Flocks of veterans and members of law enforcement participated in the eighth-annual Trail to Zero ride on Saturday, hosted by an equine therapy group many credited with saving their lives after their jarring return from service.
Fifteen former military members completed an arduous 20-mile trek through Manhattan on horseback as they advocated for suicide awareness, specifically for trauma-stricken veterans who often lack the proper resources to adjust to life outside of combat.
The ride, organized by equine therapy nonprofit BraveHearts, spanned more than eight hours from Ground Zero to Times Square and Central Park before returning south again to One World Trade Center.
This year’s valiant riders represented the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force and hailed from Texas, Indiana and Illinois.
Each horse also had ribbons on its mane that included the last name and branch of service for a veteran who lost their life to suicide, Amber Eck, the veteran services director for BraveHearts, told The Post.
The names are commonly submitted by people seeking to honor their loved one, and the ribbons are sent back to the respective family after the ride, Eck said.
The Squad 18 firehouse on West 10th Street served as the snack checkpoint, around 3 p.m., as firefighters set out a gigantic blue bucket for all the horses to drink out of — save for one picky pony who refused and was bottle-fed lemon-flavored Gatorade.
From there, they continued the final miles — covering 20 miles for the nearly 20 veteran estimated to take their own life daily — back to the One World Trade Center.
“It can be a heavy ride with what our mission is. Veterans that are on this ride, this is personal to them. They have lost brothers and sisters to suicide. Some of them have shared that they could have been a statistic themselves,” Eck told The Post.
Ellie Schlotz, 42, served as an analyst with the Air Force for six years. She and her 13-year-old American Mustang, Velvet, made the journey all the way from Wisconsin for the journey through the Big Apple.
Velvet had two ribbons on her mane that Schlotz said were for a pair of Navy and US Marine Corps veterans.
Schlotz said she’s rode horses since she was a child and now shares the “love of horses” with her own children while growing the BraveHearts community.
Ryan Ohrmundt, 51, served in an MP battalion in Iraq from 2006 to 2007 and also made the journey all the way from Wisconsin.
Every veteran knows at least one person who has committed suicide after leaving the military, he said.
There’s more to equine therapy than meets the eye, even if some overlook it as a “sideshow,” he added.
“When it comes to suicide prevention, when it comes to treating speech impediments or an amputee, or PTSD, there are so many different medical applications for a horse,” he said.
“And I think part of our cause is also to show people what they’re not seeing. We are trying to show them a door to open to go through to get to a place to get help.”
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