The Heyteyneytah Project

Star Tribune - Casper, Wyoming

Horses helped heal the spirit of Stanford Addison after a truck accident paralyzed him 28 years ago. Now, Addison uses horses to help heal at-risk youth. He calls it the Heyteyneytah Project, a nonprofit program incorporating his gentle horse training techniques. In Arapaho, Addison's native tribe, heyteyneytah means respect.

While many of the youth who find their way to the Addison Ranch are from around the Wind River Indian Reservation, kids from Colorado, California, Iowa and Illinois have lived with Addison and learned his techniques. Addison supports these kids largely out of his own pocket.But he's looking to expand his program.

For the past year, he's been working with the Wind River Development Fund, a nonprofit community development corporation. With its help, he is developing a small business plan that will make his ranch more financially viable, said Lisa Wagner, executive director.

"What he does is very much a community service in terms of working with youth," she said.

Besides his work with kids, Addison also hosts several horse-training clinics a year. In those, participants learn to connect with a horse, saddle-break it and ride it all in one day. People come from around the world for these clinics.

To learn more about the Heyteyneytah Project or to help, contact the Wind River Development Fund at (307) 335-7330 or call Addison at (307) 349-8669.

On the net:
*See a video of Addison using his training techniques on an Arabian filly at casperstartribune.net and click on this story.
* www.wrdf.org
* www.stanaddison.com