Horse riding and general help welcome on very small family farm in Normandy, France

Details

• 

  Description

  Hi
  
  We'd love to find someone (or a pair) keen on riding our 2 horses to keep them from getting bored. We're also looking for a bit of help around the place, especially with our sheep, poultry, horses, and cats. If you're into gardening, your skills would be much appreciated during the summer.
  
  We welcome people all year round for stays of at least 3 weeks. If you enjoy cooking, you'll fit right in – we've had some fantastic chefs over the years.
  
  After years of hard work, we've finally completed the renovation of our 14th-century home and the setting up of our smallholding. It's been a labour of love, and everything is now running smoothly.
  
  We are a bilingual French/English family with 4 kids (19, 18, 18, 15). Since 2010 we have had over 100 helpers, with quite a coming back over the years and a few staying for over a year (and some over 2 years) which has been fabulous.
  
  This stay would suit a couple or two friends, as our weekdays are busy with work and school. We are always happy to have single people too, but I worry that you might get bored or lonely. We ensure a car is available if needed, but please note, having a driving licence and being able to operate a manual car is essential. There is no public transport within 10kms. You can generally have use of a car with a bit of prior notice.
  
  From December through to March, we need extra help with our small flock of sheep, as they have their lambs. They come into the stables to eat in the evening, but are out the rest of the time in the fields. They require feeding - hard feed and hay, straw added to their bedding etc ready for them to come in the evening. If we have any orphan lambs, they need to be given a bottle several times a day. In the winter, the horses also need feeding.
  
  All year round, daily supper needs cooking. Cats, and poultry need feeding. I normally do all this, but happy to hand over to you. I work from home but have a very full on job, and the rest of the family are gone from 6.
  
  If you can ride we have 2 really lovely horses (well one's a large pony) who need more exercise. We use a very gentle method with them, and they are both really lovely boys. I would normally say that anyone could ride them, but recently, they do need someone who is genuinely competent. Otherwise, they just come home when they want to, which is clearly not ideal!
  
  We are in a great location for visiting Normandy - Mont St Michel, Bayeux tapestry and the D-Day beaches. Our closest town is Saint Pierre sur Dives and we go to work/school in Caen. We have a beach house close to Granville and Coutances, which you are welcome to use but only out of season, while doing any odd jobs that need doing there. Deauville and Honfleur are an easy drive from home.
  
  If we are away we will give you a food allowance, otherwise most people to prefer to eat with us in the evenings and we would normally expect to cover all your food costs. If you would prefer to eat alone and buy your own food that's also fine.
  
  So basically, the job probably averages less than 20 hours a week:
  
  Gardening:
  picking veg/fruit depending on what's happening in the garden - in the summer
  weeding - always necessary
  mowing - from April through to November
  hedge trimming - spring and late summer
  collecting chopped wood for drying
  
  Tidying:
  chaos is never far away, unfortunately - there are always areas that need a bit of a tidy, both inside the house and outside in the barn and garden
  recycling: taking the general household recycling to the recycling bins
  
  Animals:
  feeding the sheep, horses, cats, ducks and chickens every day
  lambing from Jan through to March - mostly just keeping an eye out for any action
  horses - if you know how to ride that would be very welcome - just hacking out to help with boredom and weigth
  
  Cooking:
  if you enjoy cooking then you are very very welcome - we love to eat and as a big family we need a lot of food! We live in an area that is incredibly rich in local producers and amazing food - it is the dairy capital of France, so famous for its cheese. We have a very good local market in Saint Pierre sur Dives on Monday mornings.
  
  Accommodation
  You have your own separate part of the house, which has several bedrooms, that are used for helpers and guests, bathroom, toilet, kitchen etc. We do use the bottom part as "your kitchen" has the washing machine in and "your bathroom" has the tumble drier. You have a very good wood burner and it's all comfortable.
  
  We are a bilingual French /English family and are happy to speak either at home. We are happy to have people from anywhere as long as they are prepared to speak either English or French.
  
  There are always things to be done, so any helper must be independent, a team player, a self-starter and preferably a non-smoker.
  
  We have a discount with Brittany Ferries for those traveling to & from the UK.
  
  Please get in touch if you are interested.

• 

  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
• 

  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are a bilingual family, French father English mother. Happy to have people from any culture/language as long as they can communicate in English or French.
  
  We are in a great location for visiting Normandy - we are fairly close to the D-Day beaches, Deauville etc. We have a beach house near Granville, which is good for visiting the west coast of Normandy.
  
  We currently have 4 outdoor cats, 2 horses, 15 sheep, 6 ducks, 10 chickens and a cockerel - happy to show anyone about any of them.

• 

  Help

  • Feeding the animals.
  
  • Gardening – weeding, weed wacking/strimming, mowing, watering, picking fruit, veg etc depending on the season.
  
  • Generally keeping the place in working order.
  
  • Doing a bit of maintenance on the beach house (out of season).
  
  • Doing the recycling, bins.

• 

  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent

• 

  Accommodation

  You have your own separate accommodation, bedroom(s), sitting room, dining area, bathroom.

• 

  What else ...

  You must have a driving licence and know how to drive a manual car. Although I have taught a lot of people to drive a manual. The car is shared with me, so not always available, but with some prior warning we can make this work.
  
  We are in a fairly rural location so you need to be happy with your own and our company. Going out (in the evening) involves driving. We are surrounded by chateaux and manoirs and well placed for trips to Deauville, Mont Saint Michel, D-Day beaches, Bayeux tapestry, Cherbourg, Caen, Granville, Vire, Lisieux, Falaise.

• 

  A little more information

  • 

    Internet access

  • 

    Limited internet access

  • 

    We have pets

  • 

    We are smokers

  • 

    Can host families

• 

  Can host digital nomads

  You would normally have your own 4g internet connection. It’s not perfect but it’ll work for zoom etc

• 

  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

Website Safety

Feedback (16)