Horses bring hope to Lexington prison
LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – It’s a mission 43 years strong at Central Kentucky Riding for Hope.
The Kentucky organization has spent the past several decades helping people through the power of horses.
Pat Kline, executive director of Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, says, “The essence of us is we provide equine activities and therapies to individuals with a wide variety of different disabilities.”
The Riding for Hope team hopes to impact people of all ages and abilities, and they recently stepped into a new area of need at Lexington’s Satellite Facility Women’s Prison Camp.
Rachael Burns, assistant equine manager with Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, says “We are working on emotional regulation to help upon everyone’s release. Everyone seems to thoroughly enjoy working with Hank here and Hank also loves the work. Horses are our mirrors, so what we bring into the arena, the horses are going to show right back to us. If you feel yourself getting frustrated with the activity, you will see it in the horse. It really does force you to step back and take a deep breath and just kind of start over.”
The horses are brought to the prison once a week as part of the facility’s emotional regulation classes – saddling up to expand their outreach for anyone trying to improve their lives.
