They are riding to corral the epidemic of veteran suicides.
More than a dozen former military members are saddling up for a 20-mile trip on horseback though the streets of Manhattan Saturday as part of an effort to raise awareness of the tragic issue.
The seventh-annual Trail to Zero ride – organized by equine therapy nonprofit BraveHearts – will see veterans and their steeds trot from Ground Zero to Times Square and Central Park before returning south again to One World Trade Center.
For some former service members, like Brandon Spandet, the iconic ride brings attention to the fact that roughly 20 veterans die to suicide each day and shows the public the success of equine-assisted therapy.
“I was very close to becoming one of the 20. It was a last ditch for me, I tried everything else,” 33-year-old Spandet, of Illinois, told The Post ahead of the grueling eight-hour ride. “I didn’t know what else to do. I showed up for my first lesson and I’m lucky enough that I’m riding … [draft stallion] Beau.
“He’s this monster, but he’s also this gentle giant,” he added. “He definitely saved my life.”
Spandet, also a first responder, recalled having difficulty transitioning back into civilian life after leaving the U.S. Army when he was referred to BraveHearts by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in 2022.
“[Beau] is the best listener: He’s seen me through bad 911 calls … and dealing with things from the military, and he doesn’t care,” Spandet said. “He’s going to sit there, listen and ride it out.
“He’s a total mirror of me a lot of days,” he added. “The instructors know when you’re off, and it’s because the horse is off.”
BraveHearts President and CEO Meggan Hill-McQueeney said “Horses have a way of reaching people in moments when words fall short.”
“Trail to Zero brings Veterans and community together, sparking important conversations about mental health, and reminding the public that we all play a role in supporting those in need,” she added.
“Horses are an answer for so many veterans.”
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, an average of 17 veterans die by suicide each day out of the roughly 130 suicides that happen in the total population. The number that has dropped from the 20 per day that occurred when BraveHearts launched Trail to Zero in 2017.
Spandet called the camaraderie of the ride life-changing.
“It’s what you do for your fellow man, and just helping out,” he said. “By the end of [the ride] you’re hurt and you’re sore – but you get to feel.”
“The fact that I’m given the opportunity to pay it forward — if I can reach just one and we can save just one person — then that’s worth all of it,” said fellow rider Amanda Bethards, a U.S. Navy veteran and certified therapeutic riding instructor at the nonprofit who joined in 2017 to manage her stress and anxiety.
Bethards, 40, has since participated in roughly a dozen rides including two in New York City. Similar rides have spurred in other cities since, including Chicago, Houston, Washington D.C., St. Louis, and even the French municipalities of Normandy and Deauville.
“Each ride carries its own weight,” Bethards said. “As excited as we are to share our mission – it’s a heavy ride … but for all those vets that are suffering, that are all by themselves and all the pain they’re going through, it’s worth that little bit.”
This year’s riders in the Big Apple represent the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force, hailing from Texas, Indiana and Illinois, as well as one Gold Star father whose child passed away during their military service.
The 14 riders have all have participated in BraveHearts’ equine therapy programs and have received training prior to the ride, Hill-McQueeney said.
NYPD’s mounted police unit and similiar units from surrounding states will also be in attendance to escort riders through busy intersections over the course of the ride.
Veterans like Spandet, who is preparing for his first ride in the Big Apple, say they are ready for the challenge.
“I’m lucky that I’ve ridden Beau every week for the last three years: I have this level of trust that he’s going to see me through,” he said. “He has to trust that I’m going to be okay [riding] with the trains, the buses and the cabbies.
“It’s a partnership,” he said, “and taking care of the horses helps me take care of myself.”