Lexington Recovery Center is preparing men in the early stages of sobriety for work and one of the Commonwealth's signature industries, through a partnership with Tailor Made Farms.

Residents of stable recovery are learning the ins and outs of horsemanship.

I was at a real low point in my life and I really wanted to come and try something that was different from the recovery centers I had done in the past.

Stable offers a job which most recovery centers I went to before did not.

And it gave me an opportunity to work around horses, which I had never done in my life.

Stable recovery is a long term transitional living program for men early in recovery from alcohol and or drug addiction.

We are basically structured living with a workforce development aspect to it, and we emphasize on the equine industry and equine training.

With the help of Frank Taylor, who is one of the brothers that owns Tailor Made Farm, I started Stable Recovery.

We're totally nonprofit.

We do not build Medicaid.

So we we focus on individuals and what they need to to get better.

It allows us men who are early in sobriety and give us the opportunity to get a job and go through the school of horsemanship.

It's a 90 day program.

They teach us all the basic grooming needs of a horse.

We learn how to administer medicine and treat injuries and getting them prepped for sale.

We started to bring men out here to learn the skill of horsemanship.

I saw the impact that that animal had on these guys and how quickly that changed.

A guy that was completely broken into, a guy that was kind of hopeful and thinking, Man, I might be able to do something about my life.

And so it didn't take me long to understand the impact that the horse had on a human.

And the horse does not judge.

It is one of those things that when you approach a horse, you have to earn its trust and it has to earn your trust.

And so it it starts this relationship that is really hard to put words on.

A lot of these guys have never been trusted in their life.

Just the interactions I have with them daily is so good for my mental health.

I can't really describe it until you get around the animal.

It just it brings me so much peace.

We are on one of the most prestigious horse farms in the world, and these are guys that are coming from homelessness and incarceration.

And they get these sort of views, you know, on a date on a daily basis.

There are so many different fields you can go into with, whether it be sales or just basic grooming, you know.

But there are so many different things.

You can train for a veterinarian, but just doing what we do here.

To get us started, it offers a lot of opportunities to go anywhere you want in the equine industry.

We've graduated several men in this program that now have solid careers in the horse industry.

That in and of itself, the industry itself, the acceptance they have have shown towards our population is unbelievable.

They don't care if you're a felon.

They don't care what your background is.

If you show up every day and work hard, you have a chance to advance in this industry.

When I left the farm, I felt like I was prepared and wasn't just going into something without knowing what I was doing.

And after doing this and working out on Winstar, I don't think that I will ever do a different job.

Now.

Over 100 stable recovery residents have graduated from the School of Horsemanship at TaylorMade Farm.

Congrats to them.