Help rescue, rehabilitate and train Arabian horses with our not-for-profit organisation in California, USA

Details

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  Description

  Do you have riding experience (intermediate level and up)? Then we have a great opportunity for you.
  
  We have limited volunteer spaces available, therefore we can only accept volunteers who can assist with riding & training our rescue horses. In addition, we ask our volunteers to help us feed, check waters, etc. We do require a minimum stay of four weeks, simply because it takes time to learn the routines with the horses.
  
  We are looking for volunteers who are passionate about rescuing, caring for, and rehabilitating horses! *THIS SENTENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SENTENCE IN THIS PROFILE! We need horse lovers who are passionate about horses!
  
  We rescue Arabian horses and that is a lot of work. Also, we are in the desert, not on the beach or near the ocean. It gets hot here in the summer, we have wind, sand and dust. In the winter it actually gets cold here at night, nighttime temps can drop to freezing.
  
  So, if you are still reading .... We are the largest Arabian horse rescue in the United States, come make a difference! We always need help in caring for our horses. We are mostly all-volunteer organization (aside from paying to have stalls cleaned and waters filled). We rehabilitated and trained over 100 Arabian horses in 2022 and found permanent homes for 65 horses. Love this Horse has a relatively small budget and we are proud of the fact that we do as much as we do, with a complete focus on the horses. So, if you are ready to roll up your sleeves and help us in our mission, let us know!
  
  We strive to becoming a carbon neutral organization. We have solar panels, we recycle water, and we compost. We also need help with people who are handy with tools who can build things because we are always working on improving stalls, fences, shelters, etc. (Please see below for a more detailed description.)
  
  We also have several rescue dogs that we rehabilitate and find permanent family homes for. If you have a love for dogs, that will be very appreciated.
  
  We have two camping trailers, one RV and a bunk house to house our volunteers. You may have to share with another volunteer (of the same gender), there are two beds. We treat our volunteers and guests as family. We provide breakfast food and one meal per day. We ask our volunteers to provide their own snacks, sodas, and specialty foods, etc. We rotate cooking responsibility amongst us with our volunteers. We ask our volunteers to respect that we have volunteers using our kitchen in the main house, in addition to the cowboy kitchen that we have set up separately. We are a non-smoking ranch.
  
  Equine Caretaker Volunteers are responsible for equine care and assist in ranch operations. Ranch operations include the equine care and safety of up to 100 equines housed in numerous stalls and paddocks on a 100-acre ranch.
  
  Essential Functions:
  1. Executes equine feeding. Feeds the herd their breakfast and dinner (up to) 7 days a week.
  2. Responsible for making sure every equine has clean and plentiful water supply at all times.
  3. Responsible for checking for possible injury/illness of every equine at each feeding, reports equine health issues to Rescue Director, treats minor wounds as needed.
  4. Reports all facility-related concerns to Rescue Director.
  5. Responsible for pasture/paddock turn out/turn in on specific days.
  6. Cleans stalls/paddocks.
  7. Help maintain a clean rescue facility.
  
  Other Duties:
  1. As a member of the equine team, work together with other volunteers and trainers, to ensure that all equines at Love this Horse receive the best possible care.
  2. Handle all equines housed at Love this Horse, ride equines as needed in specific situations.
  3. Assist Rescue Trainer in haltering and bringing horses to be trained, grooming and tacking up horses to get them ready for training sessions.
  4. Perform other related duties as requested by Rescue Director or Rescue Trainer.
  5. Hold horses while the farrier or veterinarian works on the horse.
  
  Competencies:
  1. Collaboration skills
  2. Communication proficiency
  3. Decision making
  4. Initiative
  5. Equine behavior
  6. General Equine management
  7. Problem solving/Analysis
  8. Time Management
  9. Stamina/Physical strength
  10. Leadership skills
  
  Work Environment:
  While volunteering at the Rescue, you may be exposed to airborne particles, moving mechanical parts and unpredictable equine behaviors. You may also be exposed to a variety of weather conditions on facility grounds to include wind, rain, hail, snow, and high heat index.
  
  Physical Demands:
  While volunteering you may regularly be required to talk and hear. The volunteer position is also very physically active and requires the following:
  1. Standing (holding horses for farrier/vet, etc.)
  2. Walking (horses back & forth between barns, arenas, pastures & turn out, etc.)
  3. Jogging (horses for lameness evaluation, etc.)
  4. Bending/kneeling/stooping/crouching (cleaning hooves, cleaning & filling waterers/troughs, equine veterinary care of feet/legs/abdomen, changing or fixing a tire on ranch equipment, etc.)
  5. Pushing & pulling (full wheelbarrows, much carts, stall open/closed, etc.)
  6. Lifting (able to frequently lift or move items over 50 pounds for items such as hay bales, muck buckets, bags of feed, saddles, shavings, etc.)
  7. Climbing (onto ranch equipment such as the back of a pickup truck, tractor, ATV, on ladders, over fences, etc.) – with strong balance to handle these duties safely.
  8. Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception & ability to adjust focus.
  9. Use of hands and fingers is required for shoveling, carrying equipment & tack, opening/closing latches & gates, administering medications, feeding, buckling/unbuckling halters, etc.
  10. Depending on level of equine experience, riding may be required, which would entail climbing (into saddle, etc.), lifting (saddle onto horse, etc.), balance to ride appropriately & safely, and use of hands (to operate buckles on tack, etc.)
  
  Preferred Education & Experience:
  Experience operating a tractor, utility vehicle, power tools & current government issued driver’s license is desirable, but not necessary.
  
  EEO Statement:
  Love this Horse provides equal volunteer opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.
  
  Other Duties:
  Please note this volunteer description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of volunteers. Duties, responsibilities & activities may change at any time with or without notice.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are a multinational family and speak English, German and Spanish. We are located close enough to the train station to where any visitor can also get away and explore the Los Angeles area.
  
  We have quite a few people come to learn more about and spend time with horses. It is wonderful to see a rider improve, or have a chance to try a discipline they have never attempted before. We also have many non-horse people come, those who want to just be around animals, or be out in nature enjoying it and working hard.
  
  Culturally we are an international family, mom is from originally from Germany, her adopted children are from Haiti and West Africa. Our trainers are of Mexican decent and also Holland. We enjoy learning about how things are done other places and sharing our ways with others. We love to re-purpose things and appreciate learning new ways to make the most of what we have.

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  Help

  We are a nonprofit Arabian horse rescue located in Southern California, about 110 miles north of Los Angeles. (Having said that, it takes a long time to get down to Los Angeles because this area lacks public transportation and the ranch is located 35 minutes drive from the train station in Lancaster, CA. The train takes 2.5 hours to reach Los Angeles.)
  
  We focus on rehabilitation, training, with the ultimate goal of finding permanent homes for our horses. Horse experience is welcome, but we will teach you the basics of horse care. Our guests are part of the family. We live on 100 acres in a rural setting. It is very peaceful.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: 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

  Three campers, one RV, one bunk house. Depending on the number of volunteers at the rescue, you will have to share a camper, RV or the bunk house with one other volunteer (same gender). Family type meals, that are prepared together or by taking turns in our cowboy kitchen. Dedicated volunteer bathroom in the main house. Vegetarian, gluten, dairy free options. Wifi, internet access. Our rescue is a real working equine ranch in the desert.

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  What else ...

  There are many local sight seeing options available because we are three hours north of Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beaches, Mountains! We are also close enough to the train, we are happy to drive our guests to the station.

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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 internet access, wifi in the volunteer accommodations. If you are working remotely, it needs to be flexible since you can't be working during the times that we need the volunteer help.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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