Enjoy farming with an equine therapist in Alberta, Canada

Details

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  Description

  Hey :)
  Thanks for checking out my profile.
  
  I'm a singe mom and I have an 9 year old daughter. We live on a farm near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. We are looking for workawayers to come and stay with us to help with; occasional care for my daughter, general house and yard maintenance and animal care/dog sitting. We have 12 horses, chickens, 2 pigs, 2 cats and 1 dogs. Their care is fairly minimal but important so someone with an interest in animals is an absolute requirement. Ideally, an avid rider would be wonderful to assist me in putting miles on horses, but this is not a requirement.
  
  I am an Equine Therapist (which is a therapist/body worker for horses) and I am SUPER busy with work. Generally through the spring, summer and fall I work up to 6 days a week. I am away from the farm for work trips for a night or two most weekends, so there is also a farm/animal sitting component, but we have lots of animals to keep you company! :) During my nights away my daughter is either with me or with her dad. Because of my travelling I need responsible, motivated care providers for the animals on the farm while I am away. Otherwise, there is a fairly minimal amount of work to be done...general maintenance, animal feeding and tidying in the house and yard. Sometimes its hard to come up with 25 hrs of work a week. Having said that its important to me that there is benefit to us both in this situation.
  
  My beautiful daughter Netheya has a very sweet spirit and is all around a pretty great kid that is fun to be around ;) I would like to host travellers that are interested in playing and spending some time with her. She is 9 and is in Grade 4 and goes to school Monday to Friday.
  
  Typically we hope to find people that can stay with us for awhile but as we have people lined up for various times of the year, please contact us anyways if you are interested in staying with us for a short time ;)
  
  We have been hosting workawayers since April 2015 and we love doing this!! Many of the people we have had are like family to us :)
  
  Regarding the horses: Our horses range in age and breed (most are heavy crosses). Most are used for pleasure riding and we have a very natural philosophy when it comes to our horses, we do ride bitless and I am a large supporter of treeless saddles. Our horses are also "barefoot trimmed" (which is trimming to support the natural function of the hoof) by myself and my friend/colleague. We also practice Natural Horsemanship. We do have a few boarded horses that are here for retirement and occasionally we will take on rehabilitation/therapy horses as well. I also teach clinics on owner education topics (saddle fitting/anatomy, etc) and equine first aid.
  There is a lot of opportunity to ride if you would like to! And with my busy work schedule through the spring/summer I cannot ride as much as I would like to so I would love to have people riding the horses to keep them going :)
  
  One of the more important things to consider is our lifestyle. We live rurally (in the country) so buses etc are not available. We are about 20 mins from the nearest town and about 50 mins from the nearest city. Canadian winters can be very cold and we tend to spend more time indoors then because of this. It is very important to us that the potential workawayer knows this and is comfortable with a farm/country lifestyle.
  
  We encourage and support our workawayers to travel while they are here and I try to be very accommodating for this. Usually our travellers plan some weekend or multi-day trips while they are here with us. I am happy to guide you through that process including bus/car rental and accommodation bookings.
  
  If you would like to contact some of our previous Workawayers as a reference I can arrange that :) I also have a very long info letter that I can send you which will give you more info on us :)

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  If you need to improve your English we can help you do that! :) You will experience life on a Canadian hobby farm and increase your animal care and child care experience. You will be surrounded by rural Alberta's natural peaceful beauty while at our place....with complete access to land/forest and our gorgeous herd of horses! Speaking of horses.... :) you will have the opportunity to be immersed in and learn about natural horse care...from the way the horses live, are fed, how they are trimmed, ridden and of course through the way we work with them! You will have the opportunity to learn more about equine therapy and saddle fit etc.
  You will also benefit from my delicious gourmet cooking every evening at supper time LOL ;) (not really but I do my best!)
  You'll also learn to drive a quad! And depending on the time of year you can learn to go skijoring here at home or rent a horse and go riding at the base of the Rocky Mountains with friends of ours who do a lot of trail guiding out there. (they have taken many of our workawyers in the past).
  For the most part we have a fairly laid back schedule which will be of great benefit if you are looking to travel and do trips during your stay with us.
  
  Most importantly you will be treated like family here, while spending time with people who are truly invested in you and our mutual cultural experience, in a safe and caring home! :)
  
  Please note that we do NOT have a vehicle for your personal use.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  I am looking for individuals or a couple. Because our workawayer will be treated as a member of our family ;) we are looking for someone with these qualities: strong english skills, fun, compassionate, respectful, kind, clean, modest, genuine, easy going, and lastly but MOST importantly..down to earth ;)
  
  A good work ethic is a must! I am entrusting my cherished possessions to your care, you need to be a responsible human! :)
  
  We live about 20 minutes from the nearest town so a comfort with a slower paced lifestyle and living rurally is important.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  Cozy Camper in Yard with bedroom, water and cooking options. (for seasonal use)
  There are also 2 bedroom spaces in the house for stays during the winter as well.
  
  There is some flexibility in the arrangement/exchange style. If you would like to provide more of your own meals for less hours of volunteering that is also an option. But please be aware, the weekends are when I generally require you to be present on the farm. If you would like to travel more during the week, I can accommodate that.

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  What else ...

  We located at the base of the Rocky Mountains which allows for great access to hiking, skiing, white water rafting, canoeing, fishing. Day trips to National Parks, West Edmonton Mall, Amusement Parks, Horse Events, Calgary Zoo, Shopping, Tyrell Museum/Dinosaur Park

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We have Starlink so pretty stellar internet access!!! :)

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  Space for parking camper vans

  You are very welcome to come with your own camper van.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  No pets please.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  5 variable max 25 hours a week

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