Anyone 12 or older can become a volunteer. Experience is not necessary. Volunteers will learn horsmanship skills from the ground up.
You will go through orientation one-on-one with an experienced volunteer. Email with a time you are available when you are ready to join.
Duties include feeding, grooming, walking, exercising, painting, building fence, mucking stalls, and everything else it takes to care for horses. There is a 10 page "how to do" manual available. Please print it to familiarize yourself with the BMSR proceedures.
During spring months duties may include foal care. Foals require a great deal of human bonding during their first few days of life. Many times volunteers will be needed just to sit with, talk to, or brush the babies.
For every two hours worked volunteers can take a lesson at the reduced rate of $15 per lesson. If you would like to be in a private lesson and you are a volunteer the rate is $25 per hour, because you are preventing other volunteers from taking a lesson during that time and getting one-on-one attention from the instructor. There is no limit on the number of lessons as long as the work hours are fulfilled. We are committed to improving our volunteers riding skills. At least one mandatory lesson every other week is required to stay in the program. Mandatary lessons are waived for non-riding volunteers.
Tasks and hours are tracked on a check-off sheet. Beginning 2007 hours, lessons, and task reports be created monthly. If a volunteer is not fulfilling their Volunteer Agreement they will be removed from the program.
Once volunteers are capable of riding walk, trot, and canter well, their duties may include such things as leading trail rides and exercising horses. As skills become more advanced volunteers may be asked assist at horse shows or teach beginner lessons.
Volunteers may also practice ride for $10 per hour once they can control the horse at a walk and trot in the ring and tack up alone. Volunteers must exhibit the abilities to control their horses before they are allowed to ride on the trails or around the pond alone or with others.
Please print and complete the Waiver and bring to your orientation. Please print and review the Volunteer Manual and Horsemanship 101 manual before your first volunteer time.
