Sometimes, in the darkest moments, light comes from unexpected places: in this case, the early morning light of a barn full of horses.

When drug and alcohol addiction derail life, recovery can lead to a new start, but when the usual models for rehabilitation do not provide the right tools to rebuild, a different approach is in order. Stable Recovery, the brainchild of founders Christian Countzler and Frank Taylor of Taylor Made Farm, provides that. Now, the program, which earned a Special Eclipse Award in January 2025 for its impact on the lives of its graduates, has started a new women’s program to expand its reach and help more people struggling with addiction.

Teaching hands-on horsemanship (Courtesy of Stable Recovery)

The Stable Recovery program has served as a guiding light for men recovering from alcohol and drug addiction for six years. Its unique combination of both practical- and psychological-skill building gives those who have previously tried other rehabilitation programs a chance to explore a different path, as participants work with horses while also working on themselves.

Stable Recovery’s year-long program teaches residents horsemanship skills while also participating in 12-step meetings, with the goal of rebuilding each person from the inside out. Its pillars — accountability, structure, discipline, and responsibility — have provided a foundation for a new start for more than 100 graduates, including Grade 1-winning trainer Will Walden, whose Bless the Broken finished third in this year’s Kentucky Oaks; and Blaine Servis, who now works as an assistant to Brad Cox and is the son of John Servis, trainer of Hall of Famer Smarty Jones.

For most of its six years, Stable Recovery has focused on men, but in September, they added a new phase to this successful model: a women’s program, located at Spy Coast Farm in Lexington, Ky. The farm works with performance horses, including Grand Prix show jumpers, offering the women currently part of the new program a chance to learn how to care for their equine charges, from grooming to preparing stalls to learning about the horse industry.

The decision to develop a separate women’s program came after Stable Recovery saw how beneficial their approach could be for women as well as the men that Countzler and Taylor have worked with.

“We had four women that started the School of Horsemanship at Taylor Made while living at a different sober-living program,” said Katie Silvers, the women’s program director. “That also gave us the time to see, ‘Is it going to work for women?’ And it did, and they loved it. And so that's when we were like, ‘OK, let's get a house, and let's make a women's program.’ ”

The healing power of horses (Courtesy of Stable Recovery)

In early September, six women moved into the house to start the program, working at Spy Coast while also learning to live together as they each walked their 12 steps into a new phase of their lives.

For Shahana, one of the Stable Recovery “sisters,” being with other women on the same journey is “really great because we're able to relate to each other a lot more than the men, and just able to build each other up in a completely different way. And a lot of us, before we came here, we didn't really have close women friends, which I think is really important. We can definitely relate to each other’s stories in a completely different way.”

An exclusively woman-oriented program allows Silvers, the counselors, and others involved to focus on issues that are often different from those that men may face.

“Women are different from men, right? We subject ourselves to different things that men do not subject themselves to. So, I don't want to say that women have it worse, but women can tend to come in just a little bit more beat down than men,” Silvers observed.

“Women are more subject to sex trafficking, domestic violence. So, seeing these women come in just completely broken and being able to create that purpose and give them that love back in their life that they've lacked for so long as a woman in recovery, I know how important that is to these women.”

For Shahana, the Stable Recovery approach itself was a big part of her reasons for seeking help through the program.

“I decided to come here because not only do they help you with your substance abuse issues, but they help you with having some stability and having some real-life experience,” she said. “Other places, they just keep you in class and you’ve got to do it all yourself.”

Stable Recovery program working for women (Courtesy of Stable Recovery)

Currently in the school of horsemanship at Spy Coast, Shahana and the other women of Stable Recovery are hands on with the horses every day, living embodiments of the idea that our equine friends are balm for our souls.

“I love animals. It just feels fulfilling to be able to nurture something. It just makes you feel good about yourself,” she said.

While each participant goes through the same program, operating on the same schedule, learning the same skills, and sharing their experiences in the same meetings, the approach at Stable Recovery is individualized, as Shahana observed: “They really try to focus on each person instead of just putting you in a class and making it very general, the curriculum or whatever. Then they really do help you with anything you need to do that's going to get you set up for when you leave here.

“You get work experience, and you have a whole team and family behind you. They're helping me get my license right now. They've helped me settle all of my legal issues. They've even helped reconnect me with my family,” she continued.

“At other places, they disconnect you from the world while you're in treatment. This place puts you out in the world and helps you get ready and have experiences that will help you whenever you leave.”

Spy Coast not only offers a safe haven for Shahana and her compatriots in recovery as they build practical skills that will help them find employment but it also provides role models in the women who run the farm, which is owned by Lisa Lourie with Modesty Burleson, V.M.D., as chief operating officer.

Shahana gets a hug from Dr. Modesty Burleson (Courtesy of Stable Recovery)

“Placing these role models in their lives for the horsemanship skills and then also just giving them an outlet, it's been so positive and so rewarding,” Silvers said. “Also, you’ve got a house full of six women. Some of them don't get along all the time, right? They have always found a way to work it out and come back together as a family.”

“I don't ever feel judged by anyone there. I'm able to talk to women who are in a position of power that don't make me feel bad about my past or who I am,” Shahana explained. “They want us to succeed. They're there with us every step of the way. It's helped my communication skills. It's definitely helped me feel more confident.”

Once she has been through the school of horsemanship, successfully navigating the red, yellow, and green phases of Stable Recovery, Shahana and her sisters will graduate to the next thing: full-time employment at partners like Old Friends, Hallway Feeds, Winstar Farm, and more. Their time at Spy Coast will help them find that foundation for the future, one that allows them to rebuild their professional and personal lives. This program gives them the chance to reconnect with themselves and their families, thanks in part to these four-legged friends and the magic they work on the human soul.

“I can't exactly be there for my loved ones in general, as well as I'd like to be because I'm not in that position yet,” Shahana said. “But just being able to go and take care of the horses and love on them every single day, that makes me love myself more.”

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