Volunteer opportunities

Join our family and become a Heartland Volunteer!

Each week, Heartland benefits from the generosity of over 150 volunteers. Without the collective dedication of our volunteers, Heartland simply wouldn’t exist! Our volunteer team includes students 14 years old to retirees – who come together to share their skills, talents and energy for the common purpose to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities.

Volunteer Application

Qualifications

Volunteers must be 14 years of age.
Be able to lift 25 pounds.
Be able to walk and jog periodically on uneven ground during a one hour class.
Must have adequate vision and hearing to assist rider.
Horse experience is helpful, but not required.
Experience working with individuals with disabilities is helpful, but not required.
Attendance at an orientation an training prior to participating.

Volunteer positions

Sidewalker

Sidewalkers support the rider by walking beside the horse and offering assistance and/or stability to the rider according to the instructor’s directions. As a sidewalker, you observe and interact with the rider and serve as an extra set of eyes and ears for the instructor. You are paramount in keeping riders safe and engaged in the lesson.

Horse Leader

A leader is connected to and helps control the horse and/or assists the rider in controlling the horse during class. The leader is focused on the horse to ensure the safety of the rider. This volunteer needs to have experience handling horses and must attend our Leader Training class.

Class Assistant

Prepares horses for classes and assists with the general care of our horses. This role includes grooming, tacking, and leading horses and may require substituting for a leader or sidewalker. This volunteer needs to have experience handling horses and must attend our Barn Training class.

Barn Assistant

Barn assistants help to clean stalls, fill water buckets, sweep floors, set the arena and get HTR ready for the day. These volunteers must be ready to work hard and get dirty!

Group Projects

We welcome individual or group service projects at Heartland. We will work with you to tailor a project to fit your skills, talent and time frame. Service projects can be wonderful team building project for scouts, 4-H groups, schools, employee groups, civic clubs, sororities/fraternities, and churches. Please note that volunteers must be 14 years of age.

If you are unfamiliar with our program, please contact us at info@htrmail.org to schedule a tour. This will give you an opportunity to get to know us and get a sense of what it’s like to volunteer at Heartland. Once you’ve decided you’d like to volunteer, please complete a volunteer application. When a a training becomes available, you will be contacted via email to enroll.