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How It All Started

Alley Cat was a former barrel racer who Gina met, fell in love with, and brought home in early 2013. Already immersed in the world of equine wellness, Gina realized that although Alley was stoic, there was physical pain causing significant problems that surfaced as behavioral issues. Working with a trusted veterinarian, it was discovered that Alley had a significant, chronic stifle injury, so Alley and Gina started down a long road of rehabilitation and careful management. While on this journey, Gina realized that it took a team of equine professionals of all disciplines to help give Alley the highest quality of life.

Gina's goal and dream for Alley Cat Equine & ACE Rehab, is to provide a mindful approach to horses. With a carefully managed program, she believes that we can ride horses in all disciplines while maintaining the overall wellness of mind and body. She wants to provide horse owners, as well as hopeful horse enthusiasts, with vital resources and access to services she wished she had known about from the beginning.

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Alley Cat Equine & ACE Rehab is excited to offer riding lessons, rehabilitation and enrichment services at two locations - one in Franktown, and one in Elizabeth. Between the two facilities, we are able to offer stalls, runs, paddocks, turnouts, indoor and outdoor arenas to operate comfortably year-round and meet the needs of our riders and our horses.

Please contact us to schedule a visit! 

Our Facility

OUR TEAM

The team at Alley Cat Equine & ACE Rehab consists of only those professionals dedicated, at the highest level, to putting the horse above all else during lessons of all kinds as well as the rehabilitation process.

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Gina Kuttrus, MMCP, ETMT

Owner and Manager, Masterson Method Certified Practitioner, Equine Therapeutic Massage Therapist, Certified in Kinesiology Taping- Equi-Tape

As a child, Gina loved horses and spent many exhilarating hours galloping fast and far on some very special thoroughbreds owned by her family and friends. Unfortunately, as life evolved, her involvement with horses drifted away until after her daughter Abby was born in 2006. Abby was born with significant special needs and her family was told she would never walk or talk. Believing in her daughter’s highest potential, Gina and her husband, Tom, enrolled Abby in hippotherapy at age two. Although she had never babbled, rolled over or even picked up a toy, Gina knew that Abby had all those abilities within her! After three months of hippotherapy, Abby began to babble. Six months later, she crawled, and a year later, she walked! Now, at age 12, Abby is able to groom, tack, lead, and ride completely independently. Horses were the miracle her family knew existed. As time with horses was a weekly need for Abby, Gina felt the call to ride again. In 2009 she began taking lessons, leasing a horse, and learning so much more about horses than she ever knew possible.


After getting her own horses in 2013, both of who ended up having significant health concerns requiring careful care and rehabilitation, Gina knew in her heart that helping horses is what she had prepared for her entire life. She began taking as many courses and clinics as possible to learn about horse handling, training, behavior, and wellness. She learned from veterinarians, shadowed practitioners of diverse complementary therapies, and intensely studied equine anatomy and biomechanics. It was only when she started volunteering at Drifter’s Hearts of Hope in 2017 that she really began to understand what it takes to keep a horse happy, healthy, and sound. Under veterinary direction, she has spent thousands of hours providing daily care, massage, and bodywork for the most sick, injured, and traumatized rescue horses.


Gina is incredibly passionate about helping horses and believes she can best do that in the rehab setting. With support from her husband, Tom, her older daughter, Emily, and a team of dedicated, collaborative, equine professionals, she is committed to providing the best care possible for horses in recovery from injury and illness one stride at a time.

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Trish Lay

Assistant Rehab Manager

Trish is a newcomer to the equine arena. After many years spent living in L.A., and working in the corporate world, she made a dramatic change and moved to Colorado, where she was born. She began to work as a Ranch Manager for a local farm animal rescue, and that experience gave her insight into where she wanted to focus her passion: horses. Her first personal horse entered her life in April 2020, and from there she purchased a home with 5 acres to pursue and expand her devotion to these soulful beings. Trish comes to us with a personal dedication and determination for accomplishing our mission of providing the highest quality of life for horses who come to Alley Cat Equine. In January 2021, Trish will begin the next phase of her journey with Melisa Pearce as she pursues her path as an Equine Gestalt Coach. Upon completion, Alley Cat Equine will put Trish's new skills to use to broaden our reach in helping and educating within the equine community.

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Sharon Tiraschi, CRI, MMES, CEE

Riding Instructor, Trainer, Consultant, Owner/Operator of Kindred Spirit Equine Services

Sharon was introduced to the equine world over 30 years ago when she attended a horsemanship and riding camp in the U.K. She knew immediately that she had found her true passion in horses! Sharon began her riding career as a student of dressage and show jumping, then added western riding to her repertoire when she moved to California in 1994. Since then, Sharon has served as a working student, summer camp director, therapeutic and traditional riding instructor, horse trainer, and equine and barn manager in a variety of facilities across California and Colorado. In her teaching and training, she focuses on building strong foundations for both horse and rider while emphasizing compassion for the horse. Sharon has recently launched Kindred Spirit Equine Services, an integrative horse training and riding instruction program, and is excited to be offering lessons at ACE Rehab! Because of her strong desire to help horses live healthy and happy lives, she has recently completed a certification program in English and Western saddle fitting, and is also working on certifications in equine bodywork and holistic horsemanship.

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