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Meet the Team

Real people with life-changing results

The human half of the LEAD team brings education, experience and expertise to the educational and therapeutic processes.

Jeane Spada-Allgood

Executive Director
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Jeane Spada-Allgood

Jeane has been in the field of education for over thirty years, and has worked with Northern Nevada youth since 2008. She holds a Master of Arts in Youth Development, is Natural Lifemanship trained, and is an EAGALA certified equine specialist. She is a horsewoman and rider, and understands first hand the power of horses as teachers, companions, and guides. Jeane co-founded LEAD with Horses to help children and youth, and continues to expand the organization to ensure that more people realize their full potential through the wonder of horses

Jerome Belen

Administrative Assistant

Ashley Belt

Barn Mananger, Equine Behavior Specialist
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Ashley Belt

Ashley is an EAGALA certified equine specialist. She has over 20 years of experience with horses and holds a Bachelors of Science in Animal Science, Equine from the University of California, Davis. She has completed multiple externships at equine hospitals in addition to personal research she conducted at UC Davis which has expanded her knowledge of the internal works of equids. The importance that horses have had in her own journey makes Ashley passionate about sharing equine assisted work with others.

Sarah-Mckenzie Brotzman

Program Director and PATH Certified Instructor, Adaptive Riding
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Sarah-Mckenzie Brotzman

Sarah-Mckenzie studied psychology at the University of Houston and has a MS in Child Psychology. She worked as a Registered Behavioral Therapist in Austin, Texas before moving to Reno. Sarah-Mckenzie decided to combine the two things she loves most: an equine’s ability to heal and behavioral therapy, and became an Adaptive Riding volunteer. She began as an instructor in training in 2023, and is now a PATH Certified Instructor. As she's made Nevada home, Sarah-Mckenzie continues to serve with compassion to help positively impact her community with Adaptive Riding.

Henry Lee

Barn Manager and Instructor in Training, Adaptive Riding
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Henry Lee

Henry is an experienced ranch hand, trainer, and manager. Henry began his career working with donkeys in an equine assisted therapy barn. He is a certified Equine Assisted Therapy Instructor (Spirit Horse International) and working toward PATH certification. Henry finds the work of therapeutic riding and horsemanship incredibly fulfilling, and believes it’s vital to help people of all demographics reconnect with horses, our oldest and most valued companions, especially our special needs clientele for whom this kind of therapy is designed.

Melissa Morrison, LMFT

Therapist
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Melissa Morrison

Melissa retains a true passion for her work as an MFT and believes that all of her clients deserve an empathic, professional approach. Working with people to identify and treat issues large and small provides her with great satisfaction.

She completed her practicum working with veterans at the Reno Veterans Center. Her early work as a licensed MFT-Intern saw her working with people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction issues. Melissa spent a considerable amount of time at the start of her career working with the underserved populations in Nevada’s rural communities. Melissa has worked as an MFT with multiple school districts in collaboration with students, faculty and parents to create solutions to the unique issues that children face both within and outside of the classroom. Her passion for working with Nevada’s youth led her back to the public school system, where her work focused on at-risk adolescents and their relationships with family, faculty, and administration.

Taylor Quinn

Facilitator, Youth Development
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Taylor Quinn

Taylor has been a social worker since 2021. She currently works with foster care youth all across Nevada, helping them expand their connections and build relationships. Taylor has previous experience working in Hospice care and in the veterinary field. She has a love for all animals, especially horses, and believes horses hold sacred space for humans to process and heal from trauma.

Nic Spada-Allgood

Facilitator and Equine Behavior Specialist, Youth Development
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Nic Spada-Allgood

COMING SOON!

Directors and Officers

Debra Wurzel, President

Sonja Cuffe, Secretary

Lindsay Gillette, Treasurer

Morgan Garcia

Elise Henriques

Lyndsay Lamberts

Horses and Donkeys

Bear

Clove

Dude

Echo

Fireball

Gina

Hoku

Lady

Mercedes

Quest

Red-Tito

Snowday

Sullivan

Tang

Trigger

Walter