KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Dozens gathered in Kansas City’s Hale Arena to shine a spotlight on horsemanship as well as mental health in rural America.

Jeff Winton, the founder of Rural Minds, has spent a lifetime around horses. But moreover, he has spent a lifetime around heartache.

In 2012, Jeff’s 28-year-old nephew, Brooks, died of suicide in rural America.

“When that happened it became very apparent that no one wanted to talk about it because there’s an embarrassment factor,” Jeff said. “We even had the pastor tell us that some of the people in our small town of 500 farming people, that we should make up an excuse for his death – we should have said he died in a farming accident or something.”

Jeff said his mother courageously ignored the advice of those around her.

“My mother said, ‘Now this nonsense is going to stop with my family, we’ve been hiding this for too long, too many young people have been dying’,” Jeff continued.

According to research done by Rural Minds, those who live in rural areas have much higher rates of depression and suicide than those who live in urban areas, a nearly 68% difference, however, they are less likely to access mental healthcare. Meanwhile, farmers are twice as likely to die by suicide than those in any other occupation.

“Believe it or not, 65% of the counties in the United States that are rural, have no psychiatrists,” Jeff noted. “Sixty-five, that’s huge.”

With that in mind, Jeff set out to make a change for the 46 million of us living in America’s heartland. In 2021, he founded Rural Minds to help empower those who live in rural areas with information, resources and training.

However, the story is not one that is unique to mankind as mental illness stretches far and wide in the animal kingdom. A few years after Jeff joined Linden Hill Stables a trailer on the way to another competition contained Jeff’s horse Duke and Jim Modica’s poney Java Joe. While en route, the trailer became detached from the vehicle and slid on its side.

While Java Joe did not make it out of the crash alive, Jeff said Duke is the reason that five other equines were able to escape it. After first responders had arrived, they started to hear a great rumble from inside the trailer, within seconds, Duke emerged, bloody and victorious as he burst through the gate and righted the trailer.

Before the collision, Jeff said Duke had been a nationally renowned champion in Western-style shows. But ever since the crash, something has changed, Duke no longer wins many ribbons.

“You can see he’s got a white scar on his inner left front leg,” Jeff said. “The vet said they tried but it just never went away, but I’m glad he’s got it. It reminds me every day of how strong he is.”

Lisa Hillmer, owner, trainer and instructor at Linden Hill Stables, also chairs the KC Summer Kick-off Horse Show, one of the season’s first shows. Each year she said the event partners with a charity to foster community involvement. In 2024, the show deemed Rural Minds the beneficiary.

“My family started the organization in Nebraska before I decided to move it to Kansas City,” Hillmer said. “It’s something that’s important to me to keep it going.”

The show, which is free and began on Thursday, May 30, runs through the weekend. It is set to feature a full slate of classes for Saddlebreds, Morgans, Hackney Poneys, Road Horses and Equitation riders.

The event kicked off Western and English classes on Thursday. Linden Hill started strong with a third-place ribbon for Jeff and his horse Catherine in the English-style class. In this style, judges search for horses that look more pleasurable to ride. American saddlebred horses were originally bred for plantation riding which required much stamina and an even gate.

Modica, who also rides for Linden Hill, took home one of the team’s first blue ribbons with his Hackney Poney Annie. The pair showed in the speedster cart class in which judges look for both form and speed.

The DJ at the event also takes requests from riders. For $5 they can play a song of their choice while their class is shown, all of which goes back to Rural Minds.

Thursday’s events were drawn together with a dinner and silent auction to benefit the charity.

“It’s so important that families talk openly about depression because there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But people in rural areas are taught to be very independent, to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, to get over it, because again, it’s not considered an illness. It’s gratifying work – it’s heartbreaking work.” Jeff concluded.

The following are some of the free programs and information provided by Rural Minds:

The horse show ran from Thursday, May 30, through Saturday, June 1, at Hale Arena, 1701 American Royal Ct., in Kansas City, Mo.

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Kansas State baseball needed two days to get past Louisiana Tech in its NCAA Fayetteville Regional opener after the game was suspended at the end of five innings late Friday night, but the Wildcats still rolled to a 19-4 victory.

The second-seeded Wildcats (33-24) now will take on host Arkansas (44-14), the No. 5 national seed, at 8 p.m. Saturday in a winners bracket matchup at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Arkansas, which opened the tournament Friday afternoon with a 17-9 victory over No. 4 seed Southeast Missouri State, saved pitching ace Hagen Smith for the second game. He is 9-1 with a 1.48 earned run average in 15 starts and has struck out 154 batters in 79 innings.

For K-State, Jackson Wentworth will make his seventh start and 27th overall appearance. He has a 4.18 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 75 innings, plus six saves while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen.

Hudson White and Ben McLaughlin each hit two home runs and combined to drive in 11 runs to lead Arkansas’ 16-hit attack against SEMO, while Kaelen Culpepper hit for the cycle and Chuck Ingram belted a pair of homers in K-State’s win.

Here is how to follow the Wildcats online and on the air.

Kansas State baseball focused on enjoying first NCAA Tournament bid in 11 years

Kansas State baseball excited and relieved to finally receive NCAA Tournament bid

Kansas State vs. Arkansas channel today in Fayetteville Regional: Time, TV schedule

Time: 8 p.m. CT

TV: ESPNU

Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: K-State Sports Network or KStateSports.com/watch

Live stats: KStateSports.com

NCAA Fayetteville Regional complete schedule

AT BAUM-WALKER STADIUM, FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.

Friday, May 31

Game 1 — No. 1 Arkansas 17, No. 4 Southeast Missouri State 9

Game 2 — No. 3 Kansas State 19, No. 2 Louisiana Tech 4

Saturday, June 1

Game 3 — SEMO (34-26) vs. Louisiana Tech (45-18), 2 p.m.

Game 4 — Arkansas (44-14) vs. Kansas State (33-24), 8 p.m.

Sunday, June 2

Game 5 — Arkansas-Kansas State loser vs. SEMO-Louisiana Tech winner, 1 p.m.

Game 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m.

Monday, June 3

Game 7 — Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (if necessary), 6 p.m.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

Kansas State baseball raced to an early lead in its NCAA Fayetteville Regional debut Friday night but could not finish the job when a second weather delay finally forced the game to be suspended just before midnight.

The game started an hour late at 8 p.m. because of lightning in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area, and was delayed again just after 10. A rain deluge eventually forced officials to call it a night with the Wildcats leading Louisiana Tech, 9-4, after five innings at Baum-Walker Stadium. It will resume at 11 a.m. Saturday.

K-State led 7-0 and still was up 9-1 before Louisiana Tech scored three times in the bottom the fifth inning.

The winner will face host and top seed Arkansas at 8 p.m. Saturday, with the loser taking on Southeast Missouri State at around 2 p.m. Arkansas beat SEMO, 17-9, on Friday afternoon.

Here are three takeaways from the first five innings of K-State’s first NCAA Tournament game in 11 years.

Kansas State baseball pitcher Owen Boerema doesn’t shy away from the NCAA spotlight

Kansas State baseball excited and relieved to finally receive NCAA Tournament bid

Wildcats come out swinging after first delay

A one-hour weather delay that pushed the start time from 7 to 8 p.m. did not faze Kansas State’s batters, who teed off on Louisiana Tech starter Luke Nichols, scoring twice in the first inning on a Brady Day RBI single and Nick English sacrifice fly and then adding five in the second, all with two outs.

Chuck Ingram started the second-inning rally with a first-pitch home run to left. After Brendan Jones followed with his second walk and stole second, Jaden Parsons drove him home with a single to left center.

Kaelen Culpepper’s RBI triple and a long two-run homer by Day made it 7-0.

Have a night, Chuck Ingram

Kansas State outfielder Chuck Ingram was mired in a deep slump, but he busted out in a big way against Louisiana Tech, going 2-for-2 with a home run, sacrifice fly and two RBI.

Ingram, the Wichita State transfer had one hit in 14 at bats over the previous five games, but he pulled a home run to left in his first trip to the plate, triggering a five-run second inning, then singled his second time up and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

K-State starters Owen Boerema battles control issues

Kansas State ace Owen Boerema, the Wildcats’ No. 1 starter for most of the year, looked sharp in the first inning against Louisiana Tech, needing just nine pitches to get through the first inning before faltering.

Boerema did not make it out of the fifth inning after walking a season-high six batters — three in a one-run second and three more in Louisiana Tech’s three-run fifth. He allowed only two hits and struck out six before giving way to Cole Wisenbaker after 4 2/3 innings.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.