The Tula Vida Foundation Scholarship Fund exists to make equine retreats and experiences at Tula Vida Ranch in Costa Rica available to people who need them most — not just those who can afford them right now.
And many people really need this right now.
We built this fund for frontline workers, caregivers, and people in service-based roles: the ones who pour themselves into holding others up, often at the cost of their own wellbeing. These are people who know what it is to be needed, and who so rarely get the chance to return to themselves and refill their own well.
Horses have a particular gift for meeting us where we are. They don’t ask us to perform, explain ourselves, or hold it together. In their presence, the nervous system gets permission to exhale, and something that has often been braced for a very long time begins to soften. Connecting with a horse touches something deep inside. It’s this quality of encounter that sits at the heart of what we offer at Tula Vida: not a program to get through, but an experience of being genuinely seen and welcomed into the herd.
We offer these experiences in Costa Rica, where people are removed from the stressful reminders of daily life or global events, and instead surrounded by the sights and sounds of peaceful, vibrant nature. Here, they can actually find the space and peace they really need – to recharge, reconnect and feel supported themselves.
Every dollar raised goes directly toward subsidizing retreat places for applicants who share our intention: to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and experience the nervous system regulation that comes from time with horses, land, and a grounded community. When the body finally has permission to settle, something shifts — and that shift ripples outward.
We believe that opportunities to re-balance and reconnect shouldn’t be reserved for those with financial privilege, and that when the right people are able to come, the whole community benefits. This fund is how we make that belief real.
One Response
I am supporting TulaVida’s foundation scholarship fund, and am proud to be invited in to be an Ambassador for Horses for Mental Health.