Yellowstone Gateway Museum has announced speaker series “Nature & Nurture: Working with Animals” to be held this fall. Inspired by local people who work closely with animals, the series will feature a llama packer, farrier, sheep rancher, wool fiber artist, Norwegian Fjord horse breeder, therapist and two cattle ranchers. Each are committed to their work, helping others in various and myriad ways.
The first event is set for 6pm on Wednesday, October 4th, featuring llama packer and trail guide Susi Hülsmeyer-Sinay as well as farrier and poet Michael Earl Craig. The in-person program will be held at the Livingston museum, 118 W Chinook, and will also be live-streamed via Zoom. Find an online registration link through the YGM website.
Hülsmeyer-Sinay arrived in Montana from Germany. She traveled to Yellowstone National Park and decided to stay in the area, moving here in 1993. In Montana, she realized her dream to work with animals, explore her love for writing and immerse herself in wild nature.
She exchanged her international business past for the adventure of an exciting and fulfilled life in the mountains of Montana. Llamas soon entered her life and have never again let go of her heart. She published a book, Lewis the Yellowstone Llama, as well as various articles in Distinctly Montana and Outside Bozeman. She is active in llama rescue and local charity events, including Eagle Mount. Her trekking company, Yellowstone Llamas, offers nature hikes with llamas in Yellowstone National Park and Paradise Valley. She lives with her animal family of fourteen llamas, three cats and one dog in Livingston.
Craig is a Certified Journeyman Farrier (through the American Farriers’ Association) and an associate of London’s Worshipful Company of Farriers. He began horseshoeing full-time in 1998 and lives in the Shields Valley where he shoes horses for a living. Originally from Dayton, Ohio, he moved to Montana in 1991.
He has also written poetry since 1991. His most recent book of poems is Iggy Horse. He’s published poems in various magazines, journals and anthologies, including Poetry, The Believer, The New Yorker and The Best American Poetry. Craig was a recent Poet Laureate for the state of Montana and a Civitella Ranieri Foundation fellow in the fall of 2021.
Upcoming programs will include: sheep ranching and fiber artistry on Oct. 18th with Lorna Marchington, lifelong sheep rancher/historian, and Helen Harris, lifelong wool fiber artist and MT Fibershed organizer; raising Fjord horses and healing on Nov. 1st with Wendy Bauwens, Sunnyside Farms founder and breeder of Fjord horses, and Chris Siegel, therapist who works with Sunnyside; and raising cattle on Nov. 15th with lifelong cattle ranchers Connie Malcolm, Tom Miner Basin, and Martin Davis, Paradise Valley.
Plan to come early to the in-person presentations due to limited seating. All programs begin at 6pm. Find online registration links at www.parkcounty.org (museum can be found under “Departments”) and find them on social media to program updates. Events are free and open to the public with donations welcome. Yellowstone Gateway Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am–5pm. •
