VIRGINIA CITY — In Madison County, just past Virginia City, is a ranch actively making a difference in the lives of veterans across the nation.
Heroes and Horses Ranch is a nonprofit founded by Micah and MacKenzie Fink that strives to transform the lives of veterans through nature, mindfulness, and horses. Micah Fink, the Founder and CEO, details his experience of coming home after his service to the country and how horses were an outlet and a way to find purpose.
Jane McDonald reports - watch the video here:
“I was lost; I was completely lost. A lot of people are missing purpose, because in the military, your task and purpose is being in the military,” Fink said, “When you get out, it’s gone…what guys come to realize is that your life is your purpose.”
For 41 days, veterans come to live on the ranch. There, they will sleep in log cabins with limited heat, no cellphones, take cold showers, eat clean, prepared food, and face the challenges the Montana wilderness has to offer on an extensive backcountry pack trip.
“You know there’s not a pill on earth that can heal a broken heart. There’s not a substance on earth that can help somebody who needs to learn forgiveness. And so, what we aim to do here is empower experience,” Fink said.
Fink tells MTN news that a study came out from Duke University, Texas A&M, and the U.S. Department of Statistics, which estimates that it could be more than 44 veterans who commit suicide a day.
The journey taken at Heroes and Horses Ranch, Fink says, is remarkable – as veterans forge ahead to take on the backcountry on packing trips, the physical demands that a day working cattle can impose, and the mental clarity that can be achieved by taking a moment to walk under the moonlight.
“What is it to have a good life?” Fink says, “That’s a very personal thing. It’s for that person … who they are showing up in their hearts and their homes and their families, the type of individuals they are in their communities, that’s what we’re talking about, letting your character, letting your truth be your identity.”
As the name implies, at the heart of the organization: horses.
“It’s unbelievable, you’ll have a guy that’s really angry and he’ll have the calmest horse in the world. But when he approaches that animal, the animal starts getting wild. When the individual realizes that they’re really impacting the horse’s behavior, even if everything’s internalized, they start to make a change in themselves.”
Thanks in part to supporter of Heroes and Horses, Bill Feniger, the organization is getting a little more support – through the donation of boots from Double H Boots..
Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Berkshire Hathaway Shoe Holdings Work Group, Luke Sessa, tells MTN that Feniger noticed on his Double H Boots – the ‘HH’ logo, and thought of Heroes and Horses.
“He (Feniger) spent a lot of time trying to get through to us,” Sessa says, “Finally, he got through to our marketing department, and then on to our management division, and as soon as we learned about what they (Heroes and Horses) did and the authenticity behind it … we were intrigued.”
Sessa goes on to say that every participant who goes through the program will get a pair of Double H Boots.
For more information on the Heroes and Horses mission, ways to give, or to apply to be a participant, click here to visit the website.
