AHA Staff
Bonnie Cunningham, MA, PT, HPCS Executive Director Jeffersonville, NY BDC1M@aol.com (picture coming soon)
Bonnie is a licensed Physical Therapist in the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in Physical Therapy and Master of Public Administration. Bonnie is a NARHA Registered Therapist, a NARHA Certified Riding Instructor Registered Level and certified as a national assessor for riders interested in competing in national events and the Paralympics. Bonnie is a certified clinical specialist in hippotherapy, coordinating faculty for the American Hippotherapy Association, has taught internationally and presented at national conferences. Bonnie is practicing hippotherapy as part of a therapeutic riding program and in private practice. She has served as president of AHA, Inc.
Linda Thiede Office Manager Linda comes to her job as office manager of AHA, Inc. with a strong background in organization and administration. Linda worked as a contract administrator for Grumman Aerospace Corporation in New York and California and an event planner for a not-for-profit organization in conjunction with the city of Fort Worth, Texas.
2007-2008 Executive Committee
	Meredith Bazaar, MA, CCC-SLP, HPCS President New York, NY meredith@msbtherapy.com
Meredith S. Bazaar is a licensed speech-language pathologist and lifetime equestrienne. Meredith is the founder of MSB Therapy, which provides speech and language treatment and evaluation using the strategy of hippotherapy at Starlight Farm as well as in her office in Ringwood, New Jersey. She has been a speech-language pathologist at Montefiore Medical Center, as well as in a sub-acute care center and a private ear, nose, and throat practice. She has provided Early Intervention services and consulted for boards of education. Meredith also managed a day program for individuals with traumatic brain injury and provided residential care for United Cerebral Palsy of New York State. Meredith began riding horses at age 8 and began her competitive equestrian career at age 13. She has competed in the Washington International Horse Show, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, the National Horse Show, the USET Medal Finals, and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Finals. She was the founder and President of the Equestrian Club at George Washington University where she earned her BA in speech and hearing. She earned her MA in speech-language pathology at Northwestern University. Meredith is a registered member of AHA, NARHA and ASHA.
	Sarah Pictor, PT, DPT, PCS First Vice President/Secretary Buffalo, NY pictors@dyc.edu
Sarah is a licensed Physical Therapist in the state of New York, receiving her Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Vermont in 1981. She obtained her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in December, 2005. Sarah is an APTA Board Certified Pediatric Clinical Specialist with over 25 years of clinical practice working primarily in the area of neurodevelopmental disabilities, pediatric and adult. Currently, she is a full time Assistant Clinical Professor, and Assistant ACCE in the Physical Therapy Department at D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York. Sarah has been a volunteer consultant for over 20 years with Lothlorien Therapeutic Riding Center, a NARHA premier accredited program. She is currently the president of the Board of Directors for Lothlorien. Sarah lives in East Aurora, New York with husband Bill and their 2 boys, Geoffrey and David.
	Lori Garone, MA, PT, HPCS Second Vice President Hicksville, NY lgarone@americanhippotherapyassociation.org
Lori has a private practice in Long Island, New York, Physical Therapy In Motion, where she has incorporated hippotherapy as a part of her patient’s plan of care for over 17 years. She is a Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist, HPCS, NARHA Registered Therapist and a NARHA Registered Instructor. Lori previously served on the AHA, Inc., Board of Directors for over 8 years. She is Coordinating Faculty for the AHA, Inc. and teaches and consults nationally. Recognized for her work in the field, Lori was honored as one of two therapists chosen to represent the United States at the First International Symposium of Therapists and Adaptive Riding Instructors. She is also listed in New York State Empires Who's Who for her work in Hippotherapy. Lori is a graduate of Touro College of Physical Therapy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health and a Master of Science in Physical Therapy. Lori is also a member of APTA, NDTA, and a lifetime equestrienne. She has taught able and disabled riders, as well as shown successfully in equitation and hunters as a child and as an adult at Fourth Level Dressage.
	Rose Crivolio Treasurer Roswell, GA rcriv@aol.com
Rose joined the Board in 2005 representing families with special needs. She has a son, Jimmy, age 13, with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, who has benefited from hippotherapy. Both Rose and her husband, Jim, have been active volunteers with Jimmy's hippotherapy sessions. Before having Jimmy, Rose was a municipal bond liaison - trading and marketing municipal bonds for Shearson Lehman Hutton. She has participated in many volunteer opportunities to serve families and children with special needs. She chaired 4 events for the Foundation For Medically Fragile Children, including a black tie fundraiser and silent auctions. She chaired their 'Harvest Festival' that was a family event involving many volunteers and activities. Her leadership, ability to fund raise, attention to detail and positive perspective has been a wonderful addition to the board.
2007–2008 Board of Directors
	Karen McPhail Gardner, MOT, OTR, HPCS Past President Hockley, TX mcgard@flash.net or karenmcphail@sire-htec.org
Karen has a Master's in Occupational Therapy and is Director of Therapy for SIRE, Inc., near Houston, Texas. She is a Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist (HPCS), NARHA Master Instructor and Driving Instructor. She practices pediatric and aquatic therapy at the TEAM Approach and is an adjunct professor for the OTA Program at Tomball College. Therapy interests include sensory integration and neurodevelopmental techniques. She is a member of AOTA, TOTA, Houston Area Carriage Association, Lone Star Dowsing Club, Clear Lake Gem and Mineral Society. She loves her husband John, driving her horse Pete and Mexican food, usually in that order. Karen is a former president of American Hippotherapy Association, Inc.
	Mary Beth Marzulli, PT Lancaster, PA mbmarzulli@aol.com
Mary Beth graduated from the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a Bachelor of Science Degree in physical therapy and has practiced physical therapy in a variety of settings for 35 years. She participated in one of the first “Introduction to Hippotherapy” courses in 1988 and has been using hippotherapy as a treatment strategy since 1990. She is a NARHA registered therapist, a member of AHA, Inc., APTA and NARHA, and is a charter member of ASHT. Mary Beth is currently working for the S June Smith Center in Lancaster, PA providing physical therapy services in their inclusive preschool programs. She recently started Kidz’n Motion, a program of the S June Smith Center specializing in pediatric hippotherapy.
Deborah Silkwood-Sherer, DHS, PT Holt, MI 48842 Silkw1d@cmich.edu
Debbie serves as the AHA research committee chair. She received her bachelor degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Kentucky in 1978, holds a masters degree in Rehabilitation Administration from DePaul University, and completed her Doctorate of Health Science degree in pediatric physical therapy from the Krannert School of Physical Therapy, University of Indianapolis in 2007. She became interested in hippotherapy after her daughters began riding at a local therapeutic riding program in 1995 and she saw how the horses' movement improved movement and balance disorders in children. Debbie added hippotherapy to her treatment regime after attending an introductory hippotherapy course in 1997. As an assistant professor in the Graduate Physical Therapy program at Central Michigan University, she has completed several research projects with PT graduate students on the effects of hippotherapy. She works part-time as a contract therapist with CHUM Therapeutic Riding Center in Dansville, MI, a NARHA premier accredited center. Debbie is a registered therapist with NARHA, a member of AHA, as well as APTA.
	Janet Weisberg, OTR Golden Valley, MN janet@holdyourhorses.org
Janet Weisberg, MS, OTR/L, is owner and director of Hold Your Horses, LLC, a private therapy practice specializing in hippotherapy. Janet is a life long equestrian and after an ephiphany of sorts she began to weave her OT services and equine skills into jobs for TR programs in NY, IL and MN. Janet is a registered therapeutic riding instructor and therapist with NARHA and served as a regional liason for AHA since 2002. Janet has presented on topics related to hippotherapy at regional NARHA and state OT conferences, and regularly provides information about hippotherapy to instructors, coworkers, health care professionals and anyone that will listen. Janet lives in Minnesota with her husband Luke and two sons Sam and Asher.
Gina Taylor, MS, OTR/L Epona_therapy@hotmail.com Equitherapy@gmail.com Bound Brook, NJ
Gina Taylor, MS, OTR/L is a New Jersey licensed occupational therapist. She received her Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy from Philadelphia University and a Bachelor of Science in Equine Studies from Averett University. She is currently a NARHA Registered Therapist and Registered Riding and Driving instructor. Gina had actively pursued a career involving horses and people with disabilities since 1999 when she trained a horse for the World Special Olympics and began student teaching in therapeutic riding. Gina provides hippotherapy services at Somerset Hills Handicapped Riding Center in Oldwick NJ. Gina continues to expand her knowledge and the knowledge of other therapists about hippotherapy through fieldwork student supervision, conference presentations and her involvement with the American Hippotherapy Association.