Board of Directors
Hilary Hansen
Hilary has been riding horses since she was a toddler with her first babysitter. She worked for a few different trainers as a teenager, and started gentling and training horses a couple of years after that. She has helped countless horses (including Mustangs, Off-the-Track Thoroughbreds, Kill Pen and other unwanted horses) find good homes over the years. As a certified TIP Trainer, she has gentled several Mustangs and is currently in the process of gentling her 13th from the BLM holding facilities. She is passionate about helping Mustangs get out of holding pens and into loving homes, and is the inspiration behind the First Annual Mustang Showcase.
Lindsay Merget
Lindsay is a life-long horse lover and advocate. Growing up, she competed in English/Jumping shows, and then joined the Cal Poly Equestrian Team in college, competing in Western Pleasure and Reining classes. She has a strong background in equine based non-profits, event planning, and start-ups, and brings her process design, organizational skills, and business experience to the team.
Jessica Merget
Raised in Sebastopol, Jessica began riding and showing horses in Twin Hills 4-H. Animals of all kinds have always been an important part of life and still are. As the Horse In Need Coordinator for Sunrise Horse Rescue, she helps re-home horses and give resources to people who can no longer keep them. Jessica balances that work along with office work at a local real estate agency and excavation company.
Jessica believes that the American Mustang is a treasure and, as an avid outdoors person, wants that heritage preserved for her son and future generations.
Kelly Hansen
Growing up, Kelly loved horses. They’ve always played a big role in her life, and still do. Kelly excels at hiking the horsers who aren’t ready to be saddled, on miles of trails, so that they too can experience all the fun the world has to offer. She is great at bringing a calm and peaceful presence to any wildness she finds. Kelly plays an important support role to Wild Heart in many ways, including hauling trailers and driving just about any vehicle. When she isn’t helping with Wild Heart chores (cleaning, feeding, getting the horses used to everyday things and doing other odd projects), she’s helping others with her organizing business. Her other passion is being on the lake, enjoying time with her family and friends.
Sonya Hollander
Sonya comes from a long line of horse lovers and began her Sonoma County horse journey with two wild mustangs adopted directly from the BLM.
Starting out with starting horses a little later in life she had the extra time to enter the horse world slowly and with some fantastic mentors. Both her mustangs now give rides to kids and spend a lot of time on the trails and adventuring throughout the United states. She has been a wild horse advocate influencing many to have the courage to adopt and gentle their own mustangs, always maintaining a supportive role if necessary. She now runs a horse ranch with some rescued misfits and a place for horses to rest and regroup as a sister site to Wildheart.