Windhorse Equine Learning has been up to a lot this month on the heels of a very successful Cowpokes and Cocktails! Flying high after selling out and exceeding our fundraising goals at Cowpokes, we finished up another successful season of summer camps, attended two events with the Windhorse Miniature Horse Ambassadors, hosted a Chamber event at the Windhorse barn and more.
We attended our second Cocktails for a Cause at Wildrye Distillery with Mini Ambassadors Bread and Kiki and had a blast meeting members of the community over hand-crafted cocktails. The minis do a wonderful job of drumming up the interest of passerby's while simultaneously exemplifying how much joy horses bring to people. Not only does this create an opportunity for outreach where we can connect with the public and share about what we do, in addition, Wildrye generously donates 15% of the daily proceeds to Windhorse. Cocktails for a Cause is a community initiative that blends business and nonprofit collaboration with mutually beneficial results and we feel so fortunate to have attended two this summer with Wildrye.
Next came our first 444@4C gathering through the Chamber of Commerce. This event was hosted at our barn and saw many enthusiastic representatives from all sorts of various businesses across Bozeman. Over drinks and small bites we were able to meet and network with new community members. We shared our vision and goals for Windhorse's future and displayed the beautiful facility renderings by Miller-Roodell. We were thrilled by the great turnout and continue to be bolstered by our bright and active community.
Another Windhorse event first was attending the Cannery District Summerfest Block Party. Thoughtfully situated in the grass next to Big Time Inflatables and Mad Dawg Maple ice cream, we had so much fun watching the faces of families light up as they arrived at the far end of the festival and took in Bread and Kiki. For this event we brought carrots for people to feed the minis for a donation of their choice as well as the Windhorse interactive memory card game with the faces of our program horses. Our staff and volunteers alike enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, snacking on maple soft serve and watching the minis interact with so many smiling faces.
Who doesn't love a refreshing drink in the summer? For August Windhorse received our very own Cocktail of the Month with Copper Whiskey Restaurant. Copper celebrates Cocktails for a Cause by creating a specialty cocktail and donating $2 from every drink purchased to one nonprofit each month. For August they crafted the Windhorse inspired "Saddle Up" cocktail made up of Dry Hills Four Grain Bourbon, strawberry, mint, lemon, honey simple, & Copper bitters. Once again we feel so fortunate to work with local businesses in such a uniquely mutual beneficial way.
Last but certainly not least, Windhorse's passionate instructors Kate and Nick completed another successful season of summer camps with the help of numerous dedicated volunteers and of course our four-legged teachers, the program horses! Classes were packed, serving a total of sixty-nine students over six beginner and two intermediate camps. We worked with HRDC for the second year to provide two camps for sixteen non-english speaking students alongside Bienvenidos. We take special pride in this initiative and with continued community support we hope to continue offering programs to underserved kids in Bozeman.
We are closing out the summer of 2026 with immense gratitude for the uplifting work we get to do in this incredible place, the gentle program horses we partner with, and the wonderful people we work alongside, collaborate, and celebrate with. Cheers.
