Wendy Bauwens

President – Founder, Executive Director and Program Administrator 

For decades, and prior to establishing the farm in Clyde Park, Wendy Bauwens has been using Fjords for the purpose of assisting children, youth and adults with special needs. Raised in the Treasure Valley of southern Idaho where, as a child, Wendy grew to know and appreciate 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 racetrack; Wendy was often found there, by his side.

Wendy attended college at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she studied Molecular Biology. She then spent ten years on Kodiak Island, Alaska commercial fish-ing and later designed, built and developed an equestrian facility to benefit the depleted horse-centered community and offered equine-assisted therapy to children and adults with special needs. Year-after-year, Wendy would travel to the lower 48 states to replenish the Alaskan equine facility with suitable Fjord Horses to meet the community’s needs. Her desire to return to the Rockies brought Wendy to Paradise Valley and then to Clyde Park, Montana where she has been the sole proprietor of Sunnyside Farms ever since.

Over time, Sunnyside Farms has become nationally known for producing superior Norwegian Fjord Horses that exude a spirit of patience, kindness and confidence. By pairing her science-centered mind with excellent horsemanship skills, Wendy Bauwens’ expertise in the production of grey dun Fjord Horses suitable for therapy, has garnered great respect. It is now recognized that, in the Fjord Horse, this rare and recessive grey color tends to be genetically paired with an extremely docile temperament.

Wendy Bauwens’ life is all about the Fjord and through its gentle nature, helping people by way of equine-assisted therapy. She is the living, breathing ambassador for all that is the Norwegian Fjord Horse. Wendy is the founder of Sunnyside Farms and has been working with, breeding, using, training, promoting and living by this special breed since 1990. Her current mission is to preserve, protect and promote the Norwegian Fjord in order to ensure its future as a therapy horse.  Through vitality of the Fjord Horse, Wendy creates vitality in humans.