Our Instructors
Taryn Hillman is both an instructor and horse trainer at WHH and has been passionate about horses for most of her life. At the age of 12 she began taking riding lessons, joined the Westernaires mounted precision drill team, and started volunteering for a therapeutic riding center. This opened her to a whole new world and as a result, in 2007 she became a PATH International certified instructor and has taught at several therapeutic riding centers in Colorado. She also became very passionate about training and helped train several horses specifically for therapeutic riding. Taryn graduated from CSU with a degree in Equine Science and Agricultural Business, during which time she instructed at several therapeutic riding in the Fort Collins/Loveland area. While pursuing her education, Taryn’s passion led her to training wild mustangs for the Extreme Mustang Makeover. She participated in this competition for 5 years, training wild mustangs to be handled, ridden and eventually adopted. She has also competed in the Equine Comeback Challenge, taking 9th place. Taryn currently works at The Dumb Friends League Harmony Equine Center in addition to being a riding instructor. Taryn owns 5 mustangs which are used for lessons at WHH.
Sue Carlton fell in love with horses when she was a young child and went horse back riding whenever possible. As a young adult she volunteered for the Westernaires mounted precision drill team for several years before taking a 10 year hiatus from the horse world. But, alas, the horse bug bit her again and she reacquainted herself with horses by volunteering for a therapeutic riding center in the Denver metro area. This inspired a new passion for Sue – working with special needs children and adults. After volunteering for 8 years, Sue pursued her certification as a Path International instructor and has been an instructor at several therapeutic centers in the Denver metro area for the past 10 years. Sue also volunteers for Car-ynne4kids, hypotherapy program and for Night Lights, a respite program for families with children with special needs.
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Catrina Songer grew up with horses, beginning with trail rides in small town Minnesota at a very young age. When her family moved to Colorado, she began to learn both English and Western riding styles while being a working student for six years. She led camps and birthday parties, gained horse knowledge, and did manual labor such as mucking stalls. Although she continued riding for several years while leasing a horse, she ended up having to take a break. During this time, she advanced in childcare. Cat has also spent most of her life working with children ages 4 and up at church teaching Sunday School and VBS. Before and After School Care helped her develop her skills with children while she became certified in Early Childhood Education. Horses has always been a love of hers so she became an instructor at a horse camp for some time before becoming an instructor at Wild Hearts Horsemanship. Cat is experienced with horses and children and strives to continue to keep learning and furthering her education with horses.