At Spirit Winds Ranch, we believe each volunteer contributes greatly, no matter how small the job may seem. We wouldn’t be able to run our programs without their help. Volunteering can be very fulfilling experience and is a terrific opportunity to meet like-minded people and develop new skills.
Program Volunteers: Our group and school program volunteers oversee and support participants (at risk youth and other marginalized groups) in our programs. Each volunteer goes through training [provided by us] and requires a police check before starting. In addition to working with participants, other tasks may include leading horses, grooming horses, setting up obstacles. This position does require teamwork and working in groups. *Please note: we are a non riding facility and our focus is on groundwork.
General volunteers: General Volunteers (aka: Ranch Helpers) often work behind the scenes and usually don’t work with the horses directly; they contribute their time and expertise to tasks that are frequently overlooked, but are crucial in the operation of our programs and ranch. A few examples of tasks that we sometimes need help with are: gardening, simple repairs, barn clean-up, proofreading, media creation, and even crafts (for our graduation events).
Professional Maintenance Volunteers: There’s lots of projects that need doing around the ranch that require professionals. Help from professional carpenters, painters, and electricians is always appreciated!
Main Requirements:
- A love for horses, nature, and helping your community
- Okay with having a police check done
- Have an open mind and a willingness to learn
Horse program volunteer requirements:
- Must 18 years or older
- Ability to work well with others in a team environment
- Note: Our programs are almost always held on weekdays
General volunteer requirements:
- Must 18 years or older
- Youth volunteers 16-17 years old are permitted to volunteer with parental/guardian consent.
Volunteer Appreciation
Our dedicated volunteers a lot of effort in to help our ranch and programs run! We wholeheartedly appreciate their commitment and tireless work, and thus, we have dedicated this section to showcase our gratitude towards each of our volunteers. We also extend a warm invitation to anyone interested in becoming a volunteer. Join us in this enthusiastic and dedicated group of individuals by reaching out and signing up today!
We would like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of our volunteers for all for their hard work and contributions to help make the ranch what it is.
Alvin – Arnold – Beth – Christie – Cindy – Corinne – Dawn – Denise – Geth – Ester – Jane – Kelly – Kerri – Lesley – Lucie – Marlene – Muriel – Norma – Penny – Pip – Sarah – Sheila – Susan – Vickie
“What I like the most about being here is that we can provide an hour of calm for visitors to step away from whatever is going on in their worlds. I came in with my own mental and emotional stuff, and being able to connect and work with the horses is just priceless.” Kerri
I’ve always loved horses, and having this new understanding of them was quite a new channel for me. It is very rewarding and interesting to see visitors come fairly unsure and then find their way to connect with the horses and blossom.” Penny
“It’s been an incredible journey working with Laurel, the horses, and the children who come and benefit from this amazing project. It also gave me another way of looking at horses and what we can do with them in a more friendly approach.” Sue
“One gift of the Natural Horsemanship is to learn what “horsenalities” I have in my herd.
Every horse, volunteer and visitor has their horsenalities, these are very revealing and can teach us a lot about ourselves. I’m very grateful and humbled for the volunteers and their work because, without them, none of this would be possible. ” Laurel