Cowboys ride for mental health

Cowboys are famous for being strong and tough. But in reality, a growing number of them are experiencing difficulties with mental health and drugs.

Many cowboys and cowgirls find sharing their feelings difficult. And problems with drug addiction are leading to increasing deaths. In Wyoming and Montana, which are large farming states in the US, this problem affects farm workers too.

Rand Selle thinks trying to be tough makes it worse.

Rand Selle: "Cowboys are supposed to be tough. Like, we're, we're born and raised to be independent and not rely on anyone, and a lot of stuff we do is on our own. So, we don't have that communication skill to go elsewhere and talk and share our emotions, and I kind of think a lot of us struggle with that."

A friend of Rand, Jonn Beer, died because of drug addiction. Beer suffered a riding accident and was prescribed strong pain medication. However, he became addicted to the drug, which eventually killed him.

To prevent this happening to others, Rand's created the group 'No More Empty Saddles'. This provides a space for cowboys to discuss addiction and mental health.

There's a lack of mental health services in Wyoming, explains Sheryl Foland.

Sheryl Foland: "We don't have resources that you will find in other states. We don't have a mass group of mental health providers across the state or substance use disorder treatment professionals."

The group runs 'Tom Horn Days', which are a community event for cowboys and cowgirls. They socialise and have friendly riding contests, and there's somewhere to go for support.

Sheryl Foland: "I was here early last night, and, and I had a cowboy stop by. He'd been following us on Facebook, and he was OK. He just wanted a place to just talk. And that's what we gave him. And that's why we're here. We don't want to see any more needless death and destruction."

These events raise money to develop a support network for cowboys and cowgirls. 'No More Empty Saddles' aims to save lives through this community support.

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