About

The Heart V-
Chris, Victoria, Maddie and Josey Dellapaolera

Tori learned horsemanship the way many in eastern Montana do: horseback in the breaks, helping gather cattle out of rough country, vast prairies, and river bottoms. Those early days taught her to navigate terrain, read a cow, and horses, and that foundation is at the heart of everything The Heart V does.

After graduating from Dawson County High School, Tori earned her degree in farm and ranch management, range management, and agribusiness from Dawson Community College. She went on to ride colts while working for Midrivers Telecommunications, then turned to photography. Her work capturing the wild horses of western North Dakota led to a solo art exhibition in Minneapolis, and a levelheaded and grounded approach to the management of wild horses on federal lands.

Tori later earned her bachelor's degree in sport and exercise psychology from West Virginia University. Her studies connected two worlds she knows well: the practical business of running horses on a cattle operation, and the mental health benefits that come when horsemanship and herdsmanship are at the center of the work.

Today, Tori serves on the board of the Mon-Dak Quarter Horse Association and stays active in the region's community, hosting clinics, day working during busy seasons and gathering in country too rough for machines.

She lives in Williston, North Dakota, with her husband and their two children, Maddie and Josey.