News We Love: Maryland farm helps inmates build futures through grooming horses
A Maryland farm provides incarcerated individuals with life and work skills through horse grooming.
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The program at Second Chances Farm gets inmates out of cells and into fresh air for a chance to learn about themselves and how they can improve their lives. The participants care for former racehorses, including descendants of the legendary Secretariat.
"We partner with them to train our incarcerated individuals on grooming and care for the horses that live here for the rest of their lives," said David Greene, the assistant warden for the Maryland Correctional Pre-Release System's Dorsey Run Correctional Facility.
Brandon Nobles, an inmate, leaves the correctional facility every day to work with retired racehorses at the farm.
"It's giving me an outlet. It's giving me something to do every day and gives me responsibility that I don't usually have. It's good to be around the horse. It's calming and gives me a little bit of alone time sometimes," Nobles told 11 News.
The program is a partnership between the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.
Chelsey Truesdell, the program's manager, spoke highly of Nobles' progress.
"He just took his final assessment last Thursday and passed his written exam with flying colors and passed his practical exam. (He's) doing a really great job," Truesdell told 11 News.
The program's objective is to prepare the participants for success upon their release from prison.
"Our objective is to put these men in the position to be as successful as possible when they go home, providing them access to community-based programs," Greene told 11 News.
Tyler Frame, who is formerly incarcerated, found purpose and direction through the program. He is now the CEO of a business called Spitfire Equine.
"The program teaches you how to self-reflect on what you have done and how you got here. Nobody just wakes up one day and commits a felony," Frame told 11 News.
To date, 60 people have graduated from the program; Nobles will soon join them.
"Patience is the number one thing that I've learned. Dealing with these horses is patience. Before I landed here, I had a job at a store. I made a mistake. Being incarcerated also taught me a lot," Nobles told 11 News.
