Meet Our Gate Openers
The Freedom Cowgirl Summit brings together a circle of Gate Openers—artists, healers, horsepeople, teachers, and storytellers—who carry lived experience, ancestral knowledge, and soulful practices that awaken something deep in our bones. They come not to lecture, but to share, to listen, and to spark conversations that connect us across generations and walks of life. Together, we’ll explore what it means to live with spirit, courage, and connection in these times.
Rilana Vorderwülbecke
Rilana Vorderwülbecke is a Berlin-based Expressive Arts and SkyHorse Equine Guided Education™ facilitator. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Boston University and an MA in Art Business from the University of Manchester/Sotheby’s Institute. After a career as an artist and gallery owner, she founded Kunstraum, an art school for children, which evolved in 2020 into T-Raum—a space dedicated to individual, family, and collective healing through creative and embodied processes.
Trained in Pikler pedagogy, Expressive Arts Therapy, Integrative Psychotherapy, EMDR, and collective and individual trauma healing, Rilana integrates Internal Family Systems (Level 1), Polyvagal Theory, and Somatic Coaching into her work. Her long-standing collaboration with SkyHorse Academy in California led to her specialization in Equine Guided Education. She is pursuing Ph.D. research in Expressive Arts and Equine Equine Guided Education at the European Graduate School in Switzerland. Rilana is a current participant in Thomas Hübl’s Timeless Wisdom Training.
Her holistic, body-centered facilitation empowers individuals and groups to reconnect with their inner wisdom, build resilience, and access new pathways to healing, growth, and authentic living.
“The upcoming Summit at SkyHorse Academy with Ariana Strozzi Mazzucchi is a powerful invitation to reconnect with nature, the wisdom of horses, and your own embodied truth.
As part of the team, I will offer Expressive Art sessions that create space for inner exploration through creativity. Using natural materials, paint, and intuitive movement, these sessions invite you to express what words often cannot. No artistic background is needed—just your presence and a willingness to listen inward.
I’m most looking forward to witnessing those quiet, meaningful moments when someone reconnects with a part of themselves—whether through a brushstroke, a breath, or a glance shared with a horse. Holding space for that emergence through art is an honor, and I am grateful to be part of this unique experience.”
— Rilana Vorderwülbecke
Margo Frimodt
Margo Frimodt has had a lifelong love of animals. Margo was introduced to a horse named Alchemy who forever changed the trajectory of her life. Through Alchemy, Margo discovered that being in the presence of a horse brought her a feeling of peace, connected her to her authentic self, and showed her how to trust her inner knowing.
Margo wanted to share the beauty of connecting with horses to others. In exploring different modalities, Margo became a Reiki Master, a large animal massage practitioner, and took equine classes in cranial sacral work and essential oils. Margo eventually discovered Equine Guided Education with Ariana Strozzi Mazzucchi and knew she had found her calling.
Margo is certified as EGE Level II and facilitates and coaches individual EGE sessions and group workshops through her business Alchemy’s Touch. Margo loves sharing this line of work with others so that they may experience the magic that horses have to offer.
Alchemy’s Touch is located on a small farm in North Bend, Washington. Margo has two grown children and lives on the farm with her husband, 4 horses, cats, dogs, and chickens.
“Over the years, I have discovered that horses have become a medicine for my soul and I want to share this medicine with the world. We all have a medicine to offer the world whether it be your kindness, teachings, our ability to hold space, or the things you’re willing to say out loud that no one else wants to say. Horses have this innate ability to provide space for us to feel safe and allow us to connect to our intuition. When you connect with your intuition, you discover your own medicine.
At the summit, we will join with the horses as guides into discovering our own medicine. Our time together will include self-reflection, community connection, and crafting your own medicine pouch. You will have the opportunity to add something from the plant, animal, and/or mineral kingdom as a symbol of medicine to your bag. Are you interested in discovering your own medicine? If so, I invite you to join us at the Summit where you will discover your medicine and so much more!”
-Margo Frimodt
Denise Elizabeth Byron
Denise Elizabeth Byron is a visionary guide, international teacher and mentor with over 30 years of experience illuminating the unseen patterns that shape our lives. Through the celestial wisdom of astrology along with her powerful intuition, she helps clients unlock their unique offering, guiding them to embody the magic of their life’s purpose.
In addition to her private astrological consultations for individuals and couples, Denise is the creator of Sensuous Wisdom™, a transformative journey designed to awaken a woman’s deep intuition, ignite her life force, and reconnect her with the divine feminine. Blending ancient wisdom with modern insight, her work empowers clients to step into their fullest potential with clarity, confidence, and courage.
Denise plans to offer a session on the current cosmic dance, sharing insight into the astrological energies shaping this moment and how we can align with their guidance. With her signature blend of intuition and celestial wisdom, she’ll help us explore how to meet both the invitations and the challenges of this time with greater awareness and trust.
She’ll also guide experiences that weave meditation, gentle movement, journaling, and soul collaging—creative, reflective practices that support inner connection and spaciousness. These sessions invite you to listen inward, reconnect with your own rhythm, and access the quiet, steady wisdom that lives within you.
Heidi Metcalf
Heidi Metcalf, MA, LPCC is a psychotherapist and transformational life coach who has been supporting clients for over 20 years.
She holds a Master’s Degree both in Counseling, and in Interdisciplinary Arts. Nearly a decade ago, Heidi journeyed into increasingly more soulful terrain, and studied for years at the Womb of Life School as a Mystic Soul Guide. Here she found the courage, the tools, and the grace to transform her own life with a deeper level of soul alignment. At the same time, she learned how to midwife others on that sacred journey back to the depth of their own spirit. This “coming home” for her clients serves to heal their wounds, ignite their personal power, and guide them forward to be the force of Nature that they are born to be. Her work is now entirely dedicated to women and men who desire to connect more deeply with their own soul presence and realize their Sacred Feminine and Noble Masculine nature. She holds Women’s Circles, teaches workshops, facilitates retreats, and lovingly supports clients one on one, as they deepen on their soul path.
Terry Chase
Dr. Terry Chase, ND, MA, RN, CEIP-Ed is a dynamic force for health, healing, and transformation. A nationally recognized TEDx speaker, award-winning author, and master experiential learning facilitator, Terry brings over 25 years of hands-on expertise in healthcare, education, and personal development.
She is the author of Spoke by Spoke: How a Broken Back and a Broken Bike Led to a WholeHearted Life (2021) and the newly released Spoke by Spoke Guidebook: Small Steps, Big Shifts for Navigating a WholeHearted Life (2025). Both works offer honest, inspiring reflections and practical tools for cultivating resilience, purpose, and personal growth.
Whether delivering a powerful keynote, leading an immersive workshop, or coaching high-level professionals, Terry creates life-changing experiences that blend science, soul, and somatic wisdom. Her unique approach often includes horses as partners in learning, along with creative tools like mandalas to foster deep reflection and insight.
As a teacher, healer, and guide, Dr. Chase is passionate about helping others unlock their potential, embrace growth, and live with WholeHearted purpose.
Terry will be offering The Wonder of the Mandala: Circles of Wholeness, Health & Healing, an interactive session that invites participants to explore the mandala as a symbol of wholeness and a tool for personal reflection, creativity, and healing. A second offering is in development, inspired by her upcoming book, Spoke by Spoke Guidebook: Small Steps, Big Shifts for Navigating a WholeHearted Life (2025), and will include guided prompts and creative practices. Terry is especially looking forward to joining with others in co-creating a safe and supportive space for growth, learning, and connection.
Melinda Iverson Inn
Melinda learned dowsing to help her work through a health issue she had since birth. Her readings as a student medium in the spiritualist church gave her confidence in the understanding of spirit communications. Melinda’s collaborations with her spirit guides and counselors has resulted in 5 easy to follow dowsing books with practical uses and understandings of simple techniques for clearing energies for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels as well as collaborating with star constellations and crystals for health and well-being. She finds inspiration from Buddhist sutras, her favorite being The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch. She is a Kriyaban mediation student of the Paramahansa Yogananda lineage and has had the good fortune to have many beautiful hugs from Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi).
Melinda’s fondness for Mr. Rogers and his profound message of acceptance and kindness reminds her to be as attentive, and kind as she possible can. She does try. Melinda thanks those generous sky dowsers, healers, and spiritual teachers who often come to assist her with clients and projects.
“I love health and healing, that’s my dream; that we can all be healthy and joyful, so we will cover practical notions and healthy ideas.”
Melinda Iverson Inn will be offering The Enchanted Magic of Life With Dowsing, a multi-day, hands-on exploration of dowsing as both a practical tool and a spiritual art form. Rooted in intuitive connection and creative play, this offering introduces participants to accessible, everyday uses of dowsing—such as finding lost objects, checking the energy of spaces, supporting health and wellness, and tuning in to the needs of animals and the natural world.
Each session is designed to meet participants where they are, whether they’re just beginning or have years of experience. A highlight of the experience includes creating personal pendulums using provided materials. Guests are also invited to bring their own beads, buttons, crystals, keys, or other small treasures to add a meaningful personal touch or contribute to a shared creation box.
In addition to group sessions, Melinda will be available for 1:1 consultations during lunch breaks and after the summit. These private sessions may include dowsing support, soul-level guidance, emotional and ancestral clearings, and intuitive communication across dimensions—including for animals.