HorsePower! Staff
(Alahna) Lahni Allen, ED.M
Executive Director
Originally trained as an exercise physiologist, Lahni's career has spanned a broad range of experiences, from training Olympic class athletes to special needs kids. Graduate training in medical education and gerontology expanded that reach to include older adults and those facing end of life issues.
Her life long love of animals and belief in the healing power of the animal-human bond, were the stimulus for her to research and complete graduate training in the area of 'Animals in Human Health'. It was her work in this area that brought Lahni to HorsePower!
Jill Daniel
Program Director
Hippotherapy Specialist
M. Jill Daniel is a speech language pathologist who had a dream to combine her vocation with her avocation, horses. HorsePower! is a dream come true for Jill, one of the program's founders.
Jill has spent most of her 32 year career as a speech therapist working with children. She has also been a horse lover since her early childhood. At age 13 she acquired her first horse while living in Thailand where her father was stationed with the military. Her riding adventures include performing for the King of Thailand, and she continues riding and taking lessons to this day. Her own horse, "May," worked for two years as a therapy horse.
Jill says her greatest happiness is watching "smiles on the faces of our riders as they sit happily astride 'their' horses."
Jill earned her BA from Western Kentucky University and her MS from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association and the American Hippotherapy Association.
Mindy Stanley
Instructor/Volunteer Coordinator
Mindy Stanley is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist who has worked as a Recreation Therapist in an education setting and as a Recreation Coordinator in long-term health care. She is a registered instructor through NARHA and the Certified Horsemanship Association. Mindy was raised with horses and has years of experience working with children and volunteers in the equestrian field.
Mindy states, “I am passionate about therapeutic riding and can’t think of a more rewarding career. Nothing compares with the opportunity to be a part of miracles every time you come to work."
Mindy has a BS in recreation with an emphasis in therapeutic recreation and a minor in equestrian studies.
Andrea LaTier
Instructor
Andrea LaTier has degrees in Wildlife Biology and Environmental Toxicology and works for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. She has over 23 years of experience working in the environmental field. Andrea started as a volunteer at HorsePower in March of 2008, joined the Board shortly there after and became a riding instructor last year. She is completing her North American Riding for the Handicapped Association certification this year.
Andrea grew up on horses and comes from a "horse family". Her mother Charlotte won the Maclay Championship at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Gardens in New York when she was only 15 years old. Andrea has ridden hunt seat equitation, over fences in the ring and outside course, and even exercised race horses for a few summers. She is currently learning to ride in the dressage style.
Andrea has long sought an opportunity to work with children and adults with special needs. Her experience with horses and this desire have culminated in a wonderful relationship with HorsePower!