Co-Founder Charlie McGuire (1941 - 2008)
Founder of American Holistic Nurses Assoc., Epona Advanced Instructor, Counselor, Certified Holistic Nurse Practitioner, Co-founder Southwest Institute for Women, Co-founder Buffalo Woman Ranch. Charlie walked a path as Medicine Woman and Pipe Carrier for over 20 years. She studied with Native American, Celtic and Eastern medicine teachers. Her gift was facilitating empowering experiences to enhance physical, emotional and spiritual growth in walking one’s life journey. Her lifework was leadership, women’s self-healing, self-empowerment, way of council, transformative journeys/adventures, story telling and ceremony. Integrating horses as co-facilitators into her life’s work at the Buffalo Woman Ranch was one of her greatest blessings. Charlie was initiated into “Horse Medicine” by Rasa’s foal ‘Spirit of Epona’ and ‘Shoshoni’, a wild mustang. She believed deeply in this path of love and service.

Co-Founder Robbie Nelson
Occupational Therapist, Epona Approved Instructor, Energy Kinesiology Practitioner, Co-founder of the Buffalo Woman Ranch. She has studied homeopathy and herbs as well as Chinese and Tibetan energy medicine; her deep connection with the earth fuels her passion for plant medicine. Robbie is eclectic in her spirituality and integrates ceremony, celtic shamanism and expressive arts in her lifework. She honors “The Way of The Horse” as a grounded and heart centered path to assisting others in their growth, and it is her life’s joy to share this medicine path along with co-founder and life-partner Charlie and the Buffalo Woman Ranch herd.

Rumi Hashimoto, MSN, RN, GNP, HTCP/I
Holistic Nurse, Artist, Nurse Educator, Certified Healing Touch Practitioner and Instructor, Healing Touch for Animal Practitioner, Certified in Integrative Imagery and as a PSYCH-K Practitioner. Rumi has over 30 years of professional experience as a nurse clinician, researcher, and a nurse educator. She currently holds a full-time faculty position at Golden West College, an Associate Degree Nursing Program in California. She incorporates holistic nursing philosophy and concepts into the fundamental nursing course and volunteers as a local net-worker for the AHNA (American Holistic Nurses Association). Her path to connect with her authenticity led her to study various forms of western and eastern energy healing. She was led to the Buffalo Woman Ranch through Healing Touch for Animals and Linda Kohanov’s book, “Riding Between the Worlds”. Her love for horses and for the work of Equine Facilitated Integrative Healing have expanded her healing practice and she is committed to integrate this new awareness into her life work as healer, teacher, artist. Her passion is to create a sacred and supportive environment for self-care and healing.

Marisa Morin
Medical Intuitive and Animal Communicator par excellence, Marisa has over 20 years equestrian experience.  Starting with a background in biochemistry and dolphin field research, she has taken her profound psychic talents to work in cutting edge equine experiential programs, spent time with wild mustangs in herd settings, and provides equine communication for some top racing and training stables. 

Joanie Trussel
Joanie has been a psychotherapist in private practice in Durango and the Dolores, Colorado area for the last six years.  Prior to that she worked in two in-patient treatment centers in Tucson, Arizona working with drug and alcohol treatment as well as eating disorder treatment.  Her educational background includes a masters' degree in Counseling & Psychotherapy from Prescott College, a masters in Women Studies from San Francisco State University and a National Certification as an Alcohol and Drug Addiction Counselor.  Joanie has training in Hakomi body-centered psychotherapy,  Expressive Arts Therapy and Jungian Mandala work. She has extensive experience working with small groups as well as individual one-on-one therapy. 

Our Inspiration

Its pristine beauty and untouched sacredness filled us with a knowing that at long last we had found the place to dedicate to White Buffalo Calf Woman, the great spiritual teacher of the Lakota people.

On March 8^th, 2002 we met Linda Kohanov and Kathleen Barry Ingram at their ‘Epona Approach’ workshop in Tucson. This was an extremely important day meeting them, and it was the day after Spirit was born!  Linda’s horse Rasa gave birth to premature twins, one lived and was named  ‘Spirit’. It felt like a momentous time in our lives after reading The Tao of Equus , knowing that we had found our life’s work.Linda and Kathleen have been our inspiration as they showed us ‘ The Way of The Horse’. We can truly honor them and say that our lives have been changed forever. 

A significant inspiration to both of us for over 20 years was and still is Hopi grandmother Caroline Tawangyama. She loved horses and she taught us the Medicine Path. We are grateful for her teachings; her continued guidance is ever present on the Buffalo Woman ranch and in our work with ‘The Way of The Horse’

"In serving each other, we become free."  ~ Knights of the Round Table