Our Staff & Board of Directors
Meet Our PeopleStaff Bios
Cyndi Meyer
Executive Director
Cyndi has lived in Montana for over 50 years. After 25 years of teaching in the special education and general education classrooms, she decided it was time to retire and start a new career. Being the director of Trotting Horse Therapeutic Riding combines her experience as a teacher with her lifelong enjoyment of horses. She is excited to share the gifts that horses offer with children and adults of all abilities. If you can’t find her at the barn… follow the rottweilers.
Our Board of Directors
Amanda Darrow
Board Member
Amanda Darrow has been with us from the beginning. She was somehow convinced to help us navigate the financial and legal aspects of running this non profit, and we could not do it without her! When she’s not keeping our organization in line, she enjoys spending time working with her horse Gypsy and teaching her daughter the ropes.
Nita Kattell
Board Member
Nita Kattell has also been part of Trotting Horse since the very start. She is a retired fifth-grade teacher and a proud new grandmother. She wears many hats at the stables, and on any given day can be found teaching, cleaning, fixing, riding… You name it. If she has free time, she can usually be found with her horses Morris and Amigo.
Kelly Valerius
Administrator
Madalyn Borntraeger
Madalyn Borntraeger has always felt a strong pull towards horses. She has led trail rides and taught children and adults how to ride horses for over 13 years. She started volunteering at therapeutic riding facilities as a teenager in high school. After school she began traveling the states while working at many different ranches as a wrangler and a teacher along the way. Her passion for helping people drew her back into equine assisted services so she acquired her CTRI certification and began focusing on teaching full time. Now with her ESML certificate as well, she focused on further assisting different groups in equine assisted activities and sharing the magic horses hold with any and everyone who is willing.
MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
LEAH FINCH
Leah Finch is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in the states of Montana, North Carolina, and New York, and is dually-certified in the Eagala model of equine-assisted psychotherapy as both a mental health professional and equine specialist. She earned her Masters of Arts in Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2017. She has worked in private practice, mental health consulting, college counseling, career counseling, and teaches adjunct in graduate counseling programs. She is currently a PhD student in Counselor Education and Supervision at The University of Montana. Leah has spent her whole life around horses, even managing to find a dressage barn while living in the heart of NYC. She now enjoys spending time with her BLM mustang, Amiguito, and participating in events with the Missoula Back Country Horsemen.
MORGAN BEAVERS
Morgan Beavers is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor Candidate (PCLC) and owner/founder of On The Trail, LLC, a down-to-earth therapy practice offering in-person, telehealth, walk-and-talk, and equine-assisted therapy sessions. She earned her Master of Arts in Environmental Literature from the University of Montana in 2019 and her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Adams State University (CO) in 2024. Morgan has experience working in therapeutic group homes, community mental health, private practice, university teaching, community learning workshops/events. Born and raised in Georgia, she is a lifelong horsewoman and proud alumna of the 2012-2016 University of Georgia National Champion NCAA Women’s Equestrian Team. Morgan is now having fun dabbling in all disciplines from omoksee to eventing with her mare, Lady May. For questions about equine-assisted psychotherapy or to book a session, reach out to Morgan at 406-550-0638 or morgan@onthetrailmt.com.
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