Dani Horton

Founder, President

Dani is a certified equine massage therapist and riding instructor. She is also certified in large animal rescue. Dani has more than 30 years of equine experience. She has won numerous titles and awards in barrel racing, breakaway roping, pole bending, halter, Western pleasure and obstacle challenges. She is a member of the Polk County Mounted Search and Rescue Team, as a volunteer.

Prior to retiring to focus on the rescue, she spent 12 years working for a private company, working her way up from receptionist to office manager.

Wayne Elkins

Vice President

With more than 18 years of experience, Wayne is a certified farrier with an established client-base in the Polk County region. He specializes in horses that are difficult to handle. He recently earned his certification in large animal rescue.

Board Members:

Mary Shields

Reading With Rescues Director

Mary is our Reading With Rescues director. She is a professional saddle fitter for Black Bird Equestrian as her full-time job and enjoys spending some of her spare time at the barn helping with events and other things that are going on.

Cat Madden

Adoption Director, Training Team

Cat has been with the organization since 2013. She is our adoption director and also is on the training team. She spends a lot of her spare time at the barn helping with many of the daily chores and horse training.

KaSandra Howe

Fundraising & Digital Media Director

KaSandra has been with the organization since 2015. She has served on the board for 5 years. She is also part of the adoption team and assists Cat when needed. KaSandra has fostered and adopted from us and has always had a love for horses. She is a teacher and bus driver for her full-time job and loves to assist with events and with whatever else is going on at the barn.

Leigh Ann Webb

Volunteer Director/Rehab Horse Trainer

Leigh Ann Webb is a Licensed Massage Therapist at Lake Wales Massage Therapy Center. 10+ years experience. She is also our Volunteer Director at Hope Equine. Feb 2019 to Present. She runs our volunteer orientation, trains new volunteers during their training period. She helps the barn run smoothly, coordinates sign up app and Volunteer FB page Leigh Ann recently joined the training team as a Rehab Horse Trainer (30+ years experience with 15+ year professional experience) at Hope Equine July 2019 to Present. Directly helps evaluate new horses and if rideable, rides them w/t/c over jumps and obstacles. Leigh Ann’s hobbies include trick training her riding horse, Mack Daddy and her adopted HER Rescue mini, Batman! They are Webb Therapy Ponies and they go to local assisted livings and offer Pet Therapy. Leigh Ann currently is working out her insurance needs to be able to generate a donation to HER via these trips. She and her husband have been married for 4 years and they currently have two dogs, a cat, and two ponies. She is a life-long resident of the Lake Wales area with a life-long horse obsession. Leigh Ann’s professional horse experience includes Arabian Nights Dinner Show and Al-Marah Arabians.