Volunteering

Today was my first day volunteering at RideOn, a therapeutic riding facility. Last Saturday I went through the 3-hour volunteer training session then volunteered for real today. Mostly the staff turned me loose with getting the horses ready because it was clear that I had groomed and saddled horsees before. My only questions were about the location of things if they weren’t on their own hooks.

My favorite horse so far is a Norwegian Fjord mare named Berit. I can’t say what I like best about her — she’s soft and very hairy (shedding season), generally well behaved. But so are the rest of the horses. Another mare I took a liking to was a small sorrel, named Roxie. She worked in a lot of lessons today but never got grumpy.

Because I spent so much time getting horses ready, I didn’t get to interact with the staff nor the riders very much. I did help in one lesson though. A woman who has trouble with her legs and is riding to strengthen her legs rode Roxie toward the end of my shift. I helped “sidewalk”, which means that I walk along beside the horse with my forearm across the thigh of the rider. My hand grasps the knee rolls of the saddle. Another person sidewalks on the other side and yet another leads the horse. With the instructor, there are a total of four people for one rider. This, of course, insures absolute safety for the rider and the horse.

At the end of the day, I felt I had worked hard and my efforts were appreciated. I was invited to volunteer more frequently than my reqular Thursday afternoon time. I just might. This kind of work is good for my soul.