Amy Gayhart
Executive Director
(469) 450-9594
[email protected]
Amy Gayhart graduated from Howard Payne University with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art, Communications and Education. During her time at Howard Payne she served as the marketing intern for the University and was responsible for the University marketing materials and yearbook. She was a member of Delta Chi Rho, and served as an officer for 3 years, and as president of the sorority her senior year. After college Amy worked for several years in advertising and administration as an art buyer. In 2003 Amy left the corporate world to stay home and care for her special needs child, Mabry. She continued to explore creative outlets buy running her own painted mural and photography business.
Amy’s daughter Mabry had years of extensive therapy and finally found her true love which was horses. Not knowing anything about horses, other than her daughter’s love for them, in 2012 she began serving on the board of Blue Sky Therapeutic Riding & Respite. She quickly fell in love with therapeutic riding and was given a desire to do more for the special needs population. With the daunting realization that her daughter would one day age out of the public-school system she was determined to create a program where special needs adults could be in community while being able to live out their purpose. So, in addition to therapeutic horseback riding, Amy and her faithful volunteers at Blue Sky created the PURPOSE program, which is a respite program for special needs adults, where Amy teaches art, gardening, cooking along with job and life skills for special needs adults.
Amy is married to John Gayhart and they live in Prosper, Texas with their three children Mabry, Jack and Slater.
Olivia DiStasio
Horse Program Director
Client Services Coordinator, Certified PATH Instructor
(469)-600-9839
[email protected]
Bachelor of Science in Child Development, PATH International Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor In-Training, Certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist
Olivia, began her journey at Blue Sky over a year ago as an intern finishing her Child Development degree with TWU. After completing her Internship, Olivia knew that there was no place else she’d rather be, and that her work at Blue Sky was only just beginning. Her passion for Therapeutic Riding continued to grow and she joined us beyond volunteering to become a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) Instructor in Training. Her love for our Blue Sky horses motivated her to pursue her certification in Equine Sports Massage Therapy, so that she could learn how to give back to the horses in a meaningful way through the benefits of Equine Massage. Olivia pursues dressage and jumping training from the accomplished, Wendy O’Neill. You will also see Olivia inside, supporting the PURPOSE program, our respite program for special needs adults, where Executive Director Amy Gayhart teaches art, gardening, and cooking along with job and life skills for special needs adults.
Olivia lives in Sanger, Texas with her husband and their dog, Moe.
Gloria Maillard
Behavior Analyst
[email protected]
Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship Certified Instructor for Riding and Driving, Board Certified Behavior Analyst, M.S. BCBA.
Gloria is a PATH certified therapeutic riding instructor and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over 15 years of working with children, adolescents, and adults with ASD, Communication disorders, and intellectual delays.
Gloria Received a degree in Pack Station and Stable Operation Management and Horse Training from Feather River College and a bachelors in psychology from University of Nevada-Reno. She attended the University of North Texas and graduated with a masters of science in Behavior Analysis in 2014.
Jenny Garcia
Volunteer Coordinator
469-233-0880
[email protected]
Jenny Garcia is a Graduate of Dallas Baptist University with a double major in psychology and interdisciplinary studies Jenny worked in the special needs community for over 20 years until leaving the public school system in 2018 in order to take her direct selling business full time.
Jenny serves as Braswell Girl’s Soccer Booster Club President, has held a position of prestige in her company for 4 consecutive years, has earned numerous incentives and rewards from her company, and loves being a part of all the programs here at Blue Sky. She loves to travel, spend time with family, teach, learn, and any type of competition.
Jenny and her partner, Coach, live in Aubrey with her 2 teen children Hudson and Sophie, 3 dogs and an ornery cat.