Profile information
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Host rating
80 %
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Last replied
14 Sep 2026
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Reply rate
70.8 %
Usually responds within 1 day
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Feedback
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Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks
Details
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Description
Our equine Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 non-profit "forever home" for 10 senior therapy horses and one mini donkey who were rescued from death They were either old, injured, neglected, abused or corrupt. Here they receive love, medical and nutritional care, retraining and conditioning for a new job and purpose; a dialogue so people can communicate with them, and relationship with people they can trust so the horses can thrive and have a meaningful, dignified life. The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person. As much as we have helped them, we always seem to be the ones benefitting most from these amazing horses! We also incorporate Nature and Arts/Crafts, Reiki and Energy into our work here. There is always plenty of it, living with 11 large animals, but we're never in doubt as to its profound rewards.
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Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Light gardening
Creative DIY projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
Light maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
House & pet sitting
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Interests
Videography
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Events & social
Culture
Charity work
Writing
Performing arts
Photography
Music
DIY & crafts
Gardening
Astronomy
Art & design
Animals -
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
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Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We have a DIVERSE community of volunteers, animals, nearby landscapes (Rivers, Lakes, Waterfalls, Mountains, High Desert, more extreme Desert, Forests, diverse Agriculture and Ocean coastlines; Sand dunes, and outdoor recreation). Our area is rich in small communities with restaurants, entertainment and West Coast culture. The Portland metro area is large, with arts, museums, interesting architecture, entertainment, sports, recreation, shopping options, and lovely landscapes offering outdoor and indoor recreation. We try to offer opportunities to explore for those without their own transportation as public transportation exists, but takes time and is limited compared to Europe. Busses in our nearest town, Wilsonville (2 miles away) are FREE, offering a library, grocery stores, multi-cultural restaurants (many American options, Mexican, Thai, Moroccan and Chinese), in addition to deli, fast food, ice cream, take-out, sit-down and indoor/outdoor options. There are diverse small surrounding communities and services as well, offering indoor/outdoor shopping malls, Factory Outlet stores, movie theaters, Saturday farmers markets, fairs, trade shows, entertainers, parks, waterfalls, etc. Our property has a large, inclusive, friendly family feel to it which centers around the volunteers, staff, and animals, forestland and garden care here. It is a true sanctuary, quiet and unique, set apart from everything else.
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Help
5 hrs./day, 5 days/week; 2 days /week off, your choice of weekdays, but limit to one weekend day off included..
Since this is a non-profit Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries-Accredited "forever home" for senior therapy horses, Art, Nature and Gardens, most of the work here accomplished by committed volunteers, and involves mucking (cleaning up and dumping manure) from pastures, stalls and turnouts; replacing bedding; checking/cleaning/refilling water troughs; sweeping barns; dusting in barns, helping prepare bins of grain and supplements for each horse; feeding/stacking hay, helping water the arena and maintain it's footing and edges by cleaning/raking its footing; and grooming, moving and working/riding/driving horses (BASED ON EXPERIENCE ONLY). We do mostly groundwork; natural horsemanship; English, Western, Trail, and Combined Driving, to keep the horses conditioned and motivated to provide their services to humans who need them for emotional healing. Some coaching is provided for safety, but we are not a lesson or a boarding facility. Here, the horses come first! We have VERY SPECIFIC protocols in handling them, that we teach if/as needed to anyone approved to handle them. But there is lots to do here without working directly with horses. We have walking/riding trails and pastures to maintain. We have many little buildings vs. one big one, and garden, nature and art areas to also care for (flowers/vegetables/fruit/herbs, a greenhouse, small nut and apple/cherry/plum orchard, with all our produce available to everyone in season; a small pond, huge trees, trails through them, and an art studio. We encourage music and have a big Fall cider pressing event for volunteers and friends. It can rain a lot and sometimes snow in Winter, and we usually have rain showers in Fall & Spring but also GORGEOUS sunny days throughout the year. It's very GREEN, still considered a mild climate, but with Global Warming is experiencing more extremes than it used to. -
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
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Accommodation
We have a spacious, very private (under cover), 32' trailer for sleeping, shower and leisure time. We provide a common cooking, dining, bedroom with Queen bed and (2) very comfortable couches (1 is a double bed, the other a recliner) & generous storage area; a private vanity sink, shower. It has heat and A/C, runs on electric & gas power. SEWAGE IS NOT HOOKED UP, so a professionally serviced (clean) Porta Potty with an outdoor sink (cold water only) is provided 10 ft. away.
Sometimes a room in our home is available with an outside glass patio door, a Murphy (pull-down) Queen bed, and separate (shared) bathroom for showering, in a downstairs TV room. Laundry appliances are available. There is a communal shared Kitchen in a the nearby arts studio, that also offers comfortable furnishings, DVD Player & shelves of DVDs; desks, art space and internet. EVERYTHING MUST BE KEPT CLEAN and ALL FOOD STORED IN CONTAINERS, as we live in Nature. Groceries are reimbursed/provided (you choose your own, we buy). Workawayers prepare their own daily food and we generally provide a "welcome" meal so everyone living on property can meet each other. Our one-eyed Corgi, Daisy, is an enthusiastic greeter! -
What else ...
The Willamette Valley in Oregon is lush and agriculturally prolific, centrally located to the international airport (about 45 minutes away) in Portland, Oregon's largest city, and home of many beautiful State Parks and National Forests, including several mountain ranges featuring Mt. Hood (11,200+ ft.), a Cascade Mt. peak; Mt. St. Helens, an active volcano in nearby Washington state, that erupted in the 1980s and is now a National Park; and Crater Lake National Park, in southern Oregon; the Blue, Ochoco, Steens, Coast and southern range of mountains are all surrounded by tremendously varied agriculture including Christmas trees and seed grasses, fruit/nut orchards, vegetables, mint, corn, onions, potatoes, beans, many berries, flower bulbs, lawn grass, landscape nurseries, etc.. We are just 1-1/2 hrs. from the spectacularly rugged Oregon coastline; the Columbia River Gorge (gateway to Eastern Oregon and the famous wind surfing, the Pendleton rodeo & old Western mining and ghost towns). Central Oregon offers high desert (4000 ft. altitude) and many more Cascade volcanic mountains by highways with hundreds of clear lakes, rivers and streams. There are many unique museums featuring the area's Native American history and the geology of this volcanic area with craters, caves, lava, and obsidian flows. Southern Oregon features more volcanoes, orchards and the Shakespeare Festival. Oregon is famous for its endless recreation: fishing (ocean or fresh water); world class golf courses, brew pubs, skiing/snow shoeing/snowboarding/snomobiling, mountain biking, sailboarding, hiking, mountain and road biking; camping, whitewater river rafting, kayaking, waterskiing, horseback riding, exciting cuisine, and more! It rains a lot in winter in the Willamette Valley, with lovely Fall, Spring and Summer seasons that offer a variety of climates and conditions. Central Oregon is drier, and Eastern Oregon the most dry. It is a huge state. Public transportation is not always available, or easy to find/use, as there are vast expanses between cities in some areas. There are lots of museums, art galleries, and music festivals and our town does have mass transit into Portland but no way to the station without a ride, though Wilsonville does have a Taxi service and if they are going that way, someone from here will try to drive you.
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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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Space for parking camper vans
We have 1 extra power/water source and a clean, serviced, porta potty (NO SEWAGE HOOK-UP AVAILABLE). A campervan could work, 20-26' or smaller, by prior agreement and detail confirmation.
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How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
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My trip to this place was my first every Workaway experience. Not knowing what to expect (generally), I asked many questions via email, all of which Bonnie was eager to answer. Upon arrival, Bonnie ensured that my travel buddy and I were comfortable and fed. We were given the … read more
I stayed with Bonnie and Walt for two weeks in Wilsonville.
I stayed in a fully equipped RV on the property which gave me a lot of privacy and quiet. Though I wasn’t in the house with them and cooked my own food, I didn’t feel excluded at all and had time to get to … read more
I stayed here for a little more than a month, when I only planned to stay for a couple of weeks.
They allowed me to experience it all : I learnt a great deal about natural horsemanship and … read more
There was a lot to do, and fortunately a lot of great organization and systems set … read more
