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.”