By Joey Chenoweth | Coolidge Examiner
As the state’s oldest correctional facility, the Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence appears ominous, with its high walls and very visible barbed wire looking like something out of a movie from decades past. But beyond those walls, past the barbed wire and the guard towers, select inmates have been able to discover a bit of peace and dignity, thanks in large part to some four-legged friends.
Because inside these walls are 5 acres where horses roam and burros sleep. In this section of the facility, inmates learn how to work with animals and train them so they can be transferred to a caring owner who will give the previously wild creatures a tame life.
This is all a part of the Arizona Wild Horse inmate program, a partnership between the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Arizona Department of Corrections that allows BLM-owned horses and burros to be trained by the prisoners. The program, the sixth of its kind in the country and the one with the southern-most location, began in 2012.
If you’d like to discuss equine law, contact Adam Trenk, atrenk@roselawgroup.com
