Tammy Mockbee, Executive Director
As LHBH’s co-founder, executive director and lead equine-assisted facilitator, Tammy Mockbee feels blessed to be able to combine her love of horses with her lifelong commitment to helping others. Tammy started riding when she was only four, and she’s been around horses ever since. Immediately prior to teaming up with Patty Green to form LHBH, Tammy was a riding instructor, trained horses and taught equestrian classes at the Miraval Resort and Spa near Tucson. Described by some of her friends as the female “Horse Whisperer,” Tammy has developed an extraordinary bond with her equine friends, and she’s trained LHBH’s fifteen miniature horses to be highly effective therapy animals.
Tammy’s interest in helping people with special needs goes back almost as far as her riding. As an eighth grader in Tucson, she volunteered to work with mentally and physically handicapped kids. Tammy continued her volunteering in high school, helping out at the local senior center, caring for a young boy with epilepsy and spending weekends with a physically disabled couple. In the years since then, she has assisted the Marana School District with its special-needs students and has helped provide home-care services to the elderly. Her gift of empathy now finds full expression at LHBH.
Tammy is certified by Skyhorse Equine Guided Education, the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International and Pet Partners.
Marti Stonecipher, Assistant Director
Marti Stonecipher, LHBH’s newly appointed assistant director, continues to serve as the national program director and interim executive director of Armed Women of America, a nonprofit devoted to female empowerment through training in the responsible ownership and use of firearms. In this capacity, Marti has developed a strong set of organizational, management and communication skills, all of which will help Little Hooves expand its mission and reach more individuals in need of our life-changing therapeutic services.
Raised in rural Kearny, Arizona, Marti was active in 4-H and rode her horse in gymkhana competitions. After her marriage to an Air Force operations chief, she became a licensed caregiver to children of service members on overseas deployment.
Like many other members of the LHBH team, Marti is a woman of faith and active in her church, where she and her husband serve as co-directors of safety. Marti is also an instructor for Integrated Community Solutions to Active Violence Events (ICSAVE), an Arizona-based charitable foundation that provides preparedness training to first responders, teachers, school administrators, safety officers and the general public. In addition, Marti works with the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop suicide-prevention programs focused on veterans and their families living in rural communities.
In her spare time, Marti enjoys camping and other outdoor activities, reading and loving on her Goldendoodle.
Amy Armour, Equine Assisted Facilitator
Amy Armour has been working with horses and their riders for over 25 years and is a PATH-certified equine-assisted facilitator. She started out providing house-sitting and animal care services for clients throughout the Tucson area, and later worked as a wrangler and children’s counselor at the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch. In 1995, Amy joined the staff of Miraval, where she co-developed and implemented a successful riding program, had various supervisory and managerial responsibilities and was involved in all of the activities and courses offered by the resort’s Trail Department, including the Equine Experience Program that provided instruction in equine therapy. It was at Miraval that Amy met Tammy Mockbee, and in 2010 Amy joined LHBH.
At LHBH Amy assists in evaluating the needs of each client and designing therapeutic programs that best meet those needs. She also functions as stable manager and shares responsibility for the training, conditioning and care of LHBH’s horses.
Amy is certified by Skyhorse Equine Guided Education, the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International and Pet Partners.
Peggy Holt, Equine-Assisted Therapist
Peggy Holt has more than 25 years of clinical experience helping children and adults deal with substance abuse, trauma and other mental health disorders. A Licensed Professional Counselor, Peggy comes to us from Sabino Recovery in Tucson, where she was the Clinical Director, responsible for developing and supervising all aspects of the center’s recovery programs. Prior to joining Sabino Recovery, Peggy was the primary therapist and also an equine-assisted therapist at Sierra Tucson, and before that she was a behavioral therapist at Canyon Ranch Tucson.
Trained in cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, trauma, hypnosis, equine-assisted therapy, therapeutic recreation and biofeedback, Peggy is the co-author of The Everest Principal, a book on motivation and achieving peak performance. The breadth of Peggy’s clinical experience and her equally impressive skillset will help Little Hooves offer a wider range of therapeutic services to our clients. A graduate of Lyndon State College and the University of Vermont, where she earned a master’s degree in Counselor Education, Peggy enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and her horses, dogs and cat.
Peggy is certified by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners, the National Board for Certified Counselors, the National Council on Therapeutic Recreation Certification, the Certified Horsemanship Association and the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association.
Lou Robisch, Director of Community Outreach
Lou Robisch is a man on a mission. His goal is to get LHBH’s message out to as many healthcare professionals and community leaders as possible. By explaining the many therapeutic benefits that flow from the interaction of humans and horses, Lou hopes that a growing number of families and caregivers in the Tucson and Tri-Community areas will come to understand that they have an invaluable resource in their own backyard. A committed and caring person who has performed volunteer work at hospitals and his church over the years, Lou is a welcome addition to the LHBH family.
Paul Mockbee, Wrangler & Maintenance Manager
Who says they don’t make cowboys like they used to! Paul Mockbee joined LHBH in 2009, and his skills as a horseman, acquired over three decades, come in handy every day. From harnessing a team of minis for carriage duty to training, exercising and caring for LHBH’s horses, Paul’s experience and can-do attitude are invaluable. Known around LHBH as “Mr. Fix It,” he is also responsible for maintaining the organization’s physical plant, including the arena, stables, barns, carts and other equipment. Prior to joining LHBH, Paul worked as a technician at Texas Instruments, making him one of the few cowboys to know about both cow chips and microchips.
Patty Green, Founder and President
After completing a 17-year career in retailing as a senior executive with Federated Department Stores, Patty Green took time out to marry and raise a family before founding Little Hooves & Big Hearts in 2007. Patty, who remembers watching her father’s polo matches as a child, started riding at the age of four, and she’s been an avid horse lover ever since. When Patty met Tammy Mockbee, LHBH’s Executive Director, at the Miraval Resort, she knew she had found a soul mate who shared her love of horses and a passion for helping others. LHBH is Patty’s way of giving something back to the people of Arizona.
Fred Green, Vice President, Secretary & Treasurer
Fred Green, who spent 38 years on Wall Street and is now in the movie business, plays a supporting role at Little Hooves. Probably the only person associated with LHBH who is not that comfortable on a horse, Fred hopes that his financial background and management skills can be put to good use in the nonprofit world. Totally committed to LHBH’s mission, he plans to do everything he can to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from the organization’s important work. Fred, along with Patty Green, serves as a director of LHBH.