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Sacramento County Inmates Will Help Break In Wild Horses

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) — Inmates at Sacramento's Rio Cosumnes Corrections Center will be learning how to break in wild horses in a first of its kind program.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department will be the first county in the nation to work with the Bureau of Land Management to take in extra wild horses and use the inmates to train them.

"Many times, these folks have never even seen a horse, so this will be a great opportunity to learn something about themselves," said Deputy Chief Milo Fitch

The hope is that breaking in the wild horses will help break the bad habits of inmates.

"It's more of a therapeutic value," he said. "They're able to learn a lot from that animal and translate that to their behavior."

There are four states with wild horse prisoner training—Nevada, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming—but Sacramento is the first county.

Fitch says the state statistics show the wild horse training programs reduce the number of repeat offenders in the system.

"It's been said that you can't lie to a horse," he said.

 

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