Title: Founder
Company: Healing of Our Veterans Through Equine-Assisted Services (HOOVES)
Location: Swanton, Ohio, United States
Amanda Elizabeth Held, MA, founder of Healing of Our Veterans Through Equine-Assisted Services (HOOVES), has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Executives for dedication, achievements, and leadership in mental health services.
Since 1999, Ms. Held has served in the United States Air Force in a range of human resources roles. She has worked her way up to the rank of first sergeant and is now the human resources adviser to the commander of the 110th Wing of the Air Force and the Michigan National Guard. Concurrently with this, Ms. Held took on the role of a horse trainer at Riverbend Stables for nearly 10 years and joined Equine Sense Coaching as an executive consultant and facilitator. Later she contributed as corporate trainer at DMA Leadership and associate partner at The Beringer Group. Though she’s had many achievements across her career, Ms. Held is especially proud of founding HOOVES in 2011. As the organization’s executive director, she introduces military veterans to injured horses, helping to heal both through the connections she forges.
Prior to embarking on her professional journey, Ms. Held built a strong academic foundation, beginning with associate’s degrees in small business administration and management in 2007 and sales and marketing in 2008 from Owns Community College, as well as a third associate’s degree in human resources from Air University’s Community College of the Air Force in 2007. After starting her career, she returned to school and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in organizational leadership from the University of Arizona Global Campus in 2017. Ms. Held stayed at that institution to earn a master’s degree in psychology in 2023. She has also completed certification as an equine specialist in equine psychotherapy from the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association.
In addition to her primary vocation, Ms. Held is a devoted wife, mother to two and grandmother to one. Outside of work, she enjoys bicycling and fishing. Looking to the future, Ms. Held is dedicated to continued work with horses. Additionally, she hopes to publish courses teaching others how to do the same work.
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