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Cascade Horse Law Controversy

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: May 10, 2009 at 5:17 PM MST

Story Updated: May 10, 2009 at 9:59 PM MST

While most people drive cars to get around, Stormy Schwindt prefers his horse. “This is our culture, this is our land this is who and what we are,” he said. But riding a horse in his hometown of Cascade is against the law. “This is the letter that we sent out to the people who had horses in the area that stated what our ordinance was and that they were not to be having livestock in town,” said Cascade Clerk/ Treasurer Karen Morrison while holding up a letter that went out to local horse owners. The letter was sent out because some residents complained about horses making a mess on their property. Stormy got the letter. “Its hard one me I don’t want to break the rules, I don’t want to make anyone in town mad,” he said. But the high school art teacher rides on anyway. In fact, he rode right to town hall to pay the $500 dollar fine mentioned in the letter. “Without a ticket the fine cannot be collected. They have to be issued a ticket and go to our court,” said Morrison. Though the ordinance has been in place since the 70s, many residents were surprised to learn about it. “Its not like this is New York or Los Angeles, this is Cascade, Montana,” said Schwindt’s neighbor Barb Parsons. “People have ridden their horses in town for years and I can’t believe you can’t do that,” she said. Others support the law and say a teacher blatantly disregarding the rules is a bad example. Kirstin Felton, one of Schwindt’s students says, “To do it on purpose and then say ‘I want to be fined’ is just not the way to do it because teacher’s teach us to follow the rules and obey them, not to break them and try to get the rule changed.” Still Schwindt says he’s got to stand his ground. “I don’t want to be thought of in a bad way by anyone in this town, but I draw the line.” The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office is in charge of actually citing people. So far, no one has actually been cited.

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joey said on Wednesday, Jun 10 at 7:00 PM

there are better ways to handle situations like this. kids are right when they say teachers need to follow the rules just as well as we do. exspeshily when we get conseqenses for breaking the rules wether they are at home or at school. following the rules is apart of life so deal with it!

Lacey said on Wednesday, Jun 10 at 11:40 AM

I think people should be able to ride a horse in a small town like cascade, but i also think stormy could have been more responible for his actions and the way he handled it. i give him a thumbs up for standing his ground.

Hans Kurgger said on Saturday, May 16 at 8:46 AM

Without people like Stormy, the culture and identity of American Towns like Cascade will be lost. They will become just like every other yuppie suburb on the east coast. If Cascade keeps this up, they will fit right in with places like White Plains, New York and Springfield, Ohio....What a horrible loss. If you can't ride into town in Cascade Montana, where can you? This is a matter of cultural and national identity. They can find a better solution than just a ban on riding in town.

Steph said on Tuesday, May 12 at 9:57 AM

Mr. Schwindt and justice might better be served if he took his concerns to a city council meeting sans cameras and theatrics

Miles said on Monday, May 11 at 3:26 PM

Ridiculous! I can ride my horse to school here in Bozeman (Bozeangeles!) without breaking the law. Get that law changed!

Kelli said on Monday, May 11 at 11:00 AM

My hats off to Stormy for standing his ground. If we don't teach our students to stand for something, they'll fall for anything. Stormy is keeping our Western Heritage alive. Have we forgotten how this country was settled and the pioneers who fought for our freedom and settled this land? I'm glad Stormy is standing tall and keeping the Western Spirit alive and well in Montana!

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