A former drug addict has revealed how horses have helped him to turn his life around.
Steven Coyle became addicted to alcohol and drugs as a teenager while living in the West Denton area of Newcastle. The 44-year-old spent time in prison, committed crimes and slept on the streets.
When his best friend died in 2016, it gave Steven the shock he needed to ask for help and he spent a year in rehab in Sheffield.
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After leaving the rehabilitation centre, Steven began volunteering at a horse sanctuary and he was spotted by the owner of an equestrian business, who offered him a job.
Steven has now been clean for six years and credits his success to the horses which he works with everyday.
He said: "I feel really proud of myself. I've witnessed a lot of death and destruction and to come back from that shows that I'm strong.
"Out of the 50 people who were on the rehab programme only me and another girl have stayed clean. The majority are dead or back in addiction.
"I can't change the past but what I am doing now is changing the future.
"I always dreamed that one day I would work with horses and it's happening now. Horses have saved my life."
Steven said he was brought up by his supportive parents in West Denton. He said that, as a child, he always had a fascination with horses - despite never having had any experience with them.
He said: "As far back as I can remember I have always dreamed of working with horses but there were no horses in West Denton.
"I used to love watching programmes on the TV about various kinds of wildlife and when it was something about horses my eyes lit up."
Steven said that when he was a teenager he began experimenting with alcohol and drugs and began smoking cannabis at the age of 14.
He said: "My school work was slacking a bit but I will managed to pass my exams. From 16 onwards I started taking cocaine and everything blew up from there - it was bad.
"I was on every drug you could name apart from heroin. I stayed away from heroin, I think it was because I had witnessed too many people die from it."
Steven said he soon began doing whatever he needed to in order to get his fix. He said this led to him being seriously assaulted by another person as he owed money for drugs.
He said: "After I left school, I went to Kirkley Hall College to do a BTEC in agriculture. Three days into the course, I was assaulted and suffered a serious head injury. They stamped on my head and they fractured my skull. I lost hearing in my right side of my ear."
At his worst, Steven was in and out of prison after committing crimes to fund his addictions. He weighed seven-and-a-half stone and would sleep on the streets.
He said: "I was taking drugs to feel better, I was taking drugs to survive. At that point, the alcohol and the drugs was what was keeping me alive. I stayed at my mam and dad's but if I was getting too much for them I would stay on the streets or subways.
"I didn't care what I did and I didn't care who I stole from. I made my family's life hell. Anything that would get me money I would do - I needed them drugs.
"When I was really, really out of it, I had a big argument with my family and I set fire to the kitchen. It was really, really bad. The next day I woke up and I had no recollection of doing it what so ever.
"I was all over the place, I was in and out of prison. I think at one point I was released from HMP Durham on Christmas Eve and was back in by Boxing Day.
"It was all fuelled by alcohol and drugs, it wasn't the real me."
Steven said he finally hit rock bottom when his best friend Jonathan Greenup died in his early 30s. He said he asked to be sent to rehab after attending his funeral in 2016.
He said: "That was when the penny dropped for me. I was staring at his coffin and I was thinking that's me next. I'm the next one that is going to be in that box. If I don't get help now I'm going to die.
"I rang my social worker up - he had been trying to get me into rehab for quite a while. I said 'I've just left my best friend's funeral, I need help, can you do anything for me?'"
Steven was taken to a rehabilitation centre in Sheffield called Phoenix Futures, where he recovered for more than a year.
He said: "I weighed about seven-and-a-half stone and I had to get carried through the doors of rehab, I was that weak. It was very daunting. I was leaving everything I knew and loved behind, back in West Denton.
"I was really anxious and nervous and I didn't know what to expect - I was petrified.
"Even when I got to rehab I still thought I was going to die. It was a big mansion with 50 people sharing a house. I thought am I going to be strong enough to get through this?
"I was in rehab for over a year. The first three months I had to detox from all the alcohol and drugs. I packed my suitcase nearly every other day. I was sweating all the drugs out of me. But the support in the rehab from all the other peers got me through that phase of the programme.
"After that, I had to deal with feelings I had never felt before. I sat on the end of my bed one day and started crying my eyes out for no reason.
"People say the hardest thing is doing the detox but it's not the hardest thing. The hardest thing is staying clean and sober and finding a purpose in life after you've done the rehab."
Steven said that he is now one of only two people on his rehab programme who has remained clean.
He said: "I feel really proud about that, it's a massive achievement.
"Within a week, six of my peers died. They did the detox, got clean and went home. They used once and that's was it, they were gone. I still sit back and think about all these people now.
"My mother was always in the back of my head. I wanted so badly to make her proud of me as I've caused her a lot of trouble."
Steven said he moved into a flat in Sheffield and began working with a key worker when he left rehab, who told him to begin an activity which he could commit to.
He said his friend told him about a volunteering position at Cold Mountain horse sanctuary and he jumped at the opportunity. The role involved feeding horses and picking up their poo.
Steven said: "This is where I learnt about horses. After I had done all the work I sat for hours everyday observing them. I learnt how horses behave and what to look out for.
"There were 12 horses in the field and they accepted me into the heard. The feeling from that was better than any drug I have taken in my life. "
Steven worked there for two years and his dedication was spotted by Alison Garner, the owner of a nearby equestrian business called Brooke Barn Equestrian.
She offered him a three months trial and taught him everything he needed to know about horses, including how to ride them and take part in show jumping.
Steven impressed so much that he was handed a job and has now been working there for nearly four years. In his spare time, he also plays football for Sheffield Futures FC.
He said: "It was the opportunity of a lifetime. I will always be eternally grateful to Alison. People take their horses to us and we look after them. At one point I was riding a policewoman's horses, which is quite ironic!
"There's no better feeling of freedom than riding a horse. It's better than any drug I've taken in my life.
"I'm going to be doing a horse race for the British Horse Society on the 3rd November. There were 12 jockeys picked out of thousands across the country and I'm one of the 12 that has been chosen.
"Sometimes I do feel like an imposter as I've only been riding three years. I do have to pinch myself at times. I'm not used to people accepting me for who I am.
"I never thought I’d kick a ball again but now I play for Sheffield Futures FC. I'm top goal scorer and all my team mates shout 'Shearer' when I score!"
Steven now returns to West Denton twice a year to spend time with his family. Before he returns each time, he puts together a risk assessment and avoids any areas where he may be drawn back into his old life.
Steven, who runs a Facebook page about his recovery, said: "Even though I am six years clean I still get triggers.
"I'm staying in Sheffield to keep myself safe. I go back once in the summer and once at Christmas to spend time with my family. It's nothing against West Denton, it's to protect myself.
"My family still can't believe it. They couldn't be any prouder and they tell me everyday."
Steven has urged others who may be in the same position as he was not to give up hope. He added: "I just want, if I can, to inspire the young ones back in West Denton. I know what it's like to be in dark places and get out of them.
"You don't have to go down the road I took. There is help out there for people struggling with addiction but no one is going to do with for you.
"Never ever give up your dreams no matter how dark it gets. After each dark night there is a brighter day!"
