I am a former Firefighter and US Navy Veteran and experienced first hand the healing with horses through Tula Vida and would like to offer this same opportunity to other front line workers.
In 2018 I was diagnosed with PTSD after having a long career as a Firefighter and went through many months unable to function in the world. Tula Vida was just coming together and Eric being a good friend invited me to come to Costa Rica and spend time with the horses. I remember it was so hard for me to even get in a taxi and leave my home and the day of my flight I didn’t know if I could do it. Eric said ” Just get on the plane and we will handle the rest. ” He was right, my time there brought me back into my body and gave me a chance to heal and get back into the world. My time at Tula Vida with Eric and Sally and the horses changed my life and I am forever grateful .
It wasn’t until years later that Eric told me this foundation was created and inspired by my transformation. Eric and Sally saw the gift I was given and how it changed my life and wanted to continue to offer this opportunity to others.
I am forever grateful.
Thank you to all the horses, the land and Eric and Sally!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzbP5KT47i8
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.
2 Responses
Don’t wait until you are in need of a horse and its healing powers to contribute for all !!! It is incredible what a horse’s energy and a proper guided session with them can transform in our lives, call it medicine or magic, it’s real and not easy to find, so lets support each other! I’m so blessed to be able to teach and guide sessions next to them for our emotional health and recieve also the healing energy they provide. Blessings for you all. 🙏🏼✨
When Tula Vida first was being built Eric and Sally invited me to come and visit and experience the healing environment with the horses. I was coming out of a long journey through PTSD as a former firefighter and this experience profoundly changed my life and helped to reset my nervous system.