Angie joined the Army Reserves during her senior year of high school. After returning home from Basic Training and Military Police AIT, their 420th MP Reserve Unit was called up to serve in Desert Storm. She was a 19 year old female heading to a country where females did not have the same rights as females in America. This was one crazy eye opener for her!
"I was so thankful to be in a close knit unit where we all looked out for each other. Being the youngest female in the unit, I had 90 big brothers and sisters looking out for me! Our Military Police unit received awards for being efficient and the fastest at processing the POWs and refugees while we were stationed in the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia and living in a tent city near the POW camp. Since living in a tent in the desert, I never take for granted how lucky I am to own and operate a guest ranch and breed horses in the mountains of Southwest Montana!"
For Angie, the most impactful attribute of belonging to FVC is having the Homegrown By Heroes label. Since Drinking Horse Ranch is a guest ranch and horse breeding ranch, she is proudly able to tell visiting guests the story behind the label and encourage people to support veterans in agriculture and agritourism.
"Across America, many veterans that are farmers and ranchers are branching out and supplementing their income with agritourism. I recently applied for a grant and the title of my project was "Freedom Gardens for Heroes and Carrots for my Horses". Raising and breeding horses, growing produce (especially carrots that are loved by our guests and our horses), making benches and other timber products from trees from our forestry projects and providing extra delicious farm fresh chicken eggs to visiting guests is very therapeutic for PTSD and anxiety. Our motto at Drinking Horse Ranch is 'Unplug, UnWind and Explore.' Since my service in the desert 35 years ago, I can attest that Montana is 'The Last Best Place.' We love sharing our slice of paradise that has abundant wildlife, scenic hiking trails, mountain views, a babbling creek, tranquil surroundings and 5 star hospitality with guests who are visiting beautiful Bozeman, Montana!"
8 years after her military service and after having two wonderful children from her first marriage that ended in divorce, Angie met a handsome guy at an outdoor Randy Travis concert in Big Sky, Montana on August 11, 2000. He happened to own ranch property in Bridger Canyon just 5 miles from Main Street Bozeman, Montana. After a "short" courting and engagement period, they got married in November of 2016 (they needed some extra time to make sure). They have since that time expanded their ranch with acreage and endeavors.
"For me, personally, what we are doing with our ranch has been providing some healing from some PTSD that stemmed from some things that happened during my service. Providing 5-star hospitality and amazing accommodations has helped calm my nervous system that for years was stuck in a hyper-vigilance mode. And then there are the horses! The therapy they provide not only to me but also to our guests is heartwarming, comforting, therapeutic and so much more. All this makes me very proud to be in agriculture/agritourism."
