Over the weekend, I joined my mom group to do the volunteer work with our elementary school children at Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund, a local non-profit organization that work to the rescue and rehabilitation of horse and equine suffering from abuse and to the successful retirement of working horses and equine.
We were greeted by Ms. Deb who is a field trip coordinator who is a volunteer staff there. She gave us a quick orientation on what to expect and then we were off to tour the property.
We learned many new things about horses like what term do we use to call horses with multi-color (paint) and what we call their mark on their forehead (star). We met up with the regular residents there who were more than happy to greet us.
There are different area within the property for different types of horse. Mr. Z was so excited to meet horses that are smaller in size. It was wild to be able to walk up to them and touch these gentle souls. Remember, NEVER walk behind the horse!
A larger area is for bigger horses who need more space to exercise. We also learned a lot about how each horse came to the rescue.
After the tour, we then got to work. Since our kids were pretty young comparing to their typical volunteers. Ms. Deb gave us an easy task to help grooming two of their ponies. The kids did a great job!
Afterward, we were rewarded by a surprise treat. Mr. Z tried so hard to make him run. :) But he was a really good horse and didn’t even move a bit with many kids on his back.
It was a great experience and one that we would love to repeat again in the future.
If you would love to volunteer or plan a field trip, you can check out their website and contact them.
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I have been looking at volunteering projects for adults and kids. Did the adults have something else to do while the kids were grooming?
I have worked with special needs and medically fragile children at the dept of education for eight years. I am now retired and can volunteer to help with the children while they ride on the horses. It would be my pleasure.
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