About Equine Wellness Group, LLC
Who We Are & What We Do
Founded in 2000, Equine Wellness Group provides solutions to the equestrian community to improve the well-being of our equine partners. We serve our equine customers with the highest quality service possible and aim to exceed our customer’s expectations. We treasure our equine customers and their respective owners.
We are passionate about equine wellness and use massage, stretching, and Reiki techniques to eliminate or prevent discomfort for our equine partners.
Equine Wellness Group always searches for the cause(s) of problems or potential future problems – for example, why is my horse's behavior changing or why are there suddenly performance issues? Through root cause analysis, the horse's muscle condition and symmetry, gate analysis, saddle fitting and overall behavior are evaluated and we determine what elements require special attention. Equine massage, stretching and Reiki is used along with conventional and complementary healthcare as well as proper training techniques enabling the horse to perform at its optimum level.
Some owners want to learn these techniques so their horses can benefit from more frequent treatments. For them, we regularly offer workshops.
The Equine Wellness Group is passionate about your horse’s well-being. We are looking forward to working with you. Call 818-679-6961 or contact us online.
About Our Founder
Equine Wellness Group's founder, Katja Auer, is originally from Germany and moved to the United States in 1992. She has always been passionate about horses and refers to herself as having the “horse gene.” At age 5, she began riding and, after nagging her parents for many years, got her first German riding pony, “Niko.” Niko was a member of her family for 21 years until his passing. He is still missed.
While living in Germany, Katja showed German Warmblood horses in dressage, show jumping and enjoyed riding in fox hunts (no real foxes were hunted). She earned her German FN Bronze Certifications in Riding and Carriage Driving while living in Germany.
After moving to the United States, Katja completed a Masters Degree in Analytical Chemistry and an MBA. While studying chemistry, she considered becoming a Veterinarian and began to volunteer for large animal Veterinarians. Katja assisted with surgeries, routine examinations, dental work, lameness exams, colic cases and, sadly, when horses had to be put down. During this time, she also completed graduate class work in animal anatomy, physiology, equine nutrition and microbiology at the University of Arizona.
Through her experiences, Katja recognized that in addition to veterinary care other modalities could be used to prevent problems, increase the speed of healing processes and help our equine partners maximize their potential. She wanted to deepen her knowledge on equine wellness and studied equine massage, stretching, saddle fitting, farrier science and equine behavior at Equinology Incorporated, where she became certified as Equine Body Worker.
Katja has been working in conjunction with veterinarians, chiropractors, trainers and farriers to correct and prevent wellness issues, while providing the animal with the best treatment possible. She loves the horse’s responses to massage and stretching exercises and the owners' reactions when they see their horses respond so joyfully.
She continues to be an active equestrian with focus on dressage, but also thoroughly enjoys trail riding. She has trained with a FEI “I” / USEF “S” / USDF/USEF Dressage Sport Horse Judge and Olympic Medalist in Dressage. Katja is a member of USEF and USDF and also the California Dressage Society.