Instructors & Staff

His family’s love of horses, a phil­an­thropic spirit, and a curios­ity about life’s next ven­tures, turned out to be the fate-filled for­mula that trig­gered Harry to inves­ti­gate ther­a­peu­tic rid­ing pro­grams. But it was wit­ness­ing the trans­for­ma­tion when plac­ing a friend’s seven year old dis­abled daugh­ter onto a horse that pro­pelled the Swimmers to con­vert their fam­ily farm into Mitey Riders. After a suc­cess­ful insur­ance career, Harry returned to his alma mater, Penn State, to undergo train­ing in ther­a­peu­tic rid­ing. He also served on NARHA’s national board as VP for 6 years.

Joy Simon, the pro­gram direc­tor of Mitey Riders for all six­teen years, was born and raised in Charlotte where she devel­oped her back­ground in edu­ca­tion as well as vet­eri­nary and horse­man­ship. Her spe­cial bond with the rid­ers and unend­ing enthu­si­asm is appar­ent to all those around her. Joy con­tin­ues to be the dri­ving force in the oper­a­tions, cre­ativ­ity and ther­a­peu­tic results of the Misty Meadows Mitey Riders program.

A New Jersey native, Tracy grew up rid­ing and car­ing for her own horses. Years after mov­ing to Charlotte, Tracy began vol­un­teer­ing with Mitey Riders in 2005. She joined the staff as Assistant Program Director in 2006 and earned her cer­ti­fi­ca­tion as a NARHA Instructor the fol­low­ing spring. After an early career as a para­le­gal, and then a full time mom, Tracy feels it is no sur­prise that she has come full cir­cle back to a life with horses. In the early morn­ing you can find her with her horse, Maggie, out in the fields of Misty Meadows. Tracy’s pas­sions in life are chil­dren and horses, and she feels thor­oughly blessed to have com­bined the two through equine ther­apy at Mitey Riders.

Erica has been work­ing in Equine Therapy pro­grams since high school, and grew up rid­ing and show­ing. After she began with Mitey Riders as a vol­un­teer feeder on the week­ends, she tran­si­tioned to a NARHA cer­ti­fied instruc­tor and Marketing Director. Erica also runs a Junior Equestrian Program at Misty Meadows, offer­ing English-style instruc­tion to young rid­ers. Erica’s other titles in life include Photographer, Designer, and Animal Lover; as well as Volunteer to drum­STRONG, American Cancer Society, Vizsla Rescue, and the Special Olympics.

An avid ani­mal lover who believes our lives are enriched by our bond with ani­mals, Amanda jumped at the oppor­tu­nity to join the Mitey Riders team. When she’s not work­ing with Mitey Riders, Amanda fills her time as a free­lance writer and helps with fundrais­ing for Make-A-Wish and the Humane Society. If you asked her what she thinks heaven might be like, she thinks it prob­a­bly has lots of happy chil­dren on horses.

Neal Brandt, an air­line pilot and NARHA Certified Instructor, has been work­ing with Mitey Riders since 1998. Neal says, “The pro­gram has had a pro­found impact on my life — it has taught me to be more patient and, most impor­tantly, it has shown me that I can make a dif­fer­ence in someone’s life.” Neal vol­un­teers his time on Saturdays.

Sharon spent her teens and early 20’s com­ing up through 4-H, Pony Club, Hunter/Jumper shows, Eventing and Dressage, cul­mi­nat­ing with a 6 month stay in England obtain­ing her BHSAI. Certain that her future was with horses, she dis­cov­ered that life inter­fered! Determined that her life include the com­pany of horses, Sharon vol­un­teered with Mitey Riders and was ulti­mately brought on as a tack coor­di­na­tor. Sharon stays busy off the farm with two chil­dren, two dogs, and a full time career in real estate mar­ket­ing. She con­sid­ers her­self hon­ored to be apart of the Mitey Rider fam­ily – a place that, to Sharon, feels like home.

Monique began her jour­ney with Mitey Riders as the Saturday Volunteer Coordinator in 2007, and con­tin­ues today as the Saturday Tack Coordinator — mak­ing the switch from prepar­ing vol­un­teers for their shift to prepar­ing the horses for the lessons. Her dream of own­ing a horse came true at the age of nine, and she has been cap­ti­vated by them ever since.

Diana had her first rid­ing les­son at age 10, and went on to learn both English and Western styles. She got involved with the Mitey Riders pro­gram after mov­ing to NC from New York, where she had vol­un­teered for a sim­i­lar pro­gram. She truly enjoys work­ing with the kids and the horses, and finds her evening feed­ing time with the horses very peaceful.