Jaylon J. Martin participates in equine therapy with his “horse best friend,” Beau. (Special to the American Press)

During times of hardship, friendships are an important source of support. In the poetry collection “I Talk To Horses,” Jaylon J. Martin recounts his recovery journey in equine therapy with his “horse best friend,” Beau.

Martin, 24, found himself in equine therapy last April.

“I just remember one day, I just had this need to be around horses, just out of the blue.”

After he asked around online, he was referred to Almosta Ranch in Sulphur, a 39-acre farm where guests can take a carriage ride, take a hop in Almosta Lake, or heal alongside the ranch’s horses, ponies and donkeys.

His first time at the ranch, a bag of apples in hand, Martin made an instant connection with the two-year-old Gelding Paint Quarter Horse with one blue eye and one brown eye, Beau.

“There was one horse who just clung to me the entire day of my first visit at the ranch,” Martin recalled. “Beau, he just did not want to leave my side. And we’ve just been inseparable ever since.”

In equine therapy, clients care for and build relationships with horses. This act helps mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and addiction. For Martin, who now visits the ranch twice a month, his time with Beau has helped him recover from addiction.

He has been sober for two years now. His journey has been emotional, and his two poetry collections authentically recount his road to sobriety through accessible poetic imagery, he said.

Martin has been writing and publishing since he was 13 years old. His first book, a Sci-Fi novel called “Black Star,” was written when he was a student at Lake Charles Charter Academy.

His eighth-grade English teacher, Ms. Myers, assigned the class a project where students created a dystopian universe. The project inspired him so much that he turned it into a novel.

He graduated from McNeese State University with a Bachelor’s in English and a specialization in writing. He writes both fiction and poetry. His fiction is solely for storytelling, but poetry is his emotional outlet.

His first poetry collection, “Recovery Ride,” was written during the fall of 2023 and is a testimony to his initial alcohol recovery. “I Talk To Horses” will be his last poetry collection because he has told his “personal story to the fullest,” he said.

“I Talk To Horses” is an honest exploration of not only Martin’s experience in equine therapy but also his healing journey.

“It’s me inviting my readers to the deepest and darkest parts of myself,” he said. “Not just about the addiction, but also unspeakable traumas, because I feel like I do owe my reader an explanation of what certain poems are about.”

Poetry serves as an outlet for both the reader and the writer, he said. And despite preconceptions about the medium, poetry is for everyone.

“When you ask people if they like poetry, they tend to tell you they don’t, because poetry has this long track record of being very cryptic and vague and clinging to imagery to the point where the readers aren’t really sure what exactly the poem means,” he explained. “I try not to be cryptic at all. I try to be very clear and precise, especially when it comes to the imagery of it all.”

Martin’s favorite poem from the collection is “Brown Eyed Lucifer,” a poem about a friendship break-up, which is a topic he believes is not talked about enough.

“That poem is about me having to let someone go who just would not hang on to me, not just when I was going through my recovery, but in life in general,” he said. “It was also a wake-up call to me to realize who exactly that person was.

“I’m one hundred percent honest in all of them, but I excelled with that poem, because I’m still struggling with that heartbreak to this day. But that poem gives me some type of closure in a way.”

The progression of Martin’s equine therapy is reflected in this poem. “Brown Eyed Lucifer” went through many drafts. But the one that ended up in the books is a living poem that grew and healed alongside Martin.

“This version of the poem is much kinder than the original,” he said. “Because it’s much more kind and more accepting of myself and the situation as a whole … that’s why I stamped that one as the final product.”

He said the process of writing “I Talk To Horses” was “almost like writing a country album.”

Country music was instrumental in his writing process. To honor this, Martin will be releasing a spoken word country album where he reads his poems alongside country music instrumentals written by his friend, Taylor Fillion.

His spoken word album will be released on all streaming platforms on August 15.

Martin isn’t slowing down. Next year, he is releasing a college fantasy novel called “Alicans.” This will be his seventh book release.

His works are available for purchase online and in local bookstores, Creative Roots, The Charmed Page and Krew’s Books and Brews.

More information is available on jaylonjmartin.com.