Meet Our Staff

Staff

Executive Director/Program Director/Senior Instructor
Barbara Doughty originally comes from Long Island, NY. Barbara discovered therapeutic riding through her long time friendship with a former New England Coordinator for the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. When the time was ripe for a career change, Barbara combined her 15 years educator’s experience with a love of horses and small business background, and founded Flying Changes in July of 1992. Barbara has also served as a Head Start Director, bringing to Flying Changes extensive experience in special needs and Master’s work in learning disabilities. Barbara is a certified public school educator and a registered therapeutic riding instructor.

Barbara lives with her husband George in Brunswick. In her spare time she breeds and trains Golden Retrievers, some of which are used in adolescent and geriatric therapy work.

Certified Instructor

Karen E. Giles

Karen grew up as a pony clubber and has been teaching riding since 1995. She is certified Level III in dressage and recreational riding through the American Riding Instructors Association. Since Spring 2004, she has been teaching Centered Riding and balance seat at FCCTR in a fun and relaxed way that is applicable to all disciplines. She is a NARHA Certified Instructor.

Karen is also a Reiki Master and Integrated Energy Therapy Practitioner, has a business in which she creates unique Spirit Mandalas, belongs to eight horses, and is mother to son, Colt.

Instructor

Jocelyn Lewis

Jocelyn brings over 20 years riding and 10 years equine training to Flying Changes as well as prior experience as a therapeutic riding instructor. Having worked with many notables in the equestrian world and ridden at the Grand Prix level, Jocelyn’s understanding of the fundamentals of balance and movement translate especially well into instructional goals such as improved body awareness, coordination, and endurance for special needs clients. Her teaching style embraces enthusiasm and the joy of being with horses. She inspires the confidence and ability necessary to become a balanced rider.

Jocelyn teaches both special needs and typical children and adults . She is midway through completing her instructor certification with the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association.

Instructor

Caroline Ring

Caroline has been riding horses for over 15 years and carriage driving for ten. She is currently riding her own two horses in combined training events ( dressage, stadium jumping, cross country) throughout Maine. In addition to work with developmentally challenged adults in residential settings, she has volunteered extensively with both special needs children and adults through Maine Handicapped Skiing. Caroline is pursuing her instructor certification with the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association.
In addition to instructing both special needs and typical individuals, Caroline also provides essential administrative support services for the Center.

Instructor

Barbara Dubin LCSW

Barbara began riding at age 40 when she was able to buy her own horse. After much encouragement from other equestrians, she integrated her love for horses with her professional goals and became a certified therapeutic riding instructor in 2002.

Barn Manager

April Leeman

April has volunteered at Flying Changes since Christmas 2000 as both a lesson assistant and an equine care helper. She holds a certificate in Equine Management from the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. April owns
2 miniature horses, one of whom particpated in the 2003 Critter-thon Benefit Petwalk as well as numerous March of Dimes walkathons.

Instructor Summer Horsemanship Camp

Emily Horton

Emily has been riding since she was 4 years old and currently competes in combined training at the training level, having studied with Judy Cross, Beth Carlson, Mott Atherholt, and Caroline Atherholt-Dowd. She teaches and coaches the more advanced students at FC who are interested in an introduction to combined training. She also is a head instructor for our
summer horsemanship day camp. Her experience includes saddle seat, dressage, hunter/jumper and pleasure driving, and she was recently seen driving miniature horse, Erwin in the Bath Heritage Days Parade. Her philosophy encompasses teaching attitude and skills that enable the rider to participate safely as well as effectively.

Advanced Level Instructor, Natural Horsemanship Clinician

Prior to moving to Maine, Beth Carlson has had 30 years of experience training and successfully showing horses in New Jersey at state and regional levels in English pleasure, jumpers, hunters and dressage. She operated a 17 stall training/sales barn in NJ and galloped race horse there as well. She specialized in training young OTT thoroughbreds for careers in the show ring. Living close to the USET provided her with the opportunity to learn from the best riders in the country, most of them at the Olympic level. Beth has also been a student of Natural Horsemanship for many years and has trained 2 of her horses to Level 2 in the Parelli program. In addition to the horses, she trained and showed dogs in obedience at regional and national levels successfully. Training both horses and dogs led her to become a student of behavioral science for years. As a result, she feels she’s developed a program to suit each horse/rider combination. In using this knowledge, she provides what she sees as the most important parts of training.

1. safety for both horse and rider and
2. communicating to the horse in a way that avoids confusion, resulting in a horse that can self-load in a trailer, pin at a show, trail ride alone or in company, participate in a hunter pace or even foxhunt safely.

Beth now hunts with the Wentworth Hunt in New Hampshire, where she sits on the executive board and rides as a Field Master.