Our Staff
Our horses are dedicated staff members who teach, console, and amuse TTR students and staff. They are at the heart of our organization.
Taking The Reins Staff
Judith Hopkins – Executive Director
Along with board member Debra Avery, Judith is the cofounder of Taking the Reins. Judith has served as the Executive Director of Taking the Reins since the organization’s inception in 1998. She originally came west to attend California Institute of the Arts. After receiving her MFA in 1987, she taught art at community colleges and the California Youth Authority. Twelve years ago she went on a trail ride in Sequoia that changed her life—she took up riding horses and never looked back.
Marianne Van Winkle – Program Director
Marianne’s passion for working with youth through non-profits and higher education has taken her from the cornfields of Indiana to Los Angeles, Northern Ireland, Kentucky and Australia. She has returned to Los Angeles to combine her loves of working with youth, art, nature and building community. Marianne received her bachelor degree in media communications from Asbury University and her MA in youth ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary.
Rayna Marotti - Head Wrangler and Operations Coordinator
Hailing from the Hoosier state, Rayna graduated from Indiana University. Rayna came to Taking the Reins as a volunteer with a love of horses and worked her way up to head wrangler. She enjoys seeing the girls participating in Taking the Reins transform as they learn to ride and care for the horses. Rayna finds joy in groundwork with horses just as much as being up in the saddle.
Colleen Hennessey – Riding Instructor & Gardening Instructor
A lifelong gardener and horse enthusiast, Colleen teaches riding and gardening at Taking the Reins. She has developed our gardening curriculum, which introduces girls to the joy of observing and caring for the natural world and transforming what they grow into delicious, healthy food. Colleen started riding horses when she was eleven years old and volunteered at a bird and wildlife rescue center for several of her teenage years. She studied sculpture at Kansas City Art Institute and has been a practicing artist who has supported herself as a professional cook in restaurants such as Lucques, Campanile, Canele, and Hayes Street Grill.
Current Taking the Reins Instructors
Nancy Bauer, Riding Instructor
Originally from Boston, Nancy has been riding since third grade. After high school she worked with Standardbred racehorses and spent twelve years training for the Leo Bauer Racing Stable, competing in harness races in New England, Florida, and New York. She then decided to return to her love of riding horses, earning certification as an instructor and teaching at the Thomas School of Horsemanship where she served as Riding Director for thirteen years. After moving to California, she performed stunt riding for film and on the television drama Boston Legal. She jumped at the chance to teach at Taking the Reins since the students remind her of herself as a young, city girl who would never have had such a wonderful life of working with horses if someone hadn't first opened the barn door to her.
Brooke Lemke - Riding Instructor
Brooke is a trainer/instructor with an emphasis in Dressage. She began competing in Stadium Jumping and Dressage as a teenager before making the switch to focus only on Dressage. Brooke studied under Janet Harms for four years climbing the levels from Training to PSG while studying Horse Science Technology and interning with Equine Vets. Brooke then moved to Wellington to work as a groom for Betsy Steiner where she was privileged to ride horses of all levels from green to Grand Prix. She moved back to the Midwest and rode with William Solyntjes before moving on to Assistant Trainer at Leatherdale Farms, Minnesota, where she helped break several of their young horses. Brooke’s goal is to become a USDF certified instructor/trainer, as well as a licensed judge. She’s excited to be at Taking the Reins!
Julia Carr - Garden Instructor
A native of Portland, Oregon, Julia grew up surrounded by abundant nature. Graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies from Pitzer College, she has traveled, worked, and farmed in Costa Rica and New Zealand. Julia is passionate about nutrition, food access, and education. She supports and advocates for agriculture and sustainability in urban and under-served communities. As a weekend garden instructor at Taking the Reins, Julia engages young girls through creative, fun and interactive garden classes. When not at Taking the Reins, Julia farms and teaches at a local charter high school, experiments with vegetarian cooking, and explores the exciting and rich city of Los Angeles.
Amy Goldman Koss - Creative Writing Instructor
Amy Goldman Koss assumed that when she grew up she’d get some miserable job and would only get to do anything interesting in the wee bits of her free time. Happily things turned out differently. Amy writes (almost daily) in her sunny, triangular office 27 steps from her sliding back door. She has written 14 teen novels, 4 pictures books, a whole slew of newspaper articles and countless shopping lists. Her books, including THE GIRLS, SIDE EFFECTS and POISON IVY among others, have been named to numerous Best Books of the Year lists and honored with various state reading awards. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Amy now lives in Los Angeles with her family, pets and phobias.
Lena Wolek - Art Instructor
Lena Wolek grew up as Lena Kazakova in a small Siberian town on the shores of Lake Baikal during the last years of the former Soviet Union. Life was very structured then, and limited in personal and financial freedom. As a young girl she excelled at art and attended a special school for talented students; as a teenager she became the head of the school’s artist’s committee. After moving to Los Angeles with her nine-year-old daughter in 2001, she found opportunities to grow creatively, and once again she pursued her lifelong interest in art. Lena attended the Santa Monica College Mentor Program, and in 2012 she is about to obtain her Bachelor degree in Fine Arts at University of California, Los Angeles. Meanwhile, her recent art works have been selected for various exhibitions in Los Angeles and southern California.
A recipient of numerous university grants and scholarships. Lena also has taught art classes and workshops at UCLA’s Hammer Museum and the Summer Art Institute at UCLA. Her abiding belief is that art is a language with which people can develop their expressive visual skills and selves simultaneous with learning to speak, read, and write