“Some of life’s best journeys are shared with a horse”

As a native of the Verde Valley, and being 4th generation of the family tree, growing up on the family farm & ranch taught me the meaning of family, the value of hard work, and the beauty of a life connected to the land and animals. With strong family values and faith in God, this way of life has shaped my heart, making me the person I am today. 

During childhood, my grandfather with strong Italian genes would never let us have horses for pleasure as he stated, “horses are hay burners & if they can’t work the fields they don’t belong here.” So with that, I learned to ride cows! Thank goodness we raised dairy cows that were extremely gentle. After some time, my mom (most likely tired of me riding cows, lol) let my sister and I take riding lessons and later on horses came. From there, I spent all of my free time riding horses. 

My parents were adamant about us getting a degree and moving out of the Verde Valley to see what else life had to offer. After traveling and spending a great amount of time in Europe, I moved out of state for college, and two degrees later, I became a teacher.

During my time teaching, I had this special Down Syndrome child in my Kindergarten class. He had already had 5 heart surgeries before the age of 5, wheelchair bound and you could barely understand what he said. His parents tried everything to help him succeed and eventually came across an organization that worked with kids and horses, where he became one of their riders. A year later this child was talking and running around with his classmates. 

So intrigued, I was invited to go with him and his family to watch him ride. After watching what they were doing I instantly wanted to become a part of and started volunteering my time. There is where I met Chris at Stable Influence Charity Programs who helped me start my journey with NARHA (North American Riding for the handicapped Association) which later on became PATH  International. 

Having to put my certification on hold due to a major family event, I ended up moving back to the family farm. 

After making a career change, I later became a speech therapist where I was offered a grant by Northern Arizona Healthcare to become certified in Hippotherapy. Between online classes and trips to Florida, I became certified through the American Hippotherapy Association. 

Having a love for learning and wanting more that I could offer my clients, I later became dual certified through Natural Lifemanship.

Today I own and operate several businesses and work with incredible staff & volunteers.  Healing Hearts and Horses was recently opened as it’s own equine therapy program where we are looking to expand into Montana in the near future.

You can find out more by visiting our affiliate company at www.Serenity Therapeuticsllc.com