A certified therapeutic riding instructor, Patricia (Trish) Broersma founded and directed the Saddle Light Center, a nonprofit therapeutic riding program in San Antonio, Texas. She went on to re-establish, direct, and act as head instructor for HOPE Equestrian Center in Ashland, Oregon. She has been a certified instructor with North American Riding for the Handicapped (NARHA) since 1997. In fall 2007, she began her term as president of the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association, a section of NARHA that promotes standards of safety and professionalism in educational and mental health activities with horses. Trish holds a master’s in English from the University of Michigan and has been a licensed massage therapist in Oregon. Her writing has appeared in Practical Horseman and other publications. She has worked with Jean Houston as a staff member in Houston’s multicultural human development work since 1990. She lives in Ashland, Oregon, and has three grown children.
