Our Team
Our Staff
Peggy James, Program Director
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(925) 413-4739
Peggy grew up in North Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. She is married and has 3 children, one of whom is disabled. She graduated from Southern Colorado State College with a K-12 teacher’s credential in Physical Education and from UC Davis in Interior Design, with honors. She served at an assistant 4H leader and helped teach their Cart Driving Program. Peggy is a NARHA member and is a NARHA certified teacher. She has volunteered for the Taylor Family Foundation’s summer camp program by bringing in horses and teaching therapeutic riding for several years. She is on the Board of Directors and is one of the founders of ENN (Exceptional Needs Network). She owns 3 horses, Hershey, John and Summer, and is an endurance rider. She is currently the Program Director and lead instructor for Hoofprints on the Heart at Hagemann Farm in Livermore California.
Barbara Soules, Executive Director
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(925) 292-1900
Barbara moved to Livermore,California from Cleveland, Ohio six years ago. She is married and mother of two children. Barbara taught elementary learning disabilities in Cleveland Heights-University Heights,Ohio for 30 years and is now retired. She was co-founder of a non-profit parent support organization in Cleveland, The Heights Parent Center. She served on the board of directors of the International Dyslexia Association in Cleveland and was a member of The Geauga Horse and Pony Association in Geauga County, OH where her daughter rode and showed horses. Most of her experience with horses has been vicarious except for the past 4 years when she cared for her daughter's horse while she was at UCDavis. Barbara has a BS in psychology from Oberlin College and a MS in special education from Purdue University and is certified to teach special education, K-12. Barbara is the Executive Director of Hoofprints on the Heart.
Jackie Reckas-Retelas, MA, LMFT, Equine Facilited Mental Health Director
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(925) 462-5453
Jackie received her Masters degree in Counseling from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA. She has been in private practice in Pleasanton since 1991. She is the Executive Director of the Program for Counseling in Schools which serves schools in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. She trains and supervises MFT interns in the schools. She is trained in Equine Assisted Social Skills and is currently working with Peggy James teaching small groups of her clients using the Equine Facilitated Mental Health model.
Jenny Hindmarsh, NARHA Certified Instructor
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(925) 456-5420
Jenny Hindmarsh is a NARHA-certified Instructor She has volunteered and helped teach classes at Hoofprints on the Heart Adaptive Riding Center since May 2007 and now teaches two days each week. She serves as the Historian on the Board of Directors. From 2004-07, she volunteered as a Side-Walker, Horse-Leader, and Fundraiser for Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center, Orinda. Originally from Oregon, she now resides near the Morgan Territory Reserve in Livermore. She has owned horses since age 10 and currently has two Quarter Horse mares, DocBars Princess and Texas Ginger, and enjoys Western Pleasure and Trail Riding. She is a Certified Purchasing Manager, having worked as a Sr. Contract Manager in Procurement at AT& T for the past seven years. She holds a BA-Management from St. Mary’s College, Moraga and a Certificate in Purchasing from UC-Berkeley. Jenny has two daughters in college, at UC- Riverside and UC-San Diego. She has a passion for families with special needs having learned from her sister’s care of two daughters with Cystic Fibrosis. She is a volunteer teacher of Autistic children at CrossWinds Church in Dublin, and an on-call volunteer for Joni-and-Friends for projects as needed.
Katy Kempton, Caretaker/Instructor
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925-518-7558
Katy is the mother of a 7 year old boy and caretaker for Hoofprints. Her duties include paddock cleaning, feeding and general care of horses and some general grounds upkeep from mowing to weeding. In addition, Katy works for a local Pet Sitting Service, caring for a variety of animals, from dogs and cats to birds. She has also worked as a manager for a local Resource Service. Katy volunteers her time with HOTHARC helping out on the Fundraising committee and as an actual volunteer for the program as side walker and horse walker. She also teaches lessons at HOTHARC a couple days a week. She is also the Volunteer Coordinator. Katy has been around horses and ridden for many years.
Dave West, Ranch Manager
David began working with horses in the late 70’s as a camp counselor for the boy Scouts of America. He spent four summers teaching horsemanship and was head instructor for two of those years. David also began working with the handicapped population at this time.
David graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Business Economics. David spent several years working in the Financial Services industry and then had an opportunity to pursue his passion of working with kids and horses. David went on to be founder, owner and operator of a small business that provided horse related services to the public, including horse training, riding lessons, and horse shoeing. His business expanded and David began to provide elegant horse-drawn carriage and wagon rides. David has spent the past 20 years on a full time basis working with horses, teaching riding lessons and has taught over 500 students, several with learning disabilities. David is known for his ability to teach his students to become successful and safe independent riders. Thru David’s horse-drawn carriage and wagon business, David worked for individuals, businesses, cities and several government agencies. In addition to his teaching, David has provided horses for the Livermore Rodeo Association’s Celebrity Team-Penning event and has driven one of the Stagecoaches for the Rodeo Association for the past 10+ years. On Sunday’s of the Rodeo each year, the rodeo hosts an event called Li’l Partners which is rodeo activities geared for the handicapped and several of these children and families ride in the stagecoach for the Grand Entry into the Rodeo.
David continues to work with children of all ages and has now turned his direction to working with children with disabilities and those in the field of Equine Facilitated Mental Health Work. David enjoys watching them grow, mature and become more sure about who they are and is amazed at how something so simple as riding and driving horses can help people of all ages with their disabilities and mental issues. He will pursue NARHA Certified Instructor Status.
