OUR FACILITY IS CLOSED TO VOLUNTEERS ON SUNDAYS
We sincerely appreciate your interest in assisting Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue. Our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to care for the RVHR herd each day. Feeding, providing water, distributing hay, and cleaning up after these horses is a time-consuming process.
Our volunteers dedicate one to two days a week to help meet the horses’ needs. We have committed volunteers who not only assist the staff with daily horse care but also help retrain many of the horses.
We believe it is essential for each horse to have human caretakers they can get to know, rely on, and trust. To ensure this happens for our herd, we encourage you to consider whether you can spend one to two days a week at the rescue facility before applying.
Without trust, there may be little hope for some of these horses. Our herd includes many horses that have not been cared for or handled in years, which can make them dangerous. As a volunteer, you will be required to learn our daily routine for caring for each horse, including which horse receives specific feed and the type of hay they are allowed to eat. Not knowing the basics can cause the death of a horse in our care. Additionally, it is important to identify and understand which horses may pose a danger to your safety.
All new volunteers are paired with an experienced staff member or another knowledgeable volunteer. We want everyone interested in volunteering to know before filling out our Volunteer application that Volunteers are not permitted to groom or work with any horses unless a staff member has approved the volunteer’s familiarity with each horse in our care.
Once a staff member approves, another volunteer or staff member must always be present on-site to provide supervision. This policy is in place for everyone’s safety.