Horses helping people heal inside Lexington prison

For the last 41 years, Central Kentucky Riding for Hope has worked to be a safe place for people in need.

Executive director Pat Kline has been proudly a part of that mission for years.

“The essence of us is we provide equine activities and therapies to individuals with a wide variety of disabilities," Kline said.

Physical, mental, emotional, cognitive.

The therapeutic horse facility opens its doors for people of all ages to put them in the best position to learn and grow.

Over the last decade, the Stables Program has become prominent, an alternative school for kids who need a different approach to their education.

An asset that's inadvertently led to a new program with Lexington's Satellite Facility's women's prison camp.

“There were some personnel who worked at the prison. They were at an equine event in Lexington and ran into some of the children that actually attend school here in our Stables Program," Kline said.

"Somebody drew a parallel that maybe this would work for some of the adults in custody they have over at the prison.”

The Riding for Hope team brings horses to the prison once a week as a part of the facility's emotional regulation classes.

Adults in custody work alongside the steeds through different challenges to help them manage and understand their emotions on a higher level.

"Horses are our mirrors so what we bring into the arena, the horses are going to show right back," Rachael Burns said.

“We had to talk about body language and how to direct your energy into different parts of the horse’s body safely to help them move and understand what direction to go in.

Burns isn't just the assistant equine manager for Riding for Hope, she's also a certified therapeutic riding instructor and equine specialist in mental health and learning.

She's the one in charge of bringing the horses to the prison, helping these inherently emotional animals change the adults lives for the better.

“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 start over.”

While this is still a fledgling program, Kline is hopeful with how things have started.

She admired the work being done at the prison to help adults turn their lives around.

“We're so impressed with what that facility is trying to do for the adults in custody and how they were really working with the people to improve their lives and we thought if we can help with that, that's something we want to do," Kline said.