Kristin Willard
Growing up on a small farm, Kristin was raised surrounded by horses. First, her mom’s Arabian gelding, then a Shetland pony, and then finally a pregnant Arabian mare. Much of Kristin’s early childhood involved running around the property with the four horses, or being underfoot while her mom did chores. There are many memories of riding bareback, groundwork attempts, and simply reading to and watching her four-legged family members.
In 8th grade, Kristin started to take lessons in natural horsemanship. By 10th grade, she had a job to pay for dressage lessons, and attended every riding, groundwork, veterinary, and equine ethology clinics she could sign up for. At 21, she leased a former rodeo horse who she practiced trick riding with. In 2018, Kristin started a job working as a wrangler for a guest ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The next year, she was promoted to the head kid wrangler position. The following three years included taking groups of kids as young as seven on 2-hour and half-day trail rides in Grand Teton National Park.
After moving back to Washington at the end of 2022, Kristin has been working as a farm-sitter and nanny. Now, she is pursuing her certification to become a therapeutic riding instructor, blending deep-rooted equine knowledge with compassionate instruction. Kristin’s focus will always be on providing a safe and supportive environment, followed closely by fun and curiosity.
Joelle Delettrez
Joelle has been involved in therapeutic riding for about a decade. During these years, she has served at several non-profits in a variety of roles including volunteer, expediter, lead volunteer, barn manager, and now instructor. Joelle holds her Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI) certification as both a teaching and supervising instructor. She loves to meet each rider where they are at and find creative ways to help them meet their goals. If you volunteer in her lessons long enough, you’re sure to become a cow, hide some gold coins, or sing along to some music!
If you ever need to find Joelle outside of the barn, you can probably find her spending time with loved ones, exploring the woods, or cooking something up in the kitchen.
Serena Dudas
Serena’s experience started when she was just seven years old. On a summer day, a trailer showed up at her house with a wild horse inside. Her mom had adopted a mustang - without telling anyone! From there, Serena grew up training her own horses and learning how to ride along the way.
In 2018, Serena worked at a ‘Dude Ranch’ in Cour d’ Alene as a wrangler. She taught riding lessons to kids age 4+ and adults of all ages, working with over 80 horses at the ranch. Today, Serena works as a Land Entitlement Manager for MainVue Homes in Kirkland.
Serena began volunteering with Empowering Strides in 2023. Laura and members of the board noticed Serena's calm demeanor around the horses, dedication to the program and natural comfort with our riders. Laura asked Serena to become a certified therapeutic riding instructor to take a substitute roll in the program. Serena completed her CTRI fall of 2023 and became certified early 2024.
Serena teaches lessons for Empowering Strides on Thursdays, and as needed to substitute when Laura is ‘out of office’. Don’t forget to say “hay” to Addie, Serena’s personal horse, who lives at the barn as well!
Laura Gorcester
Founder, Director and Instructor Laura Gorcester has always had a passion for horses. In March of 2015, Laura was offered a teaching position at a local facility that focuses on teaching children to ride who need extra attention. During this time Laura started her certification process to become a certified therapeutic riding instructor through The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH). For six weeks during the summer Laura worked and taught under the guidance of a mentor from Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center. In August of 2015 Laura was granted her certification as a PATH certified therapeutic riding instructor. She saw the need in the community and founded Empowering Strides in November 2015.
Laura has enjoyed the journey of growing Empowering Strides from a dream, to a thriving program. With the assistance of many mentors, volunteers and board members along the way, Empowering Strides has flourished into what it is today! In January 2025, Laura had her first child and took a step back from her position in the barn as an instructor. Now, most of her time is spent in the office, growing and enriching the program.
Above: Kristin
Below: Joelle
Above: Serena
Below: Laura
