Riding Beyond Volunteer Jobs

Here are jobs where you might consider helping at Riding Beyond,  most of them requiring an average of about 2 hours per week, more for those actually helping hands-on with the horses. All volunteers must attend a day long volunteer training and horse handlers must commit to weekly training throughout the year as needed. People work in teams of 2 or more:

HANDS ON

The hands-on jobs include working as sidewalkers and horse leaders, committing to a minimum of a session of four meetings with two riders, starting at 1pm and finishing by 4:30 pm on four afternoons, either Tuesday or Wednesday. (We move to mornings in September.) We also conduct Saturday group sessions 9am – 2 pm, May through September, once a month. See the dates for sessions HERE. Horse handlers are required to attend ongoing horse handling sessions outside of participant sessions.

Maybe you want to help with snacks, music, and the other nitty gritty, which involves less time commitment.

Additionally, our horses benefit from regular exercise by volunteers with advanced horse experience who can attend regular horse handler training and spend about an hour or so a week doing ground work at the ranch where the horses live.

BEHIND THE SCENES

To ensure the future success of the program, we take the winter months to build the Behind The Scenes structure of Riding Beyond.  This breaks down into five main areas where volunteers can help:

CLIENT FINDER/STRATEGIC PARTNER IN THE MEDICAL WORLD

Alongside the continued spreading of information to those supporting breast cancer survivors/thrivers, we need  strategic partners who will be responsible for marketing and sending clients to Riding Beyond.  We offer a 2-4 hour experience for those interested in taking this role, a hands-on time with Mystic and Journey to understand Riding Beyond first-hand, periodically scheduled throughout the year.

PUBLIC AWARENESS

We need a few folks willing and capable to take charge of our PR campaign: schedule presentations, radio, newspaper, tv coverage, distribute posters, and utilize internet resources.

FUNDING

We need someone(s) with funding experience who can oversee and manage the funding and especially cultivate individual donors.  This will eventually be a paid job.  It requires developing contacts with individuals and organizations on a regular basis, keeping records of contacts and their status, and generally becoming an advocate for Riding Beyond with people across the Rogue Valley and beyond.

A grant writer can help write grants now that we qualify with various funding sources, having been delivering services for over 4 years and attaining 501(c)3 nonprofit organization status.

We do a crowd funding campaign, with the idea that a group can spread the intensive work that is required for about 8 weeks to have a successful campaign. Additionally, we have a Salon event and are developing an Ashland merchant campaign for October Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Starting in 2017 we have a late January Film Festival which includes a silent auction.

MORE HORSES

The program is seeking other horses to be made available by their owners for Riding Beyond one morning a week March through September in the Ashland area.   Horses need to be about 14.2 hands, with strong backs, and a calm disposition in a variety of settings. Owners will be trained in how to prepare their horses for this work.  Contact us for more information.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

We constantly engage in creating the structure of the organization and who will do what.  Someone in the role of a part time executive director would be very helpful.

Riding Beyond sessions are conducted under the highest safety standards, by a PATH International certified therapeutic riding instructor and certified equine specialist, attending to the well-being of all people and horses involved in Riding Beyond.