It was a 20-mile ride to healing.
Fourteen veterans on horseback accompanied by the NYPD’s mounted unit made the annual “Trail to Zero” trek Saturday morning to raise awareness of the epidemic 🌳of veteran suicide.
The distance of the journey throu🎉gh Manhattan represents the number of veteran lives lost on average each day.
US Army Veteran Mitchell Re🗹no, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2000 to 2004, broke his back and neck in combat and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse before joining BraveHearts, an equine rehabilitation program.
The program “really saved my liಌfe,” said Re🍃no, 36, who has been sober for the three years he has been riding.
The veterans were accompanied by 18 mounted cops and four state troopers as they rode from East 90th♚ Street and Fifth, down to Times Square, then stopped for sandwiches on Christopher Street. They made their way to the World Trade Center Memorial at Vesey Street to pay their respects, pose for pictures and rest before riding back up to Central Park.
“Every year it gets better,” Reno said.