Nature & Nurture: Raising Fjord Horses and Healing

Wendy Bauwens was born and raised in the Treasure Valley of southern Idaho. As a child, she appreciated the great outdoors and the gift of a good horse. Her parents were both educators and her father spent his summers working at the local race horse track where Wendy was often found by his side. Wendy and her mother met their first Norwegian Fjord horses at the Small Farmer’s Journal sale in 1990. Shortly thereafter, they purchased their first pair of Fjords.
Chris Siegle is a retired Educational Speech/Language Pathologist and Teacher of Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) students. In her thirty years’ experience with Minneapolis Public Schools, she wore many hats, including: Educational Speech/Language Pathologist (Pre-K-6th grade) in the DHH Program; District Program Facilitator (DPF) for the City Wide DHH Program (Pre-K-age 21); ending her career by returning to the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) classroom (age 3-5) and home-based/family-based services (birth to age 3), expanding her area of service to include DeafBlind students and their families. To have been part of an educational team consisting of Teacher; Physical Therapist; Occupational Therapist; Adapted Physical Education Director; Social Worker and Speech/Language Pathologist was the most energizing way to end a wonderful career.