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 & Instructors
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.
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!
Andrea Richards – Creative Writing Instructor
Andrea is a writer and editor devoted to helping girls discover their voices and learn to value their creative expressions. She has spent much of her decade-long publishing career creating empowering books for teenage girls, first as an editor at Girl Press, then as the author of the book, Girl Director: A How-To Guide for the First-Time, Flat-Broke Film & Video Maker. She is a contributor to magazines such as The Believer, Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, make/shift, and Los Angeles, and has written essays for several anthologies including the forthcoming Why We Ride: Women Writers on the Horses in their Lives.
Laura A. Vena – Creative Writing Instructor
Laura is a writer, translator, and photographer whose work has appeared in In Posse Review, Chronometry, and [out of nothing]. She is a cofounder of the interdisciplinary arts organization, STROPHE, teaches Latin American Literature at the California Institute of the Arts, and is the production editor of Black Clock. Laura began working at TTR three years ago with the CAP Program and continues to be inspired by her students. Her writing classes engage the girls in creative projects that combine the written word with visual imagery to document the world around them as seen through their ever-imaginative eyes.
Sara Finnerty – Creative Writing Instructor
Sara Finnerty is a writer and teacher originally from Queens, NY. She came to Los Angeles to complete an MFA in Writing at the California Institute of the Arts, where she was part of a program that introduced her to Taking the Reins, a place that epitomizes everything Sara believes about writing and empowerment. Sara believes writing can help a person know and believe in who they are and who they can become. Sara loves teaching and has had the pleasure of working with individuals of all walks of life, from elementary school
to college-aged. She writes every day, and has been published in literary magazines like Jersey Devil Press and T-Minus, wrote food and drink articles for decider.com, is a Mortified performer (where she reads her mortifying teenaged journals on stage), and recently read a personal essay about the witchy beliefs of her Italian grandma at the Almost Famous reading series, which she is now turning into a Young Adult novel.