Amy Oettle

Amy discovered her passion for individuals with disabilities when she began volunteering at an adaptive horseback riding center at age 15. Soon after, she became a certified instructor under the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship and taught adaptive riding lessons to children with disabilities at UCP/Saddle Pals Therapeutic Center in the Sacramento Area.

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Amy earned her Master’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Southern California in 2011. She completed a 13-week internship at the National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy in Woodside. Amy worked full-time at Jabbergym, an out-patient pediatric clinic in Sacramento, and per diem at Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center in Walnut Creek where she utilized hippotherapy (equine movement) as a treatment strategy.

After moving to Nevada, she worked full-time at Sierra Therapy Group, a pediatric out-patient clinic in Reno until she introduced occupational therapy at Woodland Strides. Amy earned her Certification in Sensory Integration (referred to as “SIPT-certified”), holds training in Handwriting without Tears and completed the Level I and II hippotherapy courses.

Amy engages children in goal-directed activities on horseback as well as traditional treatment strategies in the clinic on site. Whether working in a therapy room or horse arena, Amy is passionate about helping children improve their fine motor, gross motor and sensory processing skills to achieve their highest potential.