Steady hands, on a schedule
We need people who can help build the organization and people who can help do the work. Every role is unpaid, including our board seats. Pick the one that fits you.
Volunteer shifts follow the routine the horses already keep.
Real work, a quiet barn, and horses that ask you to be present
Learn horsemanship and animal care skills
Be part of a supportive, purpose-driven team
Help shape how the programs run from the start
Put professional expertise toward something that matters
Spend unhurried time with horses in a beautiful setting
What we provide: training and orientation, clear expectations, ongoing support, and a meaningful community.
Choose your track
Each track has its own page and application, so you apply for the specific thing you want to help with.
Board of directors
Time: Four to six hours a month
Age: Adult
Checks and training: Background and reference check; conflict of interest policy signed every year
Where: Meetings, plus one committee
Govern Saved by the Saddle. Set strategy, approve the budget, oversee leadership, adopt policy, and make sure we meet our legal and reporting obligations. This is not a ceremonial seat. Good fit if you have nonprofit governance or 501(c)(3) compliance experience; accounting, audit or CFO-level oversight; nonprofit or equine law, or fundraising; or a veteran services, youth services or equine welfare background.
Skilled professional volunteer
Time: Flexible, defined by the project
Age: Adult
Checks and training: Volunteer and confidentiality agreements
Where: Mostly remote
Give us your skill rather than your Saturdays. Pro bono work in your area of expertise, on your own schedule, with no board obligation. No horse experience needed. Legal, financial, structure and operations, and administration.
Program volunteer
Time: One shift a week, two to three hours, for a full eight to twelve week session
Age: 16 or older; 16 and 17 with a parent or guardian consent form, always alongside an adult volunteer
Checks and training: Live Scan background check, mandated reporter training, orientation
Where: At the barn, with participants
Be at the barn for Heroes and Horses and for Mavericks: the veterans, the young people and the horses. Support groundwork sessions, mentor, and help people feel welcome on a day that intimidates them. You do not need to be a rider.
Horse care volunteer
Time: One shift a week, three to four hours
Age: 18 or older to work independently; 16 and 17 with a parent or guardian consent form, under direct adult supervision
Checks and training: Live Scan background check, mandated reporter training, orientation
Where: At the barn, with the horses
Care for the horses directly: feeding, mucking, turnout, grooming, tack and health monitoring. If you would rather muck a stall in the quiet of the morning than stand in front of a group, this is your track. Weekend and holiday coverage is our hardest need.
Not sure which one?
If you want a vote and a fiduciary role, that is the board. If you want to do work in your profession without joining the board, that is skilled professional. If you want to be with the participants, that is program. If you want to be with the horses, that is horse care. Still unsure? Email [email protected] and we will help you find the right fit.
How to get started
Program and horse care volunteers follow these steps. Board and skilled professional applicants go through a different process, described on their own pages.
1. Choose your track
Pick the track that fits you and send that application.
2. Screening survey
We email you a short screening survey, about five minutes, in place of a phone call.
3. Onboarding meeting
A relaxed group meeting at the barn on the third Wednesday of each month, 9:00 to 10:30 AM. Meet the team and the horses and hear how the program works. Ages 16 and 17 are welcome with a parent or guardian.
4. Paperwork, waiver and Live Scan
A short online form: emergency contact, any medical or allergy notes, and our code of conduct and safety policies (ages 16 and 17 add a parent or guardian, and we send them the consent form). Then sign the volunteer waiver online and complete a Live Scan fingerprint background check through the California Department of Justice, as required by Penal Code section 11105.3. We cover the cost.
5. Orientation, training and your first shift
A hands-on session at the barn on the first Wednesday of every month, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, or the fourth Saturday, 1:00 to 4:00 PM: safety protocols and horse handling basics. Then complete track-specific training and shadow an experienced volunteer before your first shift on your own. Everyone in a regular role also completes California mandated reporter training, which we provide free. After that, you begin your regular shifts.
Next volunteer orientations
The last step before a first shift for program and horse care volunteers, after the onboarding meeting, paperwork, waiver and Live Scan. We email you the booking link when you reach it. Twelve places per session.
How the morning runs
9:00 Coffee, introductions, and what Saved by the Saddle is building
9:30 Safety: the rules that exist because someone got hurt
10:00 Barn walkthrough and meeting the herd
10:45 Hands on a horse: haltering, leading, tying and grooming
11:30 Questions, and scheduling your first shift
12:00 Done
New to us? Start with an application. Your first visit is the onboarding meeting at the barn, on the third Wednesday of each month, 9:00 to 10:30 AM.
Orientation dates: Wed 2 Dec 2026; Wed 6 Jan, Wed 3 Feb 2027, then the first Wednesday of each month through Wed 1 Sep 2027. No Wednesday orientation in November. Saturday orientations, 1:00 to 4:00 PM: Sat 21 Nov, Sat 19 Dec 2026, then the fourth Saturday of each month from Sat 27 Feb through Sat 25 Sep 2027. No Saturday orientation in January.
Board information evening
Meet the people building Saved by the Saddle before you decide. Coming is not applying.
The fourth Saturday of each month (next: Saturday, November 21, then December 19; none in January), 4:00 to 6:00 PM, at the barn. Hosted by Karl Watson, Co-Founder and CEO, with co-founder Zachary Leyden and CFO Tony Kasaris. Small on purpose, so it stays a conversation.
We will cover why Saved by the Saddle exists; where we actually are (501(c)(3) determination in hand, registered with the California Attorney General's Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, programs running since October 2026); the finances as they stand, told straight; what a director is responsible for; the committees we need first; and how appointment works.
Ready to help?
Whichever track you choose, we ask for consistency. Showing up on a schedule is what lets the horses settle with you and lets us plan.
Help build it properly.
Gifts fund free sessions, the training and safety work behind them, and the groundwork for a rescue program done right.
Healing horses. Healing people. Creating second chances.
2152 Olympic Way
Daly City, CA 94015
Saved by the Saddle is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation organized for charitable and educational purposes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN 41-3846131. It is a separate legal entity from Ocean View Stables, a privately owned business, and operates at Ocean View Stables under a written facilities agreement. Donations to Saved by the Saddle fund its charitable programs only and are not used to support or improve the private business.
Photographs show Ocean View Stables in Daly City and the horses that live there.
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