Margot was born and raised in Spokane and is proud to call the Pacific Northwest home. She spent most of her career in the financial service industry, and her passion to pursue a new opportunity with heart brought her to Free Rein.

Her commitment to the community has included volunteer roles as a CASA Guardian ad Litem, foster parent, and President of the Board of Directors at FailSafe for Life. She is mom to a witty and smart 22 year old son, and two adorable dogs. In her free time she enjoys spending time at Priest Lake and any kind of travel adventure. Margot is new to the world of horses and is thrilled to be part of, and learn from, the Free Rein community!

Katie grew up in the Spokane area, she spent her toddler years with her relatives at the local racetrack (Playfair), was involved in 4-H, showed horses and rode lots of miles on the trails. Katie started as a volunteer at Free Rein in 2010 and became a PATH certified instructor in September 2013. Seeing the benefits of therapeutic riding is what keeps Katie here at Free Rein.

𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑢𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑊𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒, 𝑊𝐴, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝐼𝑑𝑎ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑛 2021. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 2011. 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝐴𝑇𝐻 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑊𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝐷, 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑎 𝐵.𝑆 𝑖𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝐴.𝐴 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑂𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑦 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡. 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒.

Stephanie started volunteering at Free Rein in August 2021 after 6 years volunteering and instructing at Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in California. A love of horses started for Stephanie as a toddler. Elementary school teaching and a love for guiding children to love learning and adventure was her career. After retiring, it was a great joy to discover the combination of horses and helping riders of all ages and abilities through therapeutic riding. She feels it is a privilege to work with the Free Rein clients and to grow and learn along with the amazing staff at Free Rein. She loves to travel, read, garden, hike and of course ride.

Julia started at Free Rein as a volunteer in 2016 and became a certified instructor in 2022. She started riding at age 8, showing in 4-H and open shows, taking hunter-jumper lessons, trail riding, and now judges and competes in  pointing dog field events from horseback. She lives in North Idaho with her husband, 3 horses and a dog.

Janelle came to Free Rein as a volunteer in 2020. She has a Bachelor's degree in Therapeutic Recreation and a love for horses. She has ridden all her life and has two horses on her property with her husband. They have three grown children and enjoy camping, hiking, skiing and farming hay. Teaching classes brings her great joy to see the impact our horses can make on each rider and volunteer that comes to Free Rein.

Andrea's earliest memory was the first time she ever rode a horse. A severe allergic reaction ensued, yet she only started crying AFTER her parents took her off the horse! A few years (and allergy shots later), she received her own horse, and the rest is history! Andera began volunteering at Free Rein in 2013 and considers it her second home. Her ultimate goal is to become a PATH certified instructor! In her spare time, you can find her exploring the trails on her horse, Apollo.

Sara has been horse crazy since she was a toddler and finally convinced her parents to lease her a pony when she was 10. She began volunteering with a therapeutic riding program in Southern California when she was 15 and has been involved with various programs worldwide since. After moving to the Silver Valley of Idaho from England with her husband in 2020, she began looking for a new therapeutic program to get involved with and found Free Rein. She’s excited to be working towards becoming a PATH certified instructor with the wonderful students, volunteers, staff, and horses at Free Rein. Sara worked for 10 years as a mining geologist but is now back in school at EWU getting a master’s degree in occupational therapy.

Hi, I’m Shelby. I feed the horses a few times a week, and do some facility work around the barn. I have always loved horses since I was a little girl, so when the opportunity to work with Free Rein came up, I was super excited to help. The most rewarding part of my job is spending quality time with the horses and getting to know their individual personalities! I have one horse of my own. My favorite Free Rein horse is Bob! Hobbies: reading, riding my own horse, and hanging out with my friends! Favorite TV Show: "The Office."