When he became a youth pastor in the Maryland area, he went through a divorce and faced financial hardship. Looking for ways to help provide for his children (who now lived in a separate state), and needing a place to stay, Fletcher took to Craigslist to find work.

Upon his search, he found an ad that offered interested parties free housing in exchange for helping to take care of and maintain horses.

“The owner [of the job post] responded to my request and told me to come by and check out her ranch. It was on eight acres, and I loved it. I woke up, tended to the horses, went to the church to work, and went back to work with the horses. I was doing what I loved on both ends,” Fletcher said.

When Fletcher worked on the ranch, he would bring some of the youth he worked with to expose them to horses. These moments created a glimpse of what SOOFA would one day become.

A few years later, Fletcher moved to Georgia without a horse or any attachment to a ranch — a move which also meant a severe loss. According to Fletcher, he lost 90 percent of everything he had. However, with that loss came the discovery that would finally catapult his life forward.

He met a woman named Patricia, who owned a barn. And once she found out about his skillset and passion, she invested in his work.

“Patricia said, ‘You can’t be a horse trainer without a horse.’ So, Patricia went and brought me a horse. She [also] had a horse, and she had the mother to my horse. She dies like two months after that. Now, I inherit these two horses. So, I just started giving lessons,” Fletcher explained.

horses

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