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Come meet our new Gypsy Vanner!

animal assisted therapy, hippotherapy

We recently welcomed the newest addition to our team! Thanks to everyone who shared and voted for Nature’s Edge through LexLin’s Gypsy Gift program we were able to add a new therapy horse to our program.
LexLin has donated 45 horses to PATH premiere accredited centers across the US since 2009. This year, over 80 centers were nominated. To win a Gypsy Gift Horse, Nature’s Edge competed in a Facebook contest where we had to get daily votes to stay in the top 20 centers. With all the wonderful support we ended the contest in 13th place with 11,790 votes!
Becky, our founder, director, and SLP, and her daughter Courtney had the opportunity to fly to Tennessee to pick which horse would join the Nature’s Edge team. While there were many great choices, Chloe caught their eye with her sweet disposition and friendly nature.
On July 22nd Becky and Barb, a board member, went back to Tennessee to attend the Passing of the Lead ceremony where Chloe officially became part of Nature’s Edge. After the ceremony Chloe started her journey home where she was reunited with her friend Simba. Simba came to us from LexLin back in January and was happy to have his buddy back. He’s been a great protector when one of the other horses tries to bully Chloe.
Gypsy Vanners are very well suited for therapy horses because of their build, temperament, size, and love for people. At Nature’s Edge we carefully choose our horses for their temperament and the type of movement they produce. All are specifically trained for their unique role within therapy sessions and are guided by professional horse handlers, which optimizes safety and effectiveness. The horse through Hippotherapy (only completed by a trained Speech, Occupational or Physical Therapist) impacts a patient’s speech, core movements and balance, as well as their sensory system. The Gypsies fit these requirements wonderfully.
On September 9 Nature’s Edge would like to welcome everyone to an Open House to meet our new Gypsy Vanner! The event runs from 12-3pm at Nature’s Edge. We will have lunch and refreshments available: pulled pork sandwiches, chips, dessert, and root beer, along with presentations from Keith Dawson of Thrivent Financial (who are ever so kindly sponsoring the event), Josy Wood our horse trainer, and Dr. Rebecca Blotz of Chetek Vet Clinic.
You can view our open house flier here!
We hope to see you there!

Did you vote today? Less than one month left!

animal assisted therapy, hippotherapy


Nature’s Edge has steadily been climbing and is currently sitting in 13th place! Thank you ALL so much for your votes and SHARING!  Just under one month of continued voting left. In the past 2 weeks we have gained 7 places and some days we average 240 votes a day. In order to move up now, we NEED MORE VOTES! This provides us a choice on the horse- YOU CAN HELP US WITH THAT TOO, check out the Gift Horse webpage and tell us who you like and would like to meet! Click here to vote daily (once every 24 hours) for Nature’s Edge Therapy Center! Voting will continue through 12 pm EST on June 15th!
The top 20 centers with the most votes will be given a Gypsy Gift Horse from LexLin Gypsy Ranch. Visit GypsyGift.com for program details.
Please VOTE DAILY and SHARE OFTEN to support Gypsy Gift and your favorite center!

Don’t Forget to Keep Voting!

animal assisted therapy, hippotherapy

Nature’s Edge is currently in 19th place with over 2,400 votes. To remain in the top 20 we still need your votes daily. Why is the horse and your vote DAILY essential to Natures Edge? We carefully choose our horses for their temperament and the type of movement they produce. All are specifically trained for their unique role within therapy sessions and are guided by professional horse handlers, which optimizes safety and effectiveness. The horse through Hippotherapy (only completed by a trained Speech, Occupational or Physical Therapist) impacts a patient’s speech, core movements and balance, as well as their sensory system. Check it out:) We appreciate all of you sharing Natures Edge and our mission as well as helping us acquisition a new partner in our therapy.
Follow the link to vote!
If you don’t have Facebook, but would still like to vote for Nature’s Edge, you can email [email protected] daily to help us win a Gypsy Vanner Horse!

We Need Your Votes!

animal assisted therapy, hippotherapy

We are nominated and NEED YOUR HELP! We have been nominated to win a Gypsy Vanner. LexLin Gypsy Ranch, where our wonderful Simba came from, is doing their 4th year of their Gypsy Gift Program. For this program they match LexLin Gypsy Horses with PATH premiere accredited centers across the US (they’ve donated a total of 45 horses since 2009). This year they are matching 20 Gypsy Horses with centers and Nature’s Edge is in the running. Our program has been open for nearly 17 years now and 3 of our horses are semi-retired, a new addition would be welcome! LexLin has phenomenal horses that would be well suited for our therapy center. To help us win we need YOU to spread the word and vote every 24 hours through 12 pm EST June 15, 2017! Click here to vote!
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Summer Learning Out-Of-Doors!

Programs

Come join us for our group programs at Nature’s Edge! Sign up early and receive the early bird discount! Our groups this year include:

  • Learning Social Skills on the Ranch
  • Meet Me at the Reading Tree
  • “Stable” Life Skills!
  • Preschool Outdoor Play
  • Staying Active in Nature/Sibling Fun

All groups programs are taught by licensed and qualified professionals. Our ranch setting is the perfect environment to accelerate learning through summer fun and the motivation of animals and nature! Check out our Social Groups flyer 2017

Volunteer Opportunities

volunteer

Are you interested in volunteering? Here at Nature’s Edge we are always in need of volunteers.

  • Do you like to garden?
  • Do you like to spend time with animals?
  • Do you have organizational skills?

If you answered “Yes!” to any of these questions, we invite you to join our team, enhance your skills and contribute to our success.  Volunteers perform integral roles at our center.  In fact, it would be impossible for us to achieve our mission without them.
Volunteering Opportunities include:

  • Facility maintenanceIMG_5037
  •  Small animal care and feeding
  •  New construction
  •  Large animal care and feeding
  •  Assisting in fundraising
  •  Tack care
  •  Assisting in therapy sessions, including hippotherapy sidewalkers
  •  General cleaning
  •  Gardening/landscaping
  •  Stable attendant

If you would like to volunteer at Nature’s Edge, please complete both the “Volunteer Intake Forms” and the “Background Information Disclosure (BID)” forms and return them to the center.
A word from our volunteers
What our volunteers have to say about us…
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“This summer was the first year I came to volunteer here and I have to say, it was one of the best decisions I have made. Everyone at Nature’s Edge is so wonderful! They always let you know how grateful they are for everyone’s hard work. I am super glad I came to Nature’s Edge and I will definitely be coming back!”
“Love this place! In all the time I’ve spent here volunteering not a second went to waste. 🙂 I have also seen how much they help their patients. Truly amazing what they do here.”
“I have volunteered my time helping out with client group activities, photography, side walking,and grooming/exercising the animals! I have seen amazing treatment/activities given by the therapists to increase the self confidence and the progress of the clients abilities! The volunteers/staff are so welcoming and friendly. The scenery, nature, and farm animals are so calming and soothing! I usually come to volunteer 1-2 times a week! Volunteering here has helped my self confidence, mood and exercise in many abundant ways! I really love coming to this amazingly awesome, Nature’s Edge Therapy center!”
“Love this place!  In all the time I’ve spent here volunteering no a second went to waste. 🙂 I have also seen how much they help their patients.  Truly amazing what they do here.”
“I had a good time and I helped with the horses. I got to eat lunch with the Reminiscing on the Farm group. Gymir is my favorite horse!”
“I had a great time at Nature’s Edge. I hope to come again. It was fun grooming the horses and to meet new people. I made some new friends. I hope next time I come it will be as fun as today!”
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“It was awesome to tell the Seniors stories about the animals. The animals seemed like they had fun to. The Seniors seemed like they had fun. It was really cool to see the animals and
Seniors interact with each other.”

Settling In

animal assisted therapy, hippotherapy

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Simba is settling in very nicely here at Nature’s Edge. We have been working him into the schedule for training and he is responding extremely well. He was even brought in on a therapy session working on ground work and desensitizing and did amazing! Simba has also had the pleasure of meeting all his herd mates. He was separated from the big bad bully Boo until the footing cleared up, and about a week ago he had his chance. Up until then we had them separated into two groups and introduced Simba to all his new friends without the threat of being bullied, but about a week ago the footing in the pasture cleared up enough to allow everyone to mingle together. They were all so happy that they took off frolicking through the pasture until Big Bad Boo realized he had a new herd mate and the chase began. After a little bit of running and Boo establishing that he was top of the herd (right behind Svali that is) they all settled down to munch on what little grass they could find and some hay. They’ve all been hanging out together in one big happy group since then.

Schedule now open for 2017 "Reminiscing on the Farm" sessions

Programs

With summer on it’s way, even if it doesn’t feel like it with this new snow, we are starting to prepare for our “Reminiscing on the Farm” program again. The “Reminiscing on the Farm” program for seniors will be offered on Wednesdays, beginning May 24 through September 6, 2017. Programs typically begin at 10:30 a.m. and conclude close to noon.
This unique program takes place in our rustic barn or on the green lawns of Nature’s Edge. Seniors have the opportunity to enjoy an outing to our peaceful farm setting, interact with a variety of farm animals and share stories with our staff, volunteers and with each other, as we all reminisce together about days on the farm, country life and a love of animals. Senior groups are invited to bring a picnic lunch. An apple dessert will be provided at the conclusion of the Reminiscing session. Family members and caregivers are invited to attend and participate. Volunteers are invited to help with the Reminiscing sessions. All volunteers must complete volunteer forms.
The “Reminiscing on the Farm” program is provided through a grant from Bader Philanthropies – Helen Bader Foundation. Click here for an informational brochure. To schedule a session, call our office at 715-859-6670 or email us at [email protected]

 

Spring Fever

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With the warmer weather on its way we are getting back into shape and getting ready for a fun-filled and busy summer. Much to the disappointment of the horses this also means they have to come out of winter vacation and start getting into better shape as well. With the help of our good friend Ed the horses (and us!) are getting some great advice and training in. We are learning tons and advancing our long lining and training skills greatly. We can’t thank Ed enough for all his wonderful help!

Nature’s Edge Welcomes Simba

animal assisted therapy, hippotherapy

January 25 we welcomed a new team member to Nature’s Edge. Simba is a 9 year old registered red roan Gypsy Vanner that comes to us from LexLin Gypsy Ranch in Tennessee.  He’s very willing and eager to please whoever is working with him, loves to be scratched, and loves being around people in general. When entering the pasture Simba is one of the first ones to greet you. We are excited to have Simba join the Nature’s Edge family!