Meet the Staff
Instructors & Administrators Board of Directors

Katie Fallon, Executive Director & Instructor

Katie Fallon has been a horse aficionado since childhood, when she happily mucked stalls at camp and shadowed family members at horse shows. Katie's love for horses followed her to Virginia, where she rode at Great Falls Horse Center for 10 years. She owns and trains her Appendix Quarter Horse, John, a former race horse that is now enjoying life as a pleasure horse. Katie has been actively involved with Lift Me Up! since 2002. She knows all the facets of the program, beginning as a volunteer, stepping up to Volunteer Coordinator, participating as a parent of a rider in the program, and now as Executive Director. Katie holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Affairs from Georgetown University and Columbia University, respectively, and worked previously as a financial analyst in the foreign bank supervision area of the Federal Reserve Board. This experience is an asset to Lift Me Up! through Katie's work with our Board of Directors. Katie has also chaired the Advisory Committee on the Fairfax-Falls Church Interagency Coordinating Council, served on the Board of Directors of the Speech and Language Center of Northern Virginia, and edited the PTA newsletter for Kent Gardens Elementary School.

Georgia Corey, Program Director and Advanced Instructor

Georgia Corey has been involved with Lift Me Up! since 1995. Starting as a sidewalker, Georgia became more involved, serving as volunteer coordinator, then as board member, one term as board secretary and two terms as board president. But Georgia missed working with the riders, volunteers and horses. Georgia attended Equest Therapeutic Riding Instructor Course in 2004 and received her certification at the Registered Instructor level. She returned in the spring of 2005 and received her Advanced Instructor certification.

Georgia has done many hours of post-graduate work in education and has spent a great deal of time teaching and working with children as a Sunday school and Vacation Church School teacher, Girl Scout leader, Cheer Mom, Team Mom, Room Mother and classroom volunteer. Now that her two children are grown, Georgia has directed her attention to Lift Me Up!

Riding since she was six, Georgia currently owns two horses. While she primarily rides Saddleseat (one of her horses is an American Saddlebred), she has also taken lessons in Hunt Seat, Dressage and Western riding.

Veronica Laughman, Instructor

Veronica has been with Lift Me Up! for nearly 3 years, beginning as an intern and receiving her certification as a NARHA Registered Instructor in October 2005. Veronica has been working around and riding horses since she was 12 years old. She started taking hunter/jumper lessons in exchange for barn work, where she officially became a “barn rat,” hanging out at the barn all day, every day, riding, grooming, mucking, and assisting with vet and farrier visits. Veronica was first exposed to therapeutic riding at the age of 13 when she volunteered at Sebastian Riding Associates in Collegeville, PA. When she moved to Northern Virginia in 1993, she continued her affinity for all things equestrian, dabbling in dressage and even polo. Finally, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation and certification as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, she has found time to pursue and achieve her wish to be a Therapeutic Riding Instructor. Veronica also works full time as a recreation therapist at the Northern Virginia Training Center for adults with special needs.

Kristin Catanzaro, Instructor & Office Manager

Kristin joined the Lift Me Up! staff in April of 2007, and now teaches therapeutic riding lessons five days a week to over 30 riders. Before joining Lift Me Up!, she taught dressage and jumping for several years at a riding stable in Connecticut. She also worked as a volunteer at High Hopes therapeutic riding, which sparked her desire to become a certified instructor. Kristin has worked around horses her entire life, from cleaning stalls and assisting veterinarians, to being a trail guide with the cowboys in the Utah mountains. She competed in hunter/jumper shows throughout high school, and continued to compete as an event rider in college. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Sciences.

Catherine Wycoff, PT, GCFP

Catherine was born and raised in Belgium and was passionate about horses for as far as she can remember. She started riding as a child and, along with her younger sister, showed jumpers every weekend until she left Belgium in 1989. For the next 13 years, she lived in several countries overseas following her husband’s postings, until they came back to the US in 2002. Catherine volunteered with Lift Me Up! from 2002 to 2005, when she acquired Andy. (See Catherine and Andy driving their cart!) Shortly thereafter, Catherine left for a 2 year tour in Austria. She is now back in the US for 2 years. She recently passed the American Hippotherapy Association Level 1 course and has started offering hippotherapy at Lift Me Up! She is a licensed physical therapist at Inova Fair Oaks Neurological Physical Therapy Center and a certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. She is also an instructor in training and plans to become a therapeutic riding instructor in 2008. We are delighted to welcome Catherine to the Lift Me Up! team.

Erica Wheatley, Instructor

Erica first became involved with Lift Me Up! as a volunteer and served in that capacity for two years. In 2003, she qualified as an instructor in Hong Kong with the Riding For Disabled qualification, which is the English equivalent of the NARHA Instructor's Certificate. Erica received her NARHA Registered Instructor Certificate through reciprocity, in November 2007. Erica started riding in New Zealand at age 10, got involved in pony club, fox hunting and horse shows, until her travels took her overseas in her early 20's. Erica taught kindergarten, got involved in school activities, Sunday school teaching and ran her own small preschool. She has also trained as a Stephens Minister, a form of Christian mentoring for crisis situations. She enjoys working with the riders at Lift Me Up! and seeing the wonderful progress they have achieved.

Jane Marinello, Administrative Assistant

Jane joined Lift Me! Up in 2006, and she brings to the program a lifetime of experience with horses and riding. Jane was born and raised in New York, and began her riding career on Long Island. During her time in New York, Jane began student teaching while attending the local community college. In 1971, Jane moved to Florida and commenced teaching full-time. In 1973, she purchased land and opened a riding school, which she ran while working at the Standardbred racetrack. Jane moved to McLean, Virginia in 1981, and worked as a riding instructor, barn manager, and ultimately Director of Riding at the Madeira School. Since 1996, Jane has served as the Barn Manager at Southdown Farm in Great Falls, Virginia. We are thrilled that Jane has become a part of Lift Me Up!

Jennifer Lucier, Volunteer Coordinator

Jennifer has been involved with Lift Me Up! since January 2006, and serves as a volunteer, our Volunteer Coordinator, and Board member. She is also a member of NARHA. Jennifer moved to Virginia in 2000, after completing her law degree at Pepperdine University School of Law. She began her career as a staff attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission before joining the Federal Reserve Board in 2004. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Siena College. Jennifer was bitten by the horse bug as a child, attending camps, helping as a groom at local shows, and taking riding lessons for several years. She currently rides at area barns and looks forward to becoming a horse-owner. We are thrilled to have Jennifer’s able assistance in managing and reaching out to our invaluable volunteers!

Colleen Zanin, MS, OTR, Founder

Colleen has been involved in therapeutic riding since she founded Lift Me Up! in 1975. She is a NARHA registered therapeutic riding instructor and was one of 18 occupational and physical therapists in North America to participate in the first Classic Hippotherapy training course in Wildbad, Germany in 1987. Colleen currently serves as a consultant with the Hippotherapy program at Lift Me Up! In addition to her volunteer work with Lift Me Up!, Colleen is a staff therapist with Fairfax County Public Schools. She received her pediatric Neurodevelopmental Treatment training at Bobath Centre in London, England, and has 20 years experience in Sensory Integration theory and treatment. Colleen has served on the Board of Directors and faculty of the American Hippotherapy Association, the accreditation committee for NARHA, and the Board of Directors for the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia.

Facilities Staff

In 2007, Maria Navarro joined our facilities maintenance team.

Instructors in Training

Lift Me Up! welcomes instructors in training to complete their teaching hours with our NARHA accredited program. We have hosted a number of up and coming instructors from around the country over the years. Our most recent trainee is Eliott Wolfe, a seasoned volunteer with Lift Me Up! and a program in California. For more information on training at our facility, please contact us by email or phone.