Meet Candice Kratzer | Karuna Horse Rescue Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Candice Kratzer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Candice, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Karuna Horse Rescue & Sanctuary believes we can shift the basis of our relationships with domesticated horses, from use to connection. For years now, equine enthusiasts from all walks of the industry have promoted a more compassionate relationship between horses and their humans. Natural horsemanship programs, such as Liberty training, are well-developed training philosophies that teach us how lean into a horse’s natural behavior with compassion, awareness and understanding. By taking a slow, subtle approach to training, or even getting to know the horse, we experience a profound state of connection, one that is built through mutual trust and respect. The Karuna Way steps off this progressive platform and further cultivates a mutually beneficial relationship, one that is based on presence rather than pressure, compassion rather than force and process rather than outcome

What should our readers know about your business?
Karuna Horse Rescue & Sanctuary believes we can shift the basis of our relationships with domesticated horses, from use to connection. For years now, equine enthusiasts from all walks of the industry have promoted a more compassionate relationship between horses and their humans. Natural horsemanship programs, such as Liberty training, are well-developed training philosophies that teach us how lean into a horse’s natural behavior with compassion, awareness and understanding. By taking a slow, subtle approach to training, or even getting to know the horse, we experience a profound state of connection, one that is built through mutual trust and respect. The Karuna Way steps off this progressive platform and further cultivates a mutually beneficial relationship, one that is based on presence rather than pressure, compassion rather than force and process rather than outcome. The results have been remarkable. This was not an easy approach. The traditional horse industry is very large and it is difficult to change persons attitude about training horses. The principles of natural horsemanship guided the vision of Karuna, with spacious paddocks where a herd could develop, multiple slow feeders to support grazing behavior, lots of fresh water, shade structures and a space for the horses to run and play. Karuna was coming into focus, and it would require a lot of work and determination to get there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Sonitia and mount lemon and sedona. All are outside. I would take them to some great taco stands along with getting sonoran hotdogs

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to recognize our volunteers and donors who support us day in and day out. Also we would like to recognize Laura Fetherstone who helped us support our first rescue with financial support.

Website: www.karunahorserescue.org

Instagram: karunahorserescue

Facebook: karunahorserescue

Image Credits
Candice Kratzer