Meet the Team - S Farms

Leane St. Peter

President & Founder

Leane is the President and Founder of S-Farms and is a certified Life Coach and is in the process of acquiring her Natural Lifemanship Equine Professional certification. As a lifetime animal lover, equestrian, horse trainer and competitor she is also a seasoned healthcare professional with more than 30 years’ experience serving in leadership roles throughout the healthcare continuum and her career. Its her empathetic and caring nature that lead her to a career in healthcare but she always longed to combine a career in healthcare and animals. After purchasing a farm several years ago (another lifelong dream) to retire her dressage horses she found herself rescuing several four legged souls in need and over the last several began breeding Nigerian Dwarf Goats who now run the Goat Yoga program at the farm. She says, “the farm is such a tranquil and therapeutic setting. I benefit everyday from the calming affects around me, the unconditional love and the non-judgmental output from the animals.” Its this holistic healing approach that she shares with people through goat yoga and the animal-assisted healing programs.

Dr. Harram Waqar, PhD

Medical Director

Patrick Furlong

Lead Therapist

Patrick Furlong is S-Farms’ Head Therapist who is responsible for interviewing and developing treatment plans and along with S-Farms’ Medical Director oversees treatment progression. Patrick proudly served our country in the Navy, is a therapist at a behavioral health facility and is in the process of acquiring his license in Mental Health Counseling. As a lifetime animal lover, he has worked with Military working dogs and assisted in finding them homes with our veterans who have succumbed to PTSD attributes as emotional support animals. He is also a seasoned healthcare professional with more than 30 years of experience serving in military and government roles with a high empathy towards multiculturalism. He has a strong knowledge of diverse cultures around the world and has worked with people through US AID humanitarian assistance and the World Health Organization where he worked with patients that have suffered through traumatic experiences of Human Trafficking, Cultural Violence, etc. His caring nature has led him to a career in mental health and in believing everyone can take a step and move towards a more positive outcome in life. After working with emotional support dogs, he thought he could combine new idealistic treatment plans with multiple animals, thus bringing him to S-Farms. In alignment with Leane, S-Farms founder, he believes in an holistic approach to healing with animals and agrees the farm is a tranquil and therapeutic setting for anyone’s healing journey.

Donna McLain

Case Manager

Donna McLain has been a healthcare professional for over 20 years as an in home care aide and most recently a case manager for an in/out patient behavioral health center. In this role she worked with clients during their stay or visit to the center to ensure compliance with treatment plans and she closely monitored basic mental, health and medical care. Donna’s compassion, empathy and positive outlook on life is evident in her work by the gentle care and support she lends to the patients she has worked with over the years. She is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of others by forming healthy and supportive relationships that she feels gives them the courage to be their best daily. Seeing her work bring success to the people she works with defines her success. Donna says, “I have learned I can not help everyone but if I can make a difference in someone’s life, that is what matters to me.” In alignment with other S-Farms’ team members, she is a lifelong animal lover and strongly believes in the human – animal bond as a successful approach to help individuals that may experience a multitude of mental or physical health conditions. She feels this holistic healing approach sets them up for long term success. Donna is in the process of acquiring her Life Coach certification and is under going the basic animal training program at S-Farms.

Tanya Quartman

Director of Mindfulness Programs

Tanya Quartman is a certified yoga instructor with World Yoga Alliance and has fourteen years' experience practicing yoga both personally and instructional. She is experienced in teaching a range of yoga to meet the needs of all of her clients including Hatha, Vinyasa, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Bikram, Kundalini, Yin and Restorative yoga. She also earned her certification in Reiki from the RYT Training Facility and is a master at teaching proper breathing techniques and the practice of meditation. Since her tenure at S-Farms as the Director of Mindfulness Programs she helps clients heal both physically and mentally through her yoga practices. On a fun note, she teaches Goat Yoga! Earlier in her career Tanya worked ten years in healthcare where she worked as an assistant in caring and working with elderly patients with a range of conditions like Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Depression and other special needs. Its during her time as a healthcare worker and while acquiring her yoga certification, it became evident to Tanya that she wanted to take helping and healing to another level through yoga and meditation. She felt a holistic approach to healing for her elderly patients could benefit them both mentally and physically and most of all long term and it was this epiphany that brought her to where she is today as a healer through yoga, meditation and reiki. Tanya prides herself as being a lifetime learner of yoga and meditation practices. Her love for helping others find their grounded, connected inner selves is evident through her teaching. Clients not only enjoy the positive long term effects from working with Tanya, they appreciate her positive and supportive attitude and holistic healing approach to their ailments and conditions. Tanya says, “I remain in awe of the benefits of what yoga, meditation and mindfulness attributes to the betterment of one’s life.” She believes that clearing the mind and allowing the body and soul to speak is the ultimate representation of yoga practice and road to recovery. Tanya offers yoga & meditation through S-Farms’ Animal-Assisted Healing Program, open yoga classes (without animals) and open goat yoga classes to the public.

Stephanie Rix

Equine Training Specialist

Stephanie Rix holds her Associates degree and is working towards a Bachelors degree in Veterinarian Medicine and is an Animal Training Specialist at S-Farms. She found her passion for all animals at a young age and her love for them was/is evident through her gentle and nurturing care for her own animals/pets or any animal in need. She was a member of 4-H where she learned how to raise and care for livestock from infancy to showing and competing at 4-H events. She credits her hands on experience to 4-H and to the countless animals she has raised, rescued and nursed to health as well as her tenure working on farms as a farm hand and animal caregiver and handler. Stephanie is also a devoted equestrian who trains and shows horses in both the English and Western disciplines. She has impeccable intuition and communication skills with the horses she works with leading to a bond that encourages them to trust and connect becoming safe equine-partners for her clients. Its this same intuition and communication that makes her an asset as an Animal Training Specialist, not only do these attributes apply when working with horses but with clients as well through the Animal-Assisted Healing program at S-Farms. She truly believes in the work that she does at the farm and the positive impact animals can make in our lives. She believes the connection and bond with animals impacts our psyche overtime through consistent exposure to these amazing and non-judgmental beautiful beings. She says, “for me personally, I find animals to be the best listeners after a long day. I know they help me when I’m not feeling like myself.”