Volunteer Horse Trainers Needed
We have openings for volunteer trainers for our summer program!
Have you ever wanted to have horses in your life? Or, have you had horses before, and wish you could find a way to be near them again? Preferably without the added expense of purchasing or leasing a horse, boarding it, being responsible for their medical and farrier expenses, buying hay, and dealing with manure and frozen water troughs? Well, now you can!!!!
No Experience Necessary!
We are in need of Volunteer Horse Trainers. No experience necessary! We will teach you everything you need to know, from the hoof up, so that not only can you be a knowledgeable and compassionate handler of horses in any situation, you will be able to teach others. Enjoy the knowledge you now have on how to handle and train animals, including horses in the best, easiest, and safest way to train any animal to do anything.
What we aim to achieve is that we have enough Positive Reinforcement Volunteer trainers to take all of the animals out on an exercise walk several times a week. Good exercise for you, and for them.
Also, we hope you agree to come back and be a volunteer trainer, to help teach others. In this way, we fulfill our vision, to make Positive Reinforcement Horse Training the standard throughout the equine industry, which will in turn save horses, and people's lives.
Requirements
- Must be physically fit, and able to lift at least 50 pounds without risk of injury. This will be physically demanding work, at times
- Must be willing to participate in an exercise program for your own safety around the animals including calisthenics, stretching, and dancing
- Must be over 18 years of age, or accompanied by an adult at all sessions
- Must be willing to volunteer 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours at a time, with specific days and times to be determined
- Must be open-minded, kind, and willing to learn. Leave your ego at the gate
- Must be willing to accept the fact even if you have a lot of prior horse experience, you may not be cleared to halter, lead, or handle the animals for several weeks until you are able to demonstrate the ability to gauge your own level of awareness, ability to read horse body language, and response times (how quick you are to reward correct behavior, and mitigate dangerous behavior)
- Prefer those without previous horse experience, however, all are welcome to apply
- Must be willing to assist with property maintenance and horse chores, including cleaning up manure, feeding hay, sweeping, caring for and organizing tack, etc.
- Must have completed the Horse Training Masterclass before the start of sessions
- Must sign a release
The goal is to have at least one trainer for each rescue animal (in an ideal world each animal has 2-3 trainers if they are lucky), and to perform all husbandry tasks which are required to properly care for a horse, including grooming, picking their feet, haltering and leading, and teaching them to accept mouth wash, fly spray, baths, and trailer loading. All the basic skills a well-trained horse should have. And then of course to go on regular exercise walks of approximately 20 minutes or longer.
Accepting Applications Now!
The program begins Tuesday, May 30th, 2023, and runs through August 10th, 2023. Dates and times may change.
How To Apply
Send a letter of intent, telling us who you are, and why you want to apply, and why we should choose you for the program. If you need financial assistance with the Horse Training Masterclass, please indicate so, as a small number of scholarships to offset some or all of the
cost of the class is available.
Include in your letter of intent, the answer to the question, “If money were no object, starting today, in 10 years I would be……………”.
Your letter should be no more than 700 characters.
Applications are being accepted now, send to [email protected] with Volunteer Horse Trainer in the subject line.