Hi, my name is Mina! I'm fundraising for Roberta Crossguns and her organization, Spirit Horses of Montana. Roberta has committed over 18 years of her life providing opportunities for people to connect and create beneficial relationships with horses in order to enhance their own mental health through the use of the Spirit Horses of Montana.

Spirit Horses was created in 2003, starting its work with veterans, families, and children, then expanded to include contracted work with ex-convict clients who struggle with mental health. In the Fall of 2012, Spirit Horses moved to its forever home in Ulm, Montana where the acreage is vast, but the landscape is rugged. To get to Spirit Horses, you need to travel down the main road in Ulm and up a private 3+mile dirt road. For years now, Roberta has managed to maintain the road the best she can, but the wild elements of the plains has occasionally made the road treacherous for anyone without a big truck. She finally has an opportunity to get the road repaired and maintained, through a generous offer of a neighbor, BUT, this is where we need YOUR help. We need to raise at least $10,000 to make this happen!

The heart of Spirit Horses lies with providing free, equine-assisted stress reduction for veterans, their families, and all visitors. One unique feature Spirit Horses has to offer is the Medicine Horse Labyrinth. As the first and only labyrinth of its kind in Montana, nearly 4,000 horseshoes mark the 8' wide paths large enough for horse and human to walk meditatively through this ancient healing tool, allowing a safe space to relieve stress and aid in improving mental and behavioral health. Each quadrant of the labyrinth is painted in the colors of a medicine wheel and those quadrants lie in the four directions identified with the medicine wheel. Additionally, every year Spirit Horses partners with the Wild Kids Montana Summer Program to provide horsemanship and education for the Hawai'i youth who come to experience the wide open spaces of Montana. Wild Kids Montana has a commitment to teaching a lifelong conservation ethic and appreciation for the preservation of wilderness areas.

In honor of this upcoming National Stress Awareness Day (11/3) and Veterans Day (11/11), please consider donating so Spirit Horses can continue its mission to not only provide free services to veterans, but to give everyone the gift of accessing the tools within themselves needed to live healthy, fulfilling lives.

Visit Spirit Horses of Montana and on Facebook for more information!