Join HAPI Trails for the second annual industry-wide campaign, May 1-31, 2023 – Mental Health Awareness Month.
APRIL 1, 2023 – Horses have been incorporated into various human health and wellness services for many years, however, involving horses within the context of mental health is relatively new. Horses can make a big difference in the mental health challenges so many people face and help them transform in a safe and powerful way. That’s why HAPI Trails, with the help of premier sponsor Zoetis, and producers, Horses for Mental Health, Arenas for Change (ARCH), and Equine Network are thrilled to announce the Seen Through Horses campaign will be returning for a second year.
Seen Through Horses is a peer-to-peer awareness campaign in which people, non-profits, mental health specialists, celebrities, influencers, and businesses help to increase awareness, and public engagement and raise funds to improve access to programs incorporating horses into mental health and personal growth services. The campaign is set to run for the entire month of May 2023.
In 2022, the inaugural Seen Through Horses campaign garnered support from equestrians of all levels, including celebrities like actor and musician Riley Smith, resilient survivor and activist Jaycee Dugard, actor Eric Roberts, country music legend Randy Travis, and many others. It also raised over $60,000 for non-profit organizations that transform lives through horses. The 2023 campaign, which will take place May 1-31, is on track to be even bigger than last year, with 65 nonprofit organizations as Charity Partners.
This is HAPI Trails’ first year joining the Seen Through Horses Campaign. We’ve understood the power of working with horses since we first started helping horses in 2009. We watched rescued horses grow and thrive in healthy and supportive environments. Then we saw the impact they had on the individuals who worked with, volunteered, fostered, and/or adopted them. Connections were made, confidence was gained, and multiple ways of healing were occurring all around us. It was incredible to witness and was a movement we could not deny.
“The process… the results… the connection and the healing that occurred after I adopted my first horse guided me to continue on the path of working with horses. Then I discovered how we could take that connection… the growth, the learning, and the healing… to the public through Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.” – Julie Martin, HAPI Trails ED
In 2015, HAPI Trails became certified and began providing Equine Assisted Mental Health Programming to members of the community. We’ve continued our certifications over the years and are now working to grow our programming to include multi-day workshops, Veteran specific programming, and group grief counseling.
In addition to our premier sponsor and producers, premier partners supporting the campaign also include the American Horse Council, American Psychological Association’s Section on Human-Animal Interaction (APA HAI), Black in the Saddle, EQUUS Films & Arts, Horses & Humans Research Foundation, Institute for Human-Animal Connection, PATH International, Polyvagal Equine Institute, Natural Lifemanship, Temple Grandin Equine Center (CSU), and The HERD Institute.
To learn more about how Seen Through Horses is showcasing the incredible impact horses have on mental health, visit horsesformentalhealth.org/campaign.
About HAPI Trails Horses Adoption Program, Inc.
Our mission is to provide a happy, healthy, and nurturing environment for abused, abandoned, and neglected horses. We are 100% volunteer and dedicated to rehabilitating and re-homing these horses into loving, compassionate, and permanent homes, enhancing the life of the horse as well as the new owners.
Our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy & Coaching Program (EAP) gives us an opportunity to help our communities and our horses’ well-being. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy & Coaching is an evidence-based practice that betters participants mental health. Using horses helps increase self-awareness, creates interpersonal growth and client-centered learning.
About Seen Through Horses
Seen Through Horses is a peer-to-peer campaign composed of individuals, nonprofits, mental health professionals, influencers, and businesses to increase awareness, public engagement, and raise funds to improve access to programs incorporating horses for mental health and personal growth. Horses can make a much-needed difference for the mental health challenges so many in our world face. Seen Through Horses aims to convene a community, empower nonprofits, and share stories of transformation to illustrate the positive impacts of incorporating horses into mental health services and programs.
The campaign is composed of mental health and equine professionals who have dedicated their lives to supporting both horses and humans. Seen Through Horses Campaign is made possible by our Premier Sponsor, Zoetis, and executive produced by Horses for Mental Health, Equine Network and Arenas for Change (ARCH).
As we galvanize the equine and mental health sectors around one message, espoused at the same time, we encourage you to choose a nonprofit organization to support from May 1-31, 2023 by visiting www.horsesformentalhealth.org/campaign.
