The Operation Equine Team

Operation Equine is a team of culturally competent, experienced, and dedicated professionals whose mission is to provide a safe haven for those who serve our communities, our country, and to all those who support and care for those individuals.  

Over the last 30 years, we have combined our experience in mental health, education, and group facilitation to work with adults, children, couples, families, groups, and businesses/organizations. Through this work we are confident in our ability to effectively facilitate and support our clients towards a happier and healthier way of being. With the assistance of our 4-legged co-therapists, we will nurture your ability to relate and heal together.

In working with successful and heartfelt organizations such as Project Sanctuary where she has been a staff counselor since 2012, as a facilitator with TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors), and serving as a Military Family Life Counselor (MFLC) both CONUS and OCONUS, she discovered that truly: the whole family serves, and so she is dedicated to creating and offering Operation Equine programs to the entire family, as well as to any caregivers who assist them.

Horses became Michelle’s own personal sanctuary at the age of 6, and she learned to express her sense of confidence and freedom through relationship and spending hours and hours watching them, spending time with them at liberty, and learning how to ride. Later, she began sharing those unique equine experiences and knowledge with others, before equine assisted therapies were “a thing.” She continues to expand her own personal growth through the power of working with horses, and she is passionate about creating opportunities to empower our Warrior, Protector, and Healer communities to join up.

She has been an Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning (EAP/L) Eagala Model Certified Mental Health professional since 2010, is somatically trained through EGE (Equine Guided Education), has studied with EquuSoma and EponaQuest, and is open to any modalities that truly honor the human-horse connection.

Michelle is a Licensed Professional Counselor and educator who is committed to an inclusive Warrior Spirit: in her life, as well as in her organization. The values of integrity, courage, honor, service before self, and loyalty run through her veins, and they are proudly the cornerstones of Operation Equine.

LEE DUDLEY, LPC

Lee Dudley is a Licensed Professional Counselor with over 20 years of experience with specialties in EMDR and equine therapies. She specializes in treating trauma, grief and loss, and attachment issues. She is also passionate about helping parents of behaviorally disturbed teens, and women who are experiencing divorce and depression. She also has extended her trauma skills to working with active military service members and veterans who are experiencing hardship upon leaving their military careers and are reintegrating into civilian lives.

Lee earned a Master’s degree in counseling from the University of Colorado and Regis University. She also holds a certification in Applied Behavioral Analysis and is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She is the founder and executive director of the Equine Partnership Program and has also developed programs for the Denver Public Schools and the Temple Grandin Equine Center.

Lee incorporates a powerful blend of wisdom, practical skills, hope, and humor in therapy, and is committed to helping adults find and recover their sense of purpose and drive in life.

She offers equine sessions for individuals, couples, and families from a variety of backgrounds, mostly addressing trauma, addictions, depression and anxiety, and how all of these impact relationships with others and with the self. With a background in education, she has developed programs for teens to learn about horses and has facilitated a wide range of workshops and equine-facilitated learning experiences. She offers a loving, humorous, and empathic presence, as well as a deep love and respect for what the horses have to offer.

Alison is also the facilitator for the WWEG (the free, drop-in Weekly Warrior Equine Group) at Allegiance Ranch and a Senior Instructor at the HERD Institute.

Andrea Money, LPCC

Andrea Money is a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate working toward full counseling licensure, specializing in trauma, attachment, and with adults, teens, and families in private practice settings. Andrea is in training for certifications in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and EMDR therapies.

Andrea earned a Bachelor's degree in Equine Science from Colorado State University and a Masters in Counseling from Regis University. She grew up riding and training horses and credits this passion for getting her through some of her hardest times. She was clinically trained in community mental health at a veteran's service center, serving active-duty military members, veterans, and their families. Andrea is passionate about combining the healing presence of horses and the transformative experience of therapy, and is deeply grateful to have the opportunity to walk with members of the military and first responder communities on their journeys toward healing and renewed sense of purpose.

Josh Aikens

Marine Corps Veteran; Ranch Manager of Invercauld Lodge; Farrier

Born and raised in Butler, PA, Josh attended Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, and received a bachelor of science in Exercise Science with a specialization in physical therapy, and he is currently working on a second bachelor's from Post University in Equine Science.

Josh served in the Marine Corp for 6 years as a 1371 combat engineer with a demolitions company. He’s been in Colorado for 10 years; he came out after the Marine Corp for a seasonal Winter job in Snowmass, CO driving dogsleds as a musher, and training Iditarod puppies for Alaskan race teams.

He started running Cattle for a ranch in Emma, Colorado after meeting his wife (then girlfriend), and after cattle ranching, managed a private horse operation and fell in love with horses.

He attended farrier school in Pueblo, CO in 2020, and ran a 250-horse farrier business in the Fort Collins area of the front range. In 2021 he moved back to the Roaring Fork Valley and now works for a private horse facility in Basalt, CO while running his farrier business in the evenings and on weekends, and is the Head Wrangler for the Operation Equine WARRIOR Pack Trips.

Josh has been married for 4 years and has two daughters, Rhylinn (4) and Charli Mae (2). Hunting, Fishing, Horses, farrier work, his dogs, and his family are the true loves in his life.

Lerin Kastner

Lerin Kastner recently graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies. She anticipates her next steps to include a therapy/counseling graduate program toward the process of becoming a licensed mental health therapist. She has experience working with at- risk youth and has a passion for collaborating with both the individual and their family system to help strengthen relationships and promote resilience when facing difficult circumstances. In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, doing crafts, and spending time with loved ones and horses!

She is honored to be a part of the Operation Equine team and support the organization in the amazing work we do for our military service members, veterans, first responders, and their families. The men and women who have dedicated their lives to our nation deserve all the honor, respect, and highest excellence in service that we can provide. Lerin "loves equine therapy because it is a unique experience that utilizes horses to help individuals regulate their emotions, build trust, and gain insight into themselves and others. Horses hold the power to help us build confidence, feel a sense of connection, and give us lots of love and laughs!"