Heather came to Sprout as a volunteer in 2012 and the “Magic of Sprout” led her to pursue the Riding Instruction certification through PATH International. She has always been an animal lover and after starting riding lessons as a child, horses have always had a special place in her heart. She has a B.A. in Sociology from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke and has over 12 years of professional equine experience. Heather has worked as a Barn Manager and Groom for both show hunter and fox hunter stables. She worked as a veterinarian assistant for the US Olympic team vet and she is currently a licensed Equine Insurance Agent. When Heather is away from horses she loves to spend quality time with her husband, daughter and 2 dogs. She also enjoys hiking, playing soccer and helping train foster dogs for a fresh start on a new life.

I teach at Sprout because horses have always been a way for me to live in the moment and forget about my struggles. Horses have inspired me to grow both mentally and physically and I want to be able to facilitate that feeling of pure joy and personal growth for my students.

Lacy grew up in Upstate, NY in the Hunter/jumper show ring. As a teenager she acquired her first horse, a very difficult off-the-track thoroughbred, who eventually necessitated an introduction to natural horsemanship. After seeing the possibilities this new world of horse training could provide, Lacy began retraining her horse, and herself, via Parelli Natural Horsemanship. She graduated Parelli level 3 in 2011, after spending time at both the Florida and Colorado Parelli campuses, and makes a great effort to attend continuing education courses on a regular basis. Moving to Virginia was the best thing that ever happened to her! For many years now she has taught riding lessons to children and amateur adults with a focus on riding confidently cross country & fox hunting in addition to showing and eventing. She believes good training should be based on proper ground work and flat work.

Lacy’s passion is to show people that they can achieve their riding dreams, whatever they may be and to open their eyes to many different equine disciplines. She also takes great pride in training/re-training and starting/re-starting horses. Lacy can often be seen in the hunt field with a trail of children & adults with her. She has her colors with both Warrenton and Loudoun Fairfax hunts after nearly 15 seasons combined.

Kate has been a licensed and registered occupational therapist in Virginia since 2001, after graduating from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania with a degree in occupational therapy and a minor in psychology. She has provided therapy in the subacute, hospital, outpatient and home settings. She has held rehabilitation director roles for multiple programs developing teams and improving clinical rehabilitative care. Before joining Sprout she was the executive director for a multidisciplinary, all-inclusive model of care program in Northern Virginia where she oversaw all aspects of clinical care, program operations and insurance benefit management.

Kate has completed her level I American Hippotherapy Association training in order to provide therapy using equine movement as a treatment protocol. She began her passion for riding growing up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. After moving to Northern Virginia, she volunteered at therapeutic riding facilities in the area. She enjoys seeing the immediate effect of treating with horses, the joyful spirit created by everyone involved and the outcomes that can be achieved.

Lynn began volunteering at Sprout in 2012. She lives in Ashburn, Va with her husband John and her son Grant. John & Lynn also have two older sons and now two grandchildren. Lynn met Brooke while Brooke was her son's 7th grade science teacher. Lynn was born & raised in Northwestern Indiana where she had experience riding horses with her friends. Before retiring in 2011, Lynn was a bank officer at Virginia Heritage Bank and has over 24 years in the banking industry. She now enjoys working at Sprout as the co-office manager.

Christy's life-long obsession with horses possibly began before birth. Labeled an ``extremely sensitive child`` at an early age, she found the greatest comfort with animals, particularly horses. Born in Virginia, she's been blessed to have lived in both Germany and recently, Italy. While living overseas, she had the great privilege of traveling to numerous other countries and found that the depth and strength of the human animal bond transcends nearly every culture. While she started riding at the age of 6, lack of funding growing up often made riding impossible. Instead, she voraciously consumed every possible form of information related to horses and volunteered anywhere and everywhere just to be near their calming presence. Upon moving to what used to be West Berlin at the age of 11, she taught herself just enough German to request volunteer opportunities in local barns where she spent as much time as school, sports and her parents would allow. She graduated from college in 1994 with a degree in Veterinary Technology and worked as a Licensed Veterinary Technician/Veterinary Nurse for nearly 25 years. While in college, she volunteered all of her extra time at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center. During her career, she acquired extra knowledge and practice in specialties such as in anesthesia, dentistry, cytology, ophthalmology, radiography, hematology and emergency care. She returned from living in Italy in the summer of 2017 and in 2018, through Mary Schreiber, became a certified equine and canine massage therapist and concurrently enjoys her flourishing massage business. Her passion for learning never ceases and is pursuing a study and certification in the human animal bond. Christy's employment at Sprout as weekend barn manager began in the winter of 2018. She was recently gifted the task of organizing tasks/projects for the CARROTS volunteer program and loves every minute with the volunteers. Each day she steps onto the farm, a sense of peace washes over her. For her, Sprout embodies inclusivity, endless possibilities and profound joy in the moments our riders and volunteers grow stronger and more vibrant, both emotionally and physically. She currently lives with her family on 7 acres in Gainesville with several chickens, ducks, guineas, 4 cantankerous goats, 2 barn cats, 3 house cats and 3 dogs. She hopes to add horses to the menagerie soon.

Klaudia began her equestrian journey in the spring of 2012. A few weeks after beginning her riding lessons, she started to assist with riding lessons for children and adults with a range of physical or cognitive challenges. A month into volunteering as a lessons’ assistant, she also started to help as a volunteer coordinator. Since then, she has volunteered with multiple therapeutic riding programs in the Washington D.C. area and has completed several horse training programs. Klaudia holds a master’s degree in International Development and has years of experience managing complex programs in challenging environments. As a barn mom, Klaudia started a blog for other potential, current, or former barn moms to share resources, exchange ideas, and provide support for mom’s or children’s experiences with horseback riding.

In January 2020, Klaudia started to volunteer at Sprout. Almost immediately, Klaudia felt like she was part of an extraordinary team. In January 2021, Klaudia accepted the position of a lesson assistant at Sprout. Given Klaudia’s personal experience growing up and working with children with disabilities, Sprout allows her to combine her passion for helping others and her love for horses. The Sprout facility, the horses, the instructors, and staff, make everyone feel like they are a part of something that is larger than life. The partnership they help to build between their horses, riders, volunteers, and instructors is one of a kind and is always focused on providing hope, healing, and empowerment. Regardless of how you arrive, you are sure to be changed for good during your time at Sprout!