Finding Balance Through the Human-Horse Connection

For Shayna Woods, horses have been part of her life long before SHAKti Equine Services became a business. She was the self-described “crazy horse girl” who played horses at recess, read horse-breed books, worked to pay for riding lessons and spent summers at local shows simply hoping for a good ride. As she grew, that love began taking on another meaning. Tending to horses became its own kind of reflection, offering lessons in presence, patience, connection and listening. The more Woods learned about supporting the well-being of a horse, the more she began noticing what horses could teach her about her own well-being.

That relationship helped shape SHAKti Equine Services, which Woods established in February 2023. Her original vision was to create a space that fostered the human-horse connection while continuing to learn how to provide holistic comfort for horses. Today, her primary service is equine bodywork, with a focus on myofascial techniques, acupoint therapies and energy healing, along with nutrition and Western saddle-fit consultations. Her approach has become increasingly quiet, slow and consent-based. Rather than deciding what a horse needs and imposing the session upon them, Woods watches their responses, allows them to move toward or away from pressure and, whenever possible, lets the horse “lead the way.” Breathing, regulation, safety and curiosity become part of the process.

What Woods has experienced through horses is also beginning to reach people throughout the Fond du Lac community. Through SHAKti’s collaboration with Triple Moon Healing, the Unbridled series creates opportunities for people to step away from screens and everyday distractions and explore personal development alongside horses. The horses aren’t there simply as a backdrop. Their responses can become part of the experience, inviting participants to notice themselves differently and opening space for connection and conversation. It reflects something Woods has come to understand through her own relationship with horses: caring for another being can sometimes reveal something about how we are moving through our own lives.

That understanding has also shaped how Woods thinks about balance. “I think the only way I’m able to ‘help’ someone find balance is to support their search for it,” she says. That might mean offering an over-worker space for reflection, a perfectionist an opportunity to make mistakes, an anxious horse room to breathe or a tight muscle support in releasing. Her work now sits at an intersection between caring for the horse and honoring what the horse can offer the human in return. “Greater balance starts when the search begins,” Woods says. “I want to support the search for balance.”

Connect with SHAKti Equine Services
Learn more about equine bodywork, upcoming events and SHAKti’s work in the community by finding SHAKti Equine Services on Facebook and social media, or reach out directly at 920-204-4422 or shaktiequine@gmail.com.