There are many expectations at Stable Recovery, a drug and alcohol rehab program based at Taylor Made Farm, the world's largest seller of thoroughbred horses. Residents are up by 5 a.m., ready to work — and sober.

Roughly 50 men are recovering from their addictions at the Kentucky farm, alongside 750 horses that give them structure, help them heal and keep them on track.

"A big part of addiction and recovery is being honest with yourself," said Christian Countzler, CEO and co-founder of the program. "It's real easy to be honest with a horse."

Countzler and Frank Taylor, whose family owns Taylor Made, are both in recovery themselves. They say that connection allows them to see themselves in the program's participants.

The program also addresses a practical challenge: a growing labor shortage in the horse industry. Stable Recovery was designed as both workforce development and addiction recovery, training people in meaningful careers built around thoroughbred horse industry.

For Taylor, getting his brothers — who co-own Taylor Made with him — to allow Stable Recovery on the farm wasn't easy. He persuaded them by pointing to Taylor Made's mission statement: that the family would live out its Christian values while making a profit. They eventually agreed to a 90-day trial.

"There was a laundry list of risks," Taylor said. "What are customers gonna think? What if a horse gets hurt? What if somebody ODs?...But you might save somebody's life, and you might give some mother her son back and you might give some kid his dad back."

Stable Recovery is a yearlong, 12-step program where participants live, work and heal on the farm. Unlike most residential rehab programs that can cost thousands of dollars, it's free for participants, funded completely by private donors and grants. Residents don't pay for room and board until they're gainfully employed after completing the program's initial stage.

That first stage is the School of Horsemanship, a 90-day training program in which participants learn the fundamentals of horse care and farm operations. Graduates can begin full-time, paid work immediately after completing it. Finishing the full one-year program earns participants "legacy graduate" status.

"The purpose of the job, which the horse provides, has been a difference maker for these folks," Countzler said. "With the horses, it provides a purpose and that's something that many people suffering from addiction lack. They've lost their purpose. So, coming out to this farm and knowing that those horses are on the other side of the gate waiting on them...it's just been a game changer."

Josh Franks knows that firsthand. He came to the program as a homeless ex-felon, fighting addiction since he was 11 years old.

"I was the guy that mom said, 'Get out of my house and never come back,'" Franks said.

But the horse didn't know anything about his background.

"They don't ask where you come from, how'd you get here, what'd you do? They don't judge me," he said.

Franks started out cleaning stalls. Two and a half years later, he supervises the care of 178 horses.

"I literally was on the street, crying my eyes out every single day, begging God to take me off this earth. Four hours into this farm, I'm smiling again. I got a horse in my hand. I just, I feel like I have a purpose and that was here to take care of these animals," Franks said. "These horses loved me back to life."

It's not just therapy, but hard work with valuable horses. Participants learn skills caring for and training thoroughbreds that may one day become derby winners. 

"You never know what horse you're touching...it could be the next Breeder's Cup champion," Franks said.

Taylor calls the horses the "secret sauce" of the program. 

"There's a bond between a broken person and a horse that is special and healing," he said. "They come in here, they're depressed, they're anxious, they're nervous. And you just put 'em with a horse, the light comes back in their eye."

For Franks, the horses aren't the only factor. 

"When you're talking about the Stable Recovery program, it's the fellowship — bar none. I can call any of those guys if I'm struggling. I'm around those guys all the time. And then you add in the horse and it's just... it's a game changer," he said.

That brotherhood is a core part of the program. Dorm-style living, 12-step meetings, daily work and family-style cooking create a strong sense of community.

The approach appears to be working. Twenty-five people have completed the one-year program, 22 of whom are still sober and working in the horse industry. Other farms have begun to recognize Stable Recovery graduates as hard-working employees. 

"They see the value in these individuals and they're willing to give them a chance. And so far, these folks have proven themselves every single time," Countzler said.

Now, Stable Recovery is expanding. In early September, it opened its first women's house at a women-run horse farm. Countzler and Taylor hope to extend the model further. 

"I want to see it expanded across the nation," Taylor saod. "And I want to see more horses being used to heal more people in all areas of life."