Welcome to Stable Hands Equine Therapy Center

Since 1992, Stable Hands has sought to enhance the quality of life for special needs individuals through the use of equine assisted therapies and activities. But, Stable Hands is much more than learning to ride a horse. It’s a wonderful addition to standard therapy techniques that improves physical, emotional, cognitive and social development and best of all, it’s so much FUN!

What’s New at Stable Hands

 Boarding at Stable Hands by Amanda Klos

 Stable Hands is an excellent place to board a horse. Jess, the barn manager, goes above and beyond to ensure that the horses are all cared for properly. She works closely with a nutritionist to customize each horse’s diet accordingly. I own two quarter horses, a 17 year old mare named Cheyenne and 4 year old gelding named Peso. Both of them are looking excellent and are happy to be at their new home. I only live in Wausau full time 2 months out of the year and the rest of the year I am at school down in Madison. Leaving for a few weeks at a time is no longer an issue for me because I know that the horses are in good hands. If there is ever a question or concern, Jess will text me right away to keep me updated. When I go out to the barn, the only thing I have to worry about is having fun with my horses. They are fed twice a day on a set schedule and always have some hay to munch on. Jess also fly sprays the horses daily and allows each horse time to run around in the larger pasture. The barn is always spick and span and well taken care of. Each horse has their own barrel for their feed and all of the barrels are labeled to ensure each horse is getting the proper feed. Jess is willing to work with you and will discuss any feed adjustments that need to be made. The riding arena is also quite pleasant. The fencing is made of PVC piping and the base is sand with grass on top of it. There is no dust when you are riding and the footing is decent. I am happy with how my boarding experience has gone so far and look forward to seeing Stable Hands grow in the future. It is truly a great organization. The Stable Hands volunteers and barn staff are a great group of people to work with and are enthusiastic about the program they are running. I am happy with my decision to board my horses with Stable Hands.

 We Welcome New Horse ”Gem” to the Stable Hands Program!

This past weekend we made a trip on what should have been a warm spring day but was far from it!  In spite of rain, too, Jess was able to ride Gem and we spent time with her.

We are so excited to announce that we have adopted Gem from Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation!  Pictured from left: Diane Abitz; Executive Director, Leanne Gallagher; Volunteer Coordinator and Jessica House; Equine Manager/Intern Instructor. 

Thank you Karen and Scott for the awesome visit, we so appreciate all that you do

  About Volunteering  from Event Committee Member Chris DeVore:

“I feel blessed to be a member of the Stable Hands volunteer family. The depth of commitment, compassion, and unselfish caring  on the part of our volunteers is instrumental in the success of our program.  Each one brings his or her unique talents to the program; whether it is grooming and feeding the horses, painting fences to being a side walker or working on a committee – we all do our part to make it work. Our students love coming out to Stable Hands! That is due in a very huge way to the many volunteers whose time, and effort have accomplished so much over the years.  We have made our program a safe, healthy and fun way for our students to overcome or learn to live with some often times very overwhelming obstacles as they learn to grow as individuals.  The success of our volunteer program shows in the many smiles, hugs and thanks we receive every day! ”

       From Our Facebook Page: “Yesterday I had the opportunity to hang with Jessica and the herd! I am so pleased to see such a happy and healthy group of horses! They all left me covered in hair which means spring is right around the corner… And that means some serious saddle time!!!! Thanks for allowing me to be a part of such a wonderful operation.”     Laura Wojchik, Lifestyle Production Specialist from Marathon Feed

Thanks Laura, we so appreciate working with you and Marathon Feed, it’s been so helpful. Also a special thanks to our wonderful Equine Manager Jessica House for your excellent care.

Donations

We are so grateful to “Noodles” Company for hosting a fundraiser for us. The employees of Liberty Mutual have also been generous with their “Give With Liberty” campaign. We’ve been informed that the employees of Best Buy who came out and did a work day for us last year want to come back in the Spring. We also appreciate the wonderful donors who contributed online and by mail recently.  A big “thank you” to all! 

Paige enjoying her lesson on Whisper