Home & Herd opens for cross-species adjustments

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

September 14, 2026

THORP/OWEN-WITHEE – After experiencing what chiropractic care did for the “severe whiplash” she sustained in a car crash, Raeanne Kolbeck said she was inspired to pursue the practice to help give the same care to both two- and four-legged patients.

Founding Home & Herd Animal Chiropractic in early June, Kolbeck said she spent the summer building her client base prior to a ribbon cutting in August officially celebrating her debut.

A native of the Chippewa Falls area, Kolbeck said after the crash, she decided to plant her roots closer to home.

“I was originally [studying] pre-vet during my undergrad [at] the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and I had worked as a veterinary assistant at a clinic that was just outside of River Falls for quite a while,” she said. “At the height of COVID-19, everything was really crazy, but I [had] an epiphany – I realized how much I didn’t really enjoy vet-med after a while. The turning point was [when] I was on my way to work one day and I got T-boned by another vehicle.”

In her recovery, Kolbeck said she found it difficult to find care that helped her whiplash.

“They had totaled my vehicle, and I just wasn’t getting any good medical care after that,” she said. “So, I was out of work for a while and out of school for a while because I… just wasn’t functioning well.”

That’s when Kolbeck said she adjusted course and saw a chiropractor for the first time.

“I ultimately gave chiropractic a shot, even though I kind of poo-poohed it before,” she said. “The chiropractor I’d seen, he made a huge impact on me. I’d never felt heard and seen like that before. I got better quicker than I thought I ever would, and I was in such a slump for a long time, thinking I’d never get better. He turned my world upside down.”

Due to her personal experience, Kolbeck said she decided to enroll in the Northwestern Health Sciences University in Minnesota.

“I had to finish my animal science degree, so a bachelor’s of science, at UW-River Falls,” she said. “Then, it was three and a half years at Northwestern Health Sciences.”

After her graduation in November 2025, Kolbeck said she furthered her education at the Healing Oasis Wellness Center in Sturtevant, Wisconsin.

“I did a postgraduate VSMT, so a Veterinary Spinal Manipulative Therapy course, through the Healing Oasis Wellness Center,” she said.

Now, for the last couple of months, Kolbeck said she’s used her experience and education to help in healing both humans and herds.

“I was a little nervous about my patient load in the beginning – not really having enough patients or feeling satisfied with my patient load – but I have a full [schedule] already,” she said. “It’s nice having that connection with so many members in the community.”

Supporting a positive adjustment

Growing up in Jim Falls, Kolbeck said her relocation to the Thorp/Owen-Withee area is somewhat familiar but mostly a change of pace from her hometown.

“Not completely foreign, but definitely different from where I originally grew up,” she said.

In an area with “so many farmers” and working livestock, Kolbeck said she’s found a community that both needs and appreciates her work.

“[It’s] just a great area for me in general,” she said. “Growing up with farmers…, I wanted to support the farmers and also their livestock and their pets. So, this was the best area to land where there’s never-ending opportunity that way.”

Though Kolbeck said most of the patients she sees require curative care, she added that regular adjustments can be helpful for both working people and livestock.

“I would hope that people would come in for preventive care, but a lot of times they will come in post-injury, and then most of my patients will stay for preventive care,” she said. “If there’s a recent injury or illness and the client is looking for a way for their animal to bounce back from that, chiropractic is a great way to do that to support their nervous system, organs, skin tissue – everything to function appropriately as far as communication from spinal cord on to brain.”

For larger animals – such as horses and other equines – Kolbeck said she’ll utilize platforms that give her enough height and leverage to make adjustments.

“You’ll see animal chiropractors’ adjusting bales where we can get up and over the animal, and it doesn’t really take as much force as you would think,” she said. “As long as you’re within the correct line of drive, or the correct plane that joint is supposed to move in, and you [apply] force into that joint, it adjusts pretty appropriately if you have everything aligned.”

For smaller animals, like dogs, Kolbeck said it’s all about getting on their level.

“I just kind of sit on the ground with them, and [do the] same thing as I would for a person,” she said. “They’re either up on a bale or a table…, so I can get that correct leverage or line of drive to manipulate that joint.”

Taking appointments for larger animals on-site, Kolbeck said smaller animals can be seen at home or in-office at the same location she sees her human patients.

“I practice in Thorp – that’s where I see my human patients [as] an associate chiropractor with Illuminate Chiropractic,” she said. “My boss has been wonderful and is very receptive and open to me doing the animal chiropractic on the side. So, she also offered me some office space, a room at the clinic here to adjust small animals. Then when it comes to the large animals, I will travel to them.”

Making a bigger impact

Though her animal patients are relatively new, Kolbeck said she’s been seeing her human patients at Illuminate since she obtained her doctorate in November.

“Dr. Jess [Rohde] hired me on, and I had already been here adjusting patients under her license, finishing my clinicals,” she said. “I started in August, and I worked up until November of last year here. Then she hired me in January of this year, and I’ve been seeing patients since January.”

Especially while practicing animal chiropractic in a smaller rural community, Kolbeck said “you start to know everybody and everybody knows you.”

“I haven’t been adjusting [animals] long – I got my certification towards the end of May – but I do have a handful of equine patients and a few small animals here,” she said. “[I’m excited] to make a bigger impact with that.”

Despite her initial doubt in the practice prior to her crash, Kolbeck said she’s happy to have found an area of health care that allows her to see all species of patients.

“My mom was a nurse, and I grew up in more of a Western medicine lifestyle,” she said. “I think that was why I always kind of poo-poohed chiropractors. I never really gave them a shot. I never really took the time to educate myself on why chiropractic care is important. So, when I saw and felt the impact it had on me, I was definitely more receptive to continuing and educating myself.”

Now, with the support of her leadership and her community, Kolbeck said she’s excited to continue growing her book of business through Home & Herd.

For more information, visit Home & Herd Animal Chiropractic’s Facebook page.