Equine Renewal Center

What is it?

The Equine Renewal Center is a place where horses come to address muscle imbalance, unsoundness, injury recovery, pain, conditioning, and emotional issues in a holistic manner. It is a place for them to regain their previous vitality, strength and peace of mind.

Horses often use their bodies in ways to accommodate

our riding methods that eventually undermine their health. We can learn to ride in a balanced way through knowledgable teachers but we might still need to help our horse in other ways to undo the learned behavior, muscle memory and pain from our or others previous riding methods. For some horses, they will learn to use their bodies correctly for the first time, for others they may be re-membering how to use their body.

Sometimes horses injure themselves just being horses and then compensate by using their body in a manner that creates pain in other areas. When a horse is in pain it often manifests in a variety of negative behavioral responses including biting, kicking, rearing and bucking. The horse is not misbehaving, it is trying to communicate that it is in pain and cannot do what is being asked of it. By addressing not only the pain but the muscle memory and manner in which the horse carries itself, we are able to create healing that lasts.

Our goal at Open Heart Ranch Equine Renewal Center is to create an environment that supports each horse and human partner to release pain and come back into balance again.

What happens when they are here?

We work with each horse based on their particular needs first conducting an assessment and then a renewal plan. This might include Connected Ground work*, cranio sacral therapy, aromatherapy, hands-on energy work, massage, body work, conditioning, natural trimming, and lots of love. Animal Communication is used to deepen the understanding of the horses’ emotional and mental state. As the horse begins to progress, Connected Riding* may also be added to the plan. Once the horse is sound physically, mentally and emotionally, we will work with the person to maintain this state. Stays typically range from 2-6 months.

Who can benefit from this service?

Candidates for the program include horses who:

* have muscle imbalance or weakness

* have been injured

* have become "sour" or are in pain

* have not been ridden for a period of time

* are coming off the show circuit or track

* have been ridden in a manner which requires them to retrain their muscles.

About Open Heart Ranch

In 2003, Wendy Wolfe and Becky Bauknecht created their vision of a quiet, secluded haven where healing takes place for four leggeds and two leggeds. In addition to the Equine Renewal Center , Wendy and Becky also conduct Equine Assisted Learning workshops. Known as Horseplay, these workshops provide the opportunity to discover new possibilities in all parts of your life. Open Heart Ranch with its quiet meadows, rolling hills and shady oak savannahs is located in Central Wisconsin , just 15 miles southeast of Stevens Point .

The Staff

Wendy Wolfe

Animal Communicator and Certified Aromatherapist

Wendy learned to ride on a green-broke appendix quarter horse at the age of 11. Later, she fell in love with a black TWH who had been used up and spit out of the Walking Horse show industry. Her journey with Smokey took her on a path of learning everything she could about holistic healing for horses including natural trimming, aromatherapy, Connected Riding*, Connected Groundwork*, Tellington T Touch, cranio sacral therapy, nutrition and other modalities. During this period she studied with Peggy Cummings, Liz Graves, Ray Hunt, Mark Rashid, Dr. Deb Bennett and John Lyons. In 1998 she reconnected to her ability to communicate with the animals and eventually began communicating professionally. In February 2003, Wendy became one of the few Certified Animal Aromatherapists in the U.S. More information is contained on the About Wendy page.

Becky Bauknecht, CSW

BS Agriculture, minor in Animal Science with Equine Emphasis

UW River Falls, Wisconsin

Becky has been riding, training, showing, boarding and working with horses and riders for over 30 years. She has studied with several horse professionals including Peggy Cummings and Ray Hunt. Her gentle manner quickly gains the trust of even the most frightened horses. Her ability to ride from a centered, balanced place helps horses to quickly regain their confidence under saddle. Her work with horses and their people eventually led her to a career in social work providing her with a unique blend of counseling skills and horse knowledge. A social worker since 1989, Becky has been supporting teen and adult clients to envision and create new possibilities in their lives.

*Connected Riding and Connected Groundwork are both trademarks of Peggy Cummings. We encourage you to visit Peggy's website at www.peggycummings.com.

Becky and Chance

Our Philosophy

When we ask animals to live contrary to their instinctual nature an imbalance occurs. This manifests emotionally, behaviorally and physically. When we correct this imbalance, homeostasis and health returns.

Much of the health problems of animals today are a direct result of our interference with their instinctual nature. Diet, stabling, over-vaccination, exposure to chemicals and toxins play a significant role in much of the disease of our animals. Horses need to eat forage (grasses and hay). When we feed them for convenience or cost savings they pay the price (and we usually do too in vet bills).

When we deny them the pleasure of being who they really are they can become depressed which can result in disease. When we add to that the work that we require of them, carrying us, often as we struggle to maintain balance, we lose homeostasis.

Of course we can’t always provide the most ideal lifestyle for our horses but we need to be clear about the impact it has on their quality of life. We need to support them in as many ways as possible to be congruent with their instincts while balancing this with keeping them from serious harm.