Staff

Sarah Armentrout

Co-Founder & Head of School | sarmentrout@carlisleacademymaine.com

As co-founder of Carlisle Academy, Sarah manages strategic oversight while also creating curriculum and coaching students. She has been in the field of equine-assisted therapies and equestrian sports as a coach and competitor for over 25 years and is a PATH, Intl. Advanced Riding Instructor, a PATH, Intl. Mentor, and a USEF Certified Silver Level Para-Dressage Coach. In the 1990’s Sarah worked at the National Center for Equine-Facilitated Therapy in Woodside, California under the tutelage of the late Barbara Heine, early visionary of the American Hippotherapy Association. She later moved into management at the Sagebrush Equine Training Center for the Handicapped in Hailey, ID with husband Nick, while also apprenticing as working student for Connected Riding Founder, Peggy Cummings. Prior to creating Carlisle Academy, Sarah was the Group Team Leader of Corporate Communications at Tom’s of Maine, managing brand identity, integrated communications, and corporate giving. Sarah currently serves on the statewide Board of Directors for the Maine Community Foundation and recently graduated with the 4^th cohort of MCF’s Leadership Learning Exchange for Equity. She is the Treasurer for St. David’s Episcopal Church, sits on the National Advisory Council of the United States Equestrian Team Foundation, and serves on a working committee for the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). Between 2016-2019, Sarah acted as the National Coordinator for the Veterans Paralympic Equestrian Sport Initiative through the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Adaptive Sport Grant funded to Carlisle Academy, which helped shape the curriculum and pilot for the USEF Para-Dressage Coach Certificate Program under USEF Head of Coach Development & Technical Advisor, Michel Assouline. Sarah graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College in Hartford, CT with a B.A in Religion and is always ready to integrate her academic interests with daily business operations and industry pursuits. She lives at Spring Creek Farm in Lyman, Maine with her husband and three children, home to their horses and many farm animals.

Nick Armentrout

Co-Founder & General Manager, Spring Creek Farm | nick@carlisleacademymaine.com

Nick has a professional background in small business and supply chain administration, sales, land and livestock management. Over the course of his career, Nick has managed four small businesses for others, and two of his own, throughout start-up phase to maturity. He has spent over 10 years sourcing and supplying raw materials for the manufacture of 100% U.S.-sourced and constructed knit-wool clothing fabrics, as well as goods certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard – “GOTS,” and Cradle to Cradle Certified ™ for the company Ramblers Way. He holds a BA in English from Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland, where he went to play lacrosse but studied Romantic Poets instead. He is University of Maine Master Gardener, and a Saltwater Institute Values-Centered Leadership graduate. Nick has spent most of his adult years engaged with animal agriculture and organic farming. Initially ranching in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, he then returned home to start Spring Creek Farm with Sarah in 1998.  Nick manages Spring Creek Farm, a mixed-power, organic horse, sheep, hay and grain farm that also serves as the host facility for Carlisle Academy. He is most happy behind his 2 draft horses getting a job done.

Alissa Luckey

Office & Communications Manager | aluckey@carlisleacademymaine.com

A native Bostonian, Alissa received her bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University in Marketing and International Business and spent 10 years in the corporate digital marketing world, working at several start-ups in both Boston and New York. After relocating to Maine in 2019, Alissa decided to change directions and pursue a more meaningful career, where she could connect to nature and animals – a dream of hers from a young age. As the Office and Communications Manager at Carlisle Academy, Alissa brings both sides of her skills, knowledge, and passions to the table. Alissa can be found both in the office and the stables – managing activities from student accounts to marketing and customer relations.

Joyce Brown, CTRI

Certified PATH, International Instructor

Joyce began at Carlisle Academy in 2007 as a horse handler and adaptive riding instructor, holding various administrative roles as well through early 2014. She continued to volunteer as an apprentice and rejoined Carlisle staff in 2020. Joyce is a PATH Int’l Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor and Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning. She teaches traditional riding, unmounted farm-based programs, and facilitates Carlisle’s equine assisted wellness programs. 

A confirmed horse lover from her first Shetland pony ride at 3 years old, Joyce finally had her first “official” riding lesson in her mid-30s and has been riding and studying all things equine ever since. With all she learned through her relationship with her first horse Lady, she was inspired to develop Hands to Horses, an unmounted therapeutic horsemanship program for Sweetser which she taught for many years. Joyce studies the art of dressage and remains in awe of the gifts horses share with us in every single interaction.

Kate Goldwyn Musk

Riding Academy Instructor

Kate Goldwyn Musk teaches riders of all ages at Carlisle Academy. She has been a professional riding instructor, trainer and horsewoman for more than 20 years. She is a certified Centered Riding® Instructor and founded and developed her own farm, Strawberry Fields in New York, where she taught hunter seat, jumping, basic dressage, recreational riding to riders of all ages.  Kate competed from childhood in local to national level horse shows. Coached by Gary Duffy, she competed in Equitation and Junior Working Hunters, from Wellington, FL to Saratoga, NY, including the Washington International Horse Show, Pennsylvania National Horse Show and the Devon Horse Show. It is Kate’s belief that while competition can offer fun and achievement for many riders, good horsemanship, sportsmanship and the love of the horse must always come first.

Lana Dufour-Kosacz, OTR/L

Academic Fieldwork Educator 

Lana has been a life-long horsewoman, having grown up in Pony Club and participating in eventing and dressage shows regionally. Lana has always appreciated the power of the horse to heal. She joined Carlisle Academy several years ago as a horse handler and instructor and reconnected in 2021 while finishing up OT school. Lana is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire’s Occupational Therapy Program. Occupational therapy has been a common thread throughout Lana’s life. Her grandmother started a center for brain-injured children after giving birth to her aunt, who was congenitally brain injured. Through developing as a professional in this career, she honors the importance of client-based practice and holistic treatment, believing perseverance and adaptation are the greatest human qualities. Lana is currently working part-time in acute care in a hospital setting and is excited to utilize her OT skills as the academic fieldwork educator for Carlisle’s OT students at the CAIETS Field School at Carlisle Academy.

Affiliate Coaches & Facilitators

Diana Gallant, M.Ed

Certified Equine Experiential Education Facilitator

Diana Gallant is a learning and performance development consultant with over 20 years’ experience analyzing workplace performance issues and developing solutions aligned with strategic business goals. She has broad industry experience across financial, automotive, transportation, healthcare, telecommunications, sales, customer service, engineering, government, higher education and non-profit organizations. A life-long horsewoman, Diana recognizes the benefits horses bring to teams and leaders in the workplace as safe, entertaining, and nonjudgmental “simulators” of common group dynamics. Her unique combination of professional and equine experience forms the basis of her team building and leadership programs. Diana earned a B.S. in Rehabilitation from the University of Maine at Farmington and an M.A. in Educational Technology from the University of Northern Colorado. She is also a certified facilitator of equine experiential education programs designed specifically for team and leader development in the workplace.

Adjunct Faculty

Judith Giencke Kimball, Ph.D., OTR/L, FOATA

UNE Professor Emeritus, Carlisle Academy Faculty Advisor

Judith has worked as a clinician and university professor in occupational therapy for over 50 years. She was the Founding Director and is now Professor Emeritus of the Occupational Therapy curriculum at the University of New England in Portland, Maine. She has served as Occupational Student Education Coordinator at a VA Hospital, a consultant to many school-based occupational therapy programs, and has consistently maintained a part-time private practice. She worked extensively with Dr. A. Jean Ayes, the developer of Sensory Integration theory and practice, and Patricia Wilbarger, the originator of clinical treatments for sensory defensiveness. Dr. Kimball speaks widely at professional conferences, and her numerous publications include book chapters and research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her academic degrees include a BS in Occupational Therapy, an MS in Special Education, a Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy, and a PhD in Psychology. Her latest publication is a book: DIAL IT DOWN A Wellness Approach for Addressing Post Traumatic Stress in Veterans, First Responders, Healthcare Workers and Others in This Uncertain World.

Rebecca Henry, MS, OTR/L, AHCB-CT

PATH Registered Therapist, Carlisle Academy Faculty

Rebecca Henry is a licensed Occupational Therapist for over 15 years, As well as a Certified Therapist through the American Hippotherapy Certification Board and PATH, International. From 2013-2021 she worked at Carlisle Academy’s Therapy Center using hippotherapy as a treatment strategy. Rebecca is Adjunct Faculty at the University of New England teaching an undergraduate course, developed by Carlisle Academy entitled Introduction to Equine-Facilitated Therapy and offered within the Department of Health, Wellness, and Occupational Studies. Rebecca is a graduate of The University of New England’s Occupational Therapy School. She has experience working with children and adults with physical, developmental and mental health disabilities within acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and now Child Development Services where she works full time. Her passion to help others combined with a long time love of horses fuel her continued connection as faculty and advisor at Carlisle Academy.

Janet Smaldone, PT; HPCS (Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist)

PATH Registered Therapist, Certified Physiotherapist for US Equestrians Network

Janet worked at Carlisle Academy as a physical therapist in from 2011-2021. She is a Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist credentialed by American Hippotherapy Certification Board, and an active dressage rider. She has over 30 years of experience as a physical therapist in primarily pediatrics, in a variety of settings, including 10 years at National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy located in Woodside, California, and has also worked in adult rehabilitation. She was appointed 2018 USEF Para Dressage Janet worked at Carlisle Academy as a physical therapist in from 2011-2021. She is a Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist credentialed by American Hippotherapy Certification Board, and an active dressage rider. She has over 30 years of experience as a physical therapist in primarily pediatrics, in a variety of settings, including 10 years at National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy located in Woodside, California, and has also worked in adult rehabilitation. She was appointed 2018 USEF Para Dressage Team Physical Therapist and worked with the athletes in training and at the World Equestrian games that year. She became a USEF licensed official as a National Classifier for Para-Equestrian Sports in 2019. She is also certified in Pediatric and Baby NDT (Neurodevelopmental Treatment), and has varied training including craniosacral therapy, myofascial release, and yoga.