens is living in a log house and helping with meals in a log kitchen. This is a simpler, more demanding life, and while each teen is expected to pull his own weight and contribute to completing daily chores, this is not a “boot camp” for troubled teens. At our boarding school for troubled boys, they live in a log house and cook their food in a log kitchen or outdoors. Duties include:

Care of ranch animals, including cows, calves, horses, dogs, and cats, plus more…

• Plant, irrigate, and maintain a vegetable garden
• Assist in harvesting

What is learned on the ranch directly connects to life when teens return home. For example, when they are assigned the task of feeding horses daily, that responsibility translates into making their bed at home or keeping their room clean.

Horseplay and horse work

Horses are an integral part of life here at Triangle Cross, and we use horses to teach Troubled Boys Ranch life lessons. We have several staff members trained in equine therapy, which means that interaction with horses helps the Troubled Boys Ranch recognize and reconcile their problems. As your son develops a relationship with his new environment and becomes more knowledgeable and responsible, he will be given more responsibility for the daily chores and events that make ranch life a maturing and challenging life experience.

More than just hiking and camping, the Frontier Adventure Troubled Youth Program for Troubled Boys includes participation in:

• Backcountry nature expeditions and exploration,
• Range management,
• Mapping noxious plant locations,
• Building and repairing fences,
• Repairing natural water springs at “cow camp”,
• Cowboy-ing,
• Carpentry,
• Horsemanship
• And more…
• basketball jones

Many young men today suffer from a lack of responsibility. On the ranch, we assign chores based on each boy’s capabilities in the current season and find a specific type of work to spark their interest. Depending on the season, chores include horse care, feeding baby calves, participating in cattle drives, building fences, and repairing and maintaining ranch vehicles and farm equipment.

Executive Director, Jerry Schneider, says, “Struggling boys desire to feel needed.  They need to believe that they are important to the day-to-day well-being of their family.  On the ranch, they learn quickly that they are vitally important to the ranch family.  Boys respond and grow when they truly believe they are part of something bigger than themselves.”

By accepting these responsibilities, troubled teen boys learn self-discipline. They quickly see that the work is necessary for the ranch’s survival. They also learn cooperation, which promotes self-esteem. Experiencing personal responsibility often motivates boys to complete their schoolwork—we call this Reality Counseling.

“Through the love of Christ, we aim to educate the mind, strengthen the body, and elevate the spirit of each at-risk young man at Triangle Cross Ranch, LLC. Healing transformation begins when struggling young men recognize that life is sacred and discover their God-given talents in His wonderful Creation.”–Mickey & Jerry Schneider, Directors