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About Me — Tori, Founder of Carbon Cowgirl™
My name is Tori, and for as long as I can remember, I have been listening for the quiet places where the earth speaks. Animals, land, and spirit have always been my compass — even during the years when I forgot how to hear them.
Carbon Cowgirl™ was born from the moment I finally remembered.
I spent most of my twenties following a version of success that never quite fit — city life, corporate schedules, and a pace that pushed me far from my own body. At the same time, a deeper truth kept calling me back: to soil under my nails, to the ancient rhythm of hooves, to the medicine of breath, to the wild feminine self I had tucked away.
And then everything changed — heartbreak, loss, upheaval, and awakening arrived all at once. In the same week that my beloved cat, Ethel, passed into spirit, I met the horse who would become my greatest teacher: a young Holsteiner gelding named Ogopogo — once Pogo, now Po — a name that bridges Canadian folklore and the Taoist Po spirit of the lungs and the earthly body. It felt as though Ethel had placed him in my path herself.
From that moment forward, my life unfolded into an entirely new chapter.
I began traveling — to the Atlas Mountains, to Morocco’s open desert, to places where the land holds ancient memory. Riding through those mountains, I felt myself return. I experienced soul retrieval in motion, guided by an inner presence I now call The Atlas Oracle — a golden-cloaked feminine spirit who arrived not as fantasy, but as a remembering. For the first time, I met the woman I truly was: an ancient horsewoman who had simply been sleeping inside me.
Everything I now offer was born from that reclamation.
Today, I live and work on Vashon Island, tending a small but mighty herd who each carry their own medicine:
Po — the bridge between worlds, playful and wise, the horse who arrived on the wings of grief
Dan Tian (Bramble) — the elder Quarter Horse with a name rooted in Taoist energy centers, a grounding force
Poppie — bright, sensitive, expressive, the mirror for emotional honesty
…and others who come in and out of my life as guides rather than possessions
Each horse is a partner, not a tool. They co-facilitate all my teaching, healing, and leadership work. They are the real medicine keepers.
Carbon Cowgirl™ is the integration of everything these horses — and this land — have taught me.
It is my offering to a culture that has forgotten how to listen.
Through equine-guided learning, Qigong and energy cultivation, and regenerative land stewardship, I help people remember their own belonging. Whether we are restoring healthy soil, practicing breath on the land, or learning to communicate with horses in a way that honors their sentience, my work centers the same truth:
Harmony in the land creates harmony in the body.
Harmony with the horse creates harmony with the self.
Regeneration is possible — from the soil to the spirit.
I am not here to fix people. I am here to create conditions where they can soften, open, and reconnect with the wildness that has always been theirs.
This is the journey I walk every day — with my herd, with my own healing, with the spaces I steward — and it is the journey I invite you into.
Thank you for being here.
You belong to the earth, too.
— Tori
Continuing Education
A New Possibility Alchemical Healing Mentorship with Lorie Eve Dechar and Benjamin Fox - February 2026 - January 2027
Southwest Washington Grazing School with Southwest WA Grazing Association in Tenino, WA- April 16 - April 19, 2026
5NP/AAT (Auricular Acu Technician) Certified at POCA Tech, Portland, OR March 27-28 2026, OMB registered
Five Spirits Qigong 60 Hour Teacher Training with Stephanie Nosco -
November 2025 - February 2026
Horse Medicine Leadership Academy with Hillary Schneider at Epona Rise in Heffley Creek, British Columbia, Canada - April 2024 - Present
She's A Hand Ranch Camp, Townsend, MT - May 2024
Horses and Human Neuroscience with Hillary Schneider and Dr. Mia Love at Epona Rise Retreat Center - Nov 3-7, 2023
Medical Qigong Practitioner 200 hour, Empty Mountain Institute, 2022-2023
Missouri Master Gardener Training - September 2019 - December 2019
Experience and Travel
My work is not shaped by formal education alone, but by lived experience across landscapes, cultures, and relationships with livestock and land.
Atlas Mountains Horseback Journey, Morocco, April - May 2025
A formative experience in reconnecting with horses in a cultural and ecological context outside of my own.
Riding through the Atlas Mountains alongside local guides offered a direct experience of horsemanship rooted in relationship, terrain, and tradition. This time deepened my understanding of the horse not as a tool, but as a partner within a larger system of land and culture.
This experience continues to influence how I approach equine-facilitated work—grounded, relational, and attuned to environment.
Ranch Steward of Fir Hollow Farm, Vashon Island
Land Stewardship & Ranch-Based Work
Hands-on experience in pasture management, herd care, and regenerative land practices.
Working directly with land and livestock has shaped my understanding of grazing, seasonal cycles, and the interconnectedness of soil, plant life, and animal health. This informs how I manage horses within my own space and how I integrate land awareness into my offerings.
Sonoran Inventory and Monitoring Network
National Park Service — Vegetation Monitoring Internship
Field-based training in ecological observation, vegetation monitoring, and rangeland assessment within desert ecosystems.
Through this work, I was trained in standardized protocols (SOPs) for observing plant communities—learning how to identify species, track growth patterns, and assess overall ecosystem health. This included reading the landscape at multiple levels: from individual plant health to broader patterns of soil condition, biodiversity, and disturbance.
Forest Park Forever
Horticulture Team
Hands-on restoration work transforming a 17-acre area of turf grass and mature hardwood canopy into a diverse native ecosystem as part of the Nature Playscape project.
This work involved the large-scale installation of:
- hundreds of native trees
- thousands of native plants and shrubs
- layered plant communities designed to restore ecological function
What was once a simplified, monoculture landscape was reimagined into a space that supports biodiversity, water retention, and ecological resilience.
Through this process, I gained experience in:
- native plant selection and installation
- understanding plant communities as interconnected systems
- long-term ecological restoration practices
This project reinforced the understanding that landscapes can recover when given the right inputs and care—and that human intervention, when done thoughtfully, can support the return of complexity, diversity, and life.