Dan and another young man work on a wall around the riding arena at the Upreach Therapeutic Riding Center. Several yards away from them, several other relatively young men are doing the same kind of work on another section of wall.

They are stripping off old, rotting pine boards and two-by-fours and replacing them with new lumber.

Nearby, a man named Matt watches them work and sometimes pitches in.

There would be nothing unusual in this except that the first thing one notices about these men is that they’re all dressed in the same blue outfits. They are, it turns out, inmates from the Hillsborough County House of Corrections. They are on a work program that allows them to get out of the county jail and help non-profit organizations such as the UpReach Therapeutic Riding Center in Goffstown.

“The inmates help with things we couldn’t afford to hire labor to do,” Miles explained as she pointed out spots in the arena where water rotted the wood.

Miles said new wood was donated by Home Depot and Lowe’s.

“We’ve had several crews do different projects for us,” she said of the House of Corrections program. “One of the crews comes every year and cleans out all the stalls.”

Help for this project comes from the community, too, in the form of food provided by local restaurants. During the week, this latest group of inmates working at UpReach, was fed breakfast and lunch by Chez Vachon, Cote’s, Panera Bread, North Garden, Castle Caterers, Two Friends Cafe and the Hillview, all local restaurants.

Monday, for instance, lunch was deli sandwiches from Two Friends, and co-owner Heather Asang was glad to provide the food.

“We love to be able to help out local organizations and keep Goffstown thriving,” she said. This was her first time providing food for this program, but she contacted the riding center earlier and offered a gift certificate for another of its events.

“We use some of the local Web sites to see who is having local events and offer them gift certificates,” Asang said. “We approached (the riding center) last month for an event and offered one, and because of that, they came in and asked if we’d be willing to help with this.

“My immediate reaction was, of course. It’s great they’re getting the help they need, and if we can help, we’re happy to do it,” said Asang.

The riding center provides horses for youngsters and adults “with every level of ability and disability,” Miles explained. “The point of the program is the horse provides the therapy for strengthening muscles – for agility, balance, coordinations,” she said, explaining that when the horse and rider – accompanied by one of more than 400 volunteers who walk beside the horse for safety – are in the arena, “there are several tasks along the way they must perform while they are riding.”

But it’s more than just physically challenging, Miles said. “It strengthens their selfesteem, confidence and independence,” she said. “We have riders who can barely walk and when they’re mounted on the horse, they’re in control.”

Linda Morse, the riding center’s barn manager who is a certified equine specialist and instructor, explained that each student at the center has goals and objectives to meet, all dependent upon his or her disability. If one is autistic, for instance, the program helps the student to focus.

“We select activities to increase the ability to focus,” she said.

They center also needs people like Matt, the work party supervisor. He sees the work program as a benefit to the prisoners, most of whom are in the final stages of incarceration – generally for misdemeanors – before release.

“It’s a benefit,” he said. “This is a plus for them. They get out of the facility, they get to reintegrate into society, get their workethic back. But this is something they have to work for.”

Still, he, Miles and Cindy Labresque, who was helping to supervise the work on the arena wall, agree that the prisoners are well-behaved and pleasant.

“They’re a good group of guys. They work very hard,” said Labresque.

They eat pretty well, too. On Tuesday, for instance, they had meat pies from Chez Vachon for lunch and on Wednesday, Greek spaghetti from Hillview. For breakfast on Tuesday, Panera Bread provided an large platter of bagels.

“I just like to help out,” said Charlie Palaskas, owner of Hillview. “It’s helping both the prisoners and going to a good cause.”

Along with the Greek spaghetti, the workers got garlic bread and desserts from Palaskas. “I like that they are given a second chance,” he said, “and that they help out the community.”

Dan, one of the inmates working on the UpReach project, likes it, too.

“It’s a release from the confinement, so it really breaks up your day,” he said. “You get to learn a lot, too.”

He mentioned carpentry skills, landscaping and property maintenance.

“This is awesome,” he said. “Nonprofit work is the best. I like helping to make the place better.”