This dissertation is the report of a qualitative study of at-risk and delinquent girls housed in a traditional residential treatment facility, who also participated in an animal-assisted and gender-specific therapy program using horses, outside of the residential institution. To date, no such studies exist examining both the gender-specific and animal-assisted approaches to addressing troubled girls' needs. The study is guided by Relational Cultural Theory, a theory that focuses on human development primarily through connections with others, which was specifically designed to address the significance of the relational experiences of females. The ethnographic approach used in this study of girls provides rich data to understand these girls and their experiences in a more comprehensive context.

The program appeared successful in empowering girls and in improving their ability to focus, manage their emotions, and relax. About half of the girls attributed improvements in their behavior to the Horseback Miracles program, and this effect was particularly evident for girls who reportedly developed connected, mutual relationships with the director of the horseback riding program. Overall, the results indicate that the equine program played an important role in girls' lives. It allowed them to distance themselves from the negative institutionalized environment, characterized by disconnected relationships with peers and staff members and by access to negative coping mechanisms (drugs, tools to self-injure, and methods of escape). Thus, it provided girls with a method of resisting the institutionalized identity.