CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — Wolfe Ranch offers the public the opportunity to interact with horses, in the form of riding lessons and equine therapy. Pictured is Charlie riding Gus the horse.

If you’re an animal lover, Wolfe Ranch of Quakerdale offers horse riding lessons, horse boarding, equine therapy, day camps and programs for children, an animal shelter called Whiskers & Manes, and more. The public is invited to learn more about its services and partake in hands-on activities at an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Attendees can go on horse rides, see riding demonstrations every half hour, try a therapy activity, take a tour of the ranch and meet the horses.

“We are doing kind of a passport-style open house, so each family that comes will receive a passport. If they go to all the different stations and get a stamp, they will receive $10 off of their first lesson,” Ranch Manager Sydney York said. “At each station we will have either volunteers or staff members that will be able to answer questions or get them some more information. If they don’t know the answer, they will be sure to direct you to somebody that does.”

People dealing with various mental health issues, plus addiction, trauma, ADHD, behavioral and eating disorders and more, may benefit from equine assisted psychotherapy and/or equine assisted learning. Skills learned can include confidence building, problem solving, trust and impulse-control. Counseling sessions take place outdoors or in an office setting depending on the client’s preference.

York added that riding lessons are growing in popularity.

“We have 18 horses,” York said. “About half of our horses are boarded, so we house and care for them. The other half are horses the ranch owns. Some horses are specifically for equine therapy, camps, or lessons.”

She noted that older horses that have been retired from riding are ideal for use in therapy.

People who come to the ranch for services are a mix of those who come in voluntarily and others who are court-required. Therapy can be conducted one-on-one or as functional family therapy.

“We really want to just kind of showcase how much it truly helps and how much it truly heals. People may know about (equine therapy), but it’s still a little bit new,” York said. “It can be hard to understand it and know what all goes on without seeing it in person.”

The open house also provides guests the chance to hangout at Whiskers & Manes, an on-site cat café that features animals available for adoption.

While on the premises, you can also view Wolfe Ranch’s newly renovated rooms, which are available for rent.

“We have been doing so many renovations to the Ranch House,” she said. “We will have a whole bunch of volunteers in there that will be able to kind of give all of our visitors a tour of everything that we’ve been doing.”

York has served as ranch manager for about two years. She is a native of Humboldt and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in animal science equine management.

Wolfe Ranch is a non-profit organization located at 2932 240th Street, Marshalltown. It’s mission statement is: “to encourage hope, faith, and growth in the individuals, children, families in the communities” of Marshall County and surrounding communities.

For more information, visit wolferanchquakerdale.org or reach out at

641-752-6446 and wolferanchquakerdale@gmail.com.