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Open nowWeekends and holidays most needed

Horse care volunteer

For people who want to help the horses directly and are happy doing the physical, daily, unglamorous work that keeps them healthy. If you would rather muck a stall in the quiet of the morning than stand in front of a group, this is your track.

Time: one shift a week minimum, three to four hours
Shifts: mornings and evenings, seven days a week
Age: 18 or older to work independently; 16 and 17 with a parent or guardian consent form, under direct adult supervision
Hardest need: weekends and holidays

A volunteer in a purple shirt mucks out a stall with a rake beside an orange wheelbarrow

The horses come first

The horses do the hardest job in the program. Keeping them sound, fed and content is what makes everything else possible. The work happens at Ocean View Stables in Daly City, always under staff guidance, and barn work does not pause for holidays or weather.

What you would do

  • Daily care: feeding, watering, hay, and checking each horse over

  • Stalls and turnout: mucking, bedding, bringing horses in and out

  • Grooming: brushing, bathing, mane and tail care, hoof picking

  • Health support: watching for injury, lameness or changes in behavior, and assisting the farrier and vet during visits

  • Tack and equipment: cleaning and maintaining saddles, bridles, pads and blankets

  • Barn and property upkeep: fencing, water troughs, arena footing, general maintenance

Time and requirements

  • One shift a week minimum, three to four hours

  • Morning and evening shifts, seven days a week; weekend and holiday coverage is our hardest need

  • 18 or older for independent barn work; ages 16 and 17 welcome under direct adult supervision

  • Some horse experience preferred but not required

  • Able to lift 50 pounds and work outdoors in heat, cold and rain

  • Closed-toe boots required, no exceptions

  • Live Scan background check; we cover the cost

Training we provide

Barn safety and horse behavior basics; safe haltering, leading and tying; feeding protocols, and why each horse's ration is specific to that horse; recognizing signs of colic, lameness and distress; emergency procedures including fire and a loose horse.

We will train someone willing to learn and willing to follow instructions exactly. Around horses, the rules exist because someone got hurt.

After you apply

You get a confirmation email with the next volunteer orientation dates, and someone from the founding team will call you to arrange a barn visit and orientation before your first shift.

Apply for horse care

Why this role, the background or experience you would bring, and the days and times you are usually free.
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Every role here is unpaid, including the board seats.

Help build it properly.

Gifts fund free sessions, the training and safety work behind them, and the groundwork for a rescue program done right.

The green bluff above the Pacific beside Ocean View Stables in Daly City