​

​

​

Jana has lived in Boulder since 1981, and is a happily married mother of four adult children. She's a certified EMT and also a competitive dressage rider. Jana has owned Java since 2009. Java is an 18 year old Friesian Sport Horse shown successfully through Third Level dressage. In 2016, Jana learned about MSAR and realized it's the perfect combination of her medical and horse skills. Hence Java began his second career as a Search and Rescue horse. He loves the adventure and excels at navigating the rugged mountain terrain. Jana is thrilled that she found this team and can combine her love of horses with service.

Beth Beymer and Starfire Giotto have been BoCo MSAR partners since June of 2021. Giotto is a sixteen-year-old Norwegian Fjord Horse that was bred and born on Beth and Sandy’s Starfire Farm in Berthoud, CO. Giotto is also ridden in dressage, is a driving horse, was ridden in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA in 2022 and has performed with Beth in many musical performances such as Equestfest in Burbank, CA and in several Mane Event shows during the Colorado Horse Expo in Denver. A truly versatile horse, Giotto also herds cows, packs and excels on the mountain trails in Colorado.

Heather grew up on horses in California where she rode with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Posse on their mounted patrol group. Now in Colorado, her current partner is a Quarter Horse/Missouri Foxtrotter gelding named, “Mister.” He is now 20 years old and is showing his age. So Heather is moving him to retirement with her miniature donkey, while looking for a new partner. Heather is using this time until she finds her new partner to increase her knowledge base and certifications, getting certified on other team horses, and honing her skills at the Incident Command on the radio as a liaison with the IC and the mounted MSAR riders in the field. Having the ability to serve is her passion. To serve with her horse is a gift to others as well as herself.

Jodi’s passion runs deep for all things Horse. Even though she grew up in a city, her mother said her first word was 'horse.' She got her first pony when she was 7 and hasn’t been without horses since. Jodi grew up in Wisconsin, graduating from UW Madison with a BS degree in Zoology. As a career, she built a successful catering company. In her spare time, she ran her farm (horses, beef cattle, pigs and chickens) and volunteered for 12 years as an EMT for her home town. Jodi and her husband have retired to the mountains of Colorado so they can live their dream every day. She has actively continued her education in emergency medicine, adding NOLS Wilderness First Responder to the list, and many mountain survival, avalanche and orienteering classes. And on that lucky day she found MSAR, literally combining ALL her experiences and loves, her husband smiled and said “you’ve found your people!”

Rob and Malabar both enjoy MSAR and will continue to strive to improve their skill set so they can better serve the community. They appreciate the opportunity to be involved.

Every day, Pat looks forward to a mindful relationship with her horse. She bought her first horse when she was 12 years old in Milwaukee, WI and has owned horses ever since. She gravitated to jumping and her main focus was hunter /jumpers. In high school, Pat and her twin sister bought their first TB off the track. In college, during the summer, she worked as a groom at Arlington racetrack in IL. Since then, she has done more dressage and eventing. Ferrari, owned by Rob and Hunter, had 3 successful years as a race horse and now, in addition to MSAR, he also does polocrosse.

Steve has been in the metropolitan area since he was born, more than 75 years. Smokey was born on the open range with a herd owned by a family in southern Colorado and Steve feels lucky to have gotten him at two years old. Smokey had never been around people, so it took a couple of weeks before he was comfortable with Steve handling him, and a couple more weeks before Steve could get on him. Since Smokey was started, they've covered thousands of miles together, and he's only become better and better with time. Smokey will be 20 years old in May 2023. Together they joined Boulder County MSAR in 2016 and have enjoyed being part of the organization, the training, searches and always meeting new people.

Mistletoe is a 20-year-old foundation Morgan mare. Heidi raised her from a foal. She has been a qualified mounted search and rescue horse since she was 5. She is a chestnut with a light mane and tail. Together, Heidi and Mistletoe won 1st Place in MSAR’s second annual Equine Scent Detection Field Trial in 2022.

Originally from New York, and also having called Florida, New Jersey and The Netherlands home, Nicole moved to Colorado with her husband Bruce in 1999. Together they've adventured on horseback in Australia, Ecuador, Croatia and Scotland. Locally, Nicole volunteered at Colorado Horse Rescue and Front Range Hippotherapy before finding her true equine companion in Matteo, a then-9-YO Missouri Fox Trotter. Together they joined BoCo MSAR where Nicole has contributed to the team by helping to re-write Procedures and Regulations, served as a Squad Leader and organized two successful Equine Scent Detection multi-day clinics. She is currently the team’s New Member Liaison. After five years of dedicated service, Matteo retired from search and rescue. Now 19, he continues on as head of herd while helping to train Nicole’s next-in-line MSAR horse.

Brooke Baldwin is a farrier and lives in Longmont. She grew up in upstate NY and moved here 22 years ago. She loves her horses and riding in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the added bonus being able to serve this community. Finnegan is a 14-year-old AQHA gelding. He spent much of his life team roping on the head side and was also a great all around ranch horse. He now is a solid trail mount.

Having grown up in the Northeast, Bruce moved to Colorado in 1999 from Holland and lives with his wife, Nicole, and their four horses in the foothills above Boulder. Some of Bruce’s favorite riding is offered right out their back door where he loves exploring the mountains and historic mining towns with his Missouri Fox Trotter, Sunny. Joining MSAR in 2018, Bruce has been an Assistant Squad Leader and is an active member with search and rescue as well as wildfire animal evacuations. Outside MSAR, Bruce is the CEO and co-owner of Karrikins Group, a global consultancy that helps hundreds of the world’s most senior leaders and teams create the behavior change and alignment needed to close the gap between ideas and execution.

​

Hunter Lovins has ridden for Boulder County Mounted Search and Rescue since 2006. When not answering Active 911 calls, Hunter is the President of Natural Capitalism Solutions, helping companies, communities and countries implement more regenerative practices profitably. She is professor of Sustainable Management at the Bard MBA, and Managing Partner of NOW Partners. She is also the Chief Impact Officer of Change Finance. A former barrel racing champion and roper, Hunter manages, with her husband, Robbie Noiles, Nighthawk Horse Company. Nighthawk buys, sells and trains horses, including many now active in MSAR. Her current ride, Lucifer, is a Driftwood/ Hancock bred mare. An exceptionally talented mountain horse, she also excels at polocrosse.

After riding for some time with MSAR members who encouraged him to join, Jeff qualified for the team in the spring of 2009. Peppy was the horse he qualified on and is still one of the horses Jeff rides along with his paint, Shiloh. He has always enjoyed riding and interacting with the group on practices, scenarios, qualifying rides and searches. In addition to being a member, Jeff has served as assistant squad leader, squad leader, assistant team leader and team leader. He was happy to be invited by the other members to become team leader and feels he did a good job continuing the group by organizing many practice and qualifying rides. Jeff feels honored to have been a bridge into the current leadership, which is expanding and leading the team in great ways.

Kellie moved to Boulder in 1994 to raise her family in Colorado. She now runs a horse boarding facility with her husband in South Boulder. Although she has many interests, horses and being helpful have always been at top of the list. Kellie recently joined Boulder County Search and Rescue after finding the perfect equine partner, Bodhi (Bo). Bo comes from a cattle working ranch background and seems to enjoy this new job and having a purpose. I think it’s safe to say that they are both looking forward to being of service.

​

Linda has served with MSAR since nearly its inception. From the start, she did so as squad leader or assistant squad leader. It has been her honor to have participated with former and current members and the various Sheriff's Dept. officers for 25 years. Her passion for animals has been both her life's work and the source of so much enjoyment. Combining her love of horses and riding, training, searching & rescuing with a group of likeminded individuals whose goal is to help others, has been an amazing outlet to serve the community and her great pleasure throughout these years.

​

Sandy has been an RN for 54 years, with 49 years in critical care, including 15 years in the Saint Anthony’s Intensive Care Units and 22 years at Boulder Community ICU. Sandy originally joined MSAR in June 1999 with her Arabian Endurance rescue horse Zircon. Sandy acquired her second rescue Arabian- Zoe -in 1997 and qualified Zoe in MSAR in 2007. Sandy and Zoe have been a team now for 25 of Zoe’s 29 years. Together, they have logged hundreds of miles of beautiful endurance rides and trails all over the Southwest, including completing the challenging Moonlight Madness 100 mile Endurance ride in 18 hours, 36 minutes at Indian Springs, New Mexico. Sandy and Zoe share a love of riding the beautiful trails of the Indian Peaks Wilderness and are looking forward to riding more trails with MSAR. (Photo shows Wyoming 50 miles, 2008)

Sorin (they/them) has lived in Boulder County since 2006, and is the founder of a local mental health nonprofit called Queer Asterisk. Sorin grew up on U.S. military bases in Germany and Spain, where they started riding horses at age 4. Sorin was a competitive hunter/jumper throughout school in Europe and at the University of Notre Dame. During graduate school at Naropa University, Sorin studied wilderness therapy and became an equine-assisted therapist. Sorin also worked in emergency psychiatric services in Boulder County for a decade before starting their nonprofit. In 2018, Sorin fulfilled a lifelong dream of gentling and training Tobias, a South Steens mustang from Oregon. Sorin and Tobi love adventure and being of service to the community, and they are both thrilled to be on the MSAR team.

Stephanie has lived in Boulder County since 2007, she grew up riding in Pennsylvania and showed Morgan Horses on the east coast before school, work, and family interrupted that passion. She was introduced to Norwegian Fjord horses here in Colorado and fell in love with the breed. Versatile, strong, reliable and filled with personality, Ivy (Sulphur Springs Vera) is her first Fjord. Ivy is a perfect trail mount, unafraid and willing to go anywhere, she is also shown by Stephanie’s daughter in 4H.

Stephanie is a nurse and has worked in public health and emergency preparedness, she joined MSAR in 2022 and is honored to give back to her community through this work.