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| Stable Recovery has been transformative for Tyler Harris. (Photo by Anya Slepyan, The Daily Yonder) |
"Tyler Harris has been to rehab six times in the last 10 years. At one point, he had nearly five years of sobriety. But he could never get it to stick," reports Anya Slepyan of The Daily Yonder. "This time, he's trying something new. Harris is one of 26 men currently participating in the Stable Recovery program in Lexington, Ky. The program combines housing and recovery support with job training, preparing participants to work in the equine industry."
"Stable Recovery founder Christian Countzler said the program's built-in therapeutic community and emphasis on job training provide an alternative model of recovery," Slepyan writes. Countzler told her, "You don't necessarily need to go to a $30,000-a-year treatment facility. You don't necessarily need to go to prison or a hospital. . . .If you get a job that means something to you and you live in an environment that supports you, you will be able to recover."
As part of their job training, Stable Recovery participants spend their first three months "enrolled in the School of Horsemanship at Taylor Made Farm, which trains people in recovery to work as grooms," Slepyan reports. "Program founder Frank Taylor said he started the school to help solve what he sees as two interrelated crises—high rates of opioid and alcohol addiction, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and a labor shortage in the equine industry."
Horses need people, and Kentucky has lots of horses. "Kentucky's horse industry employs nearly 60,500 people and contributes $6.5 billion in direct and indirect annual economic activity, according to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. Although the industry is most concentrated in Central Kentucky, over 1 million acres across the state are used to keep, breed, and train horses, from Lexington to rural counties like Grayson, Pulaski, and Adair," Slepyan adds. "In response to the industry's labor shortage, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has also helped develop an employment pipeline for graduates of an equine program in the state Blackburn Correctional Complex. . . . Since 2019, more than 110 graduates of these three programs—all of whom are in recovery or recently released from prison, or both—have gotten jobs in the horse industry. . . . no TRF participants have ended up back in prison since the talent pipeline was established. This is especially notable given that nearly 30% of people released from Kentucky prisons will return there."
The School of Horsemanship has had similar success. "Around 70 students have graduated from the School of Horsemanship, several dozen of whom are now employed at Taylor Made Farm or elsewhere in the horse industry. Taylor Made Farm's staffing shortage has been addressed, and the demand for graduates of the program has spread to other farms," Slepyan reports. "By the end of the 90-day training, they are equipped to work as an entry-level groom in a range of facilities, from breeding and training farms to equine hospitals." Lewis Germany, who has been part of the Stable Recovery program for eight months, told Slepyan, "The outside of a horse is real good for the inside of a man."
"Stable Recovery founder Christian Countzler said the program's built-in therapeutic community and emphasis on job training provide an alternative model of recovery," Slepyan writes. Countzler told her, "You don't necessarily need to go to a $30,000-a-year treatment facility. You don't necessarily need to go to prison or a hospital. . . .If you get a job that means something to you and you live in an environment that supports you, you will be able to recover."
As part of their job training, Stable Recovery participants spend their first three months "enrolled in the School of Horsemanship at Taylor Made Farm, which trains people in recovery to work as grooms," Slepyan reports. "Program founder Frank Taylor said he started the school to help solve what he sees as two interrelated crises—high rates of opioid and alcohol addiction, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and a labor shortage in the equine industry."
Horses need people, and Kentucky has lots of horses. "Kentucky's horse industry employs nearly 60,500 people and contributes $6.5 billion in direct and indirect annual economic activity, according to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. Although the industry is most concentrated in Central Kentucky, over 1 million acres across the state are used to keep, breed, and train horses, from Lexington to rural counties like Grayson, Pulaski, and Adair," Slepyan adds. "In response to the industry's labor shortage, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has also helped develop an employment pipeline for graduates of an equine program in the state Blackburn Correctional Complex. . . . Since 2019, more than 110 graduates of these three programs—all of whom are in recovery or recently released from prison, or both—have gotten jobs in the horse industry. . . . no TRF participants have ended up back in prison since the talent pipeline was established. This is especially notable given that nearly 30% of people released from Kentucky prisons will return there."
The School of Horsemanship has had similar success. "Around 70 students have graduated from the School of Horsemanship, several dozen of whom are now employed at Taylor Made Farm or elsewhere in the horse industry. Taylor Made Farm's staffing shortage has been addressed, and the demand for graduates of the program has spread to other farms," Slepyan reports. "By the end of the 90-day training, they are equipped to work as an entry-level groom in a range of facilities, from breeding and training farms to equine hospitals." Lewis Germany, who has been part of the Stable Recovery program for eight months, told Slepyan, "The outside of a horse is real good for the inside of a man."
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