about horsepower

Lori Stavropoulos is an equine-facilitated certified coach and healer who works alongside her herd of horses to help people in many of life's challenges and struggles through the transformative power of horses, so that they may empower themselves to change and broaden their lives.  Lori comes to the field of equine-facilitated learning (EFL) from a background in the legal field as a court reporter for the first part of her career, which then transitioned into a notable career bridging communication and cultural gaps between people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and hearing people, building a successful business as a closed-captioner. 

Lori came from very humble beginnings, raised by a single mother in the Midwest and as a preteen for a short time in Montana, and was always drawn to horses and felt their calling, their whispers, friends and neighbors coming into her life who had horses, having her first childhood experiences in that sense, and it always left her with an insatiable thirst for more!  Not ever imagining that she could have a horse of her own someday, upon making that childhood dream come true and getting her first horse at her own property in 2001, while raising three children, the horses immediately began teaching and informing her how much more they had to give than just fun and riding, and there were many lessons energetically, even though it was on a subconscious level.  As she began reading and delving into the mysterious nature of the energy they were moving into her, she discovered the field of EFL. 

Lori has studied several energy-based healing modalities including Reiki for both humans and animals, meditation, chakra balancing, and completed advanced studies in interspecies communication.  Lori’s life journey and struggles have prepared her to become interested in coaching to help guide clients through challenging and confusing times in their lives so that they could move forward and heal on all levels. Lori served as a volunteer at Connections Equine Therapy in Cornville, Arizona, assisting with therapeutic riding classes for children, and also as a volunteer and Board Member at Leg Up Therapy, a hippotherapy center in Camp Verde, Arizona, where she assisted the team to provide occupational, physical & speech therapy to improve the lives of people with special needs, primarily those on the autism spectrum, through therapy using equine movement in a natural environment. These interactions were instrumental in her decision to follow her dream of continuing to help improve people’s lives, with the help of horses, to become the best version of themselves, and pursue certification as an Equine Facilitated Practitioner.

In 2019, she received a certification for Equine-Facilitated Learning and Coaching through The Academy for Coaching with Horses in Colorado after a year's program of study and apprenticeship. Lori understands that holistic health is so interrelated — mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health — and is always learning and expanding into all aspects of wellness and how she can bring value to people.

In May of 2024, she completed the S.A.C.R.E.D. Spiritual Counselor Course and became certified by Suzanne Ross in Sedona as a Spiritual Counselor. In 2020, she developed a practice as a COPE Certified Health Coach by the MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education at Villanova School of Nursing.

Lori loves to ride and spend time taking care of her horses, practicing yoga, hiking and exploring mountains, and spending time with her husband and family of the two-legged and four-legged variety!  Through all of life's struggles, pain and challenges, Lori practices being grateful for all the experiences that have transformed her so that she may in turn help guide others on their own paths of healing.