Animal volunteering in Edinburgh? Horses to share/ride?

DreamOfNoReturn

DreamOfNoReturn

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So I'm currently in Edinburgh, studying my highers at school, and I am desperate for somewhere to volunteer.

I would absolutely love to work with dogs or horses, maybe cats, but really any animals are an option :3!

I adore animals so much, and I am hoping to have a career with them in the future, so I would really love it if I could find somewhere close to me that I could hopefully spend time with animals weekly!

I am really a hands on person, so it would be great if I could find somewhere that I could get stuck in either exercising the animals or even just helping to groom them or clean out etc. anything like that would be fantastic!

Also I am looking for a horse to either share or ride, or I am looking for someone who would just like help a couple times a week or something helping out with their horses. What I really want is just some horse contact of some kind. If a share is on offer I can provide a small financial contribution, but nothing huge!

Currently I have been riding about 5 years, but 2 of these I don't really count as proper riding because at the riding school I went to, I had a different instructor every time and I always did the exact same stuff, and I never learned how to do anything properly. It wasn't till I moved riding school 2 years after I had started riding that I was told your outside leg goes behind the girth to ask for the right lead in canter, and also that your trot diagonal follows the outside leg, before I was led to believe that you could rise in sync with any leg and it would be just dandy!

I can walk, trot, canter, hack and school to a small level and I can also jump relatively small. I am looking for a horse that can further my riding and hopefully also my jumping ability. The horse would have to be 14.2hh upwards and preferably a younger horse so that I can also help to possibly bring them on a bit more.

Any questions, just ask :), or feel free to PM me :).

Any help would be much appreciated :3.
 
DreamOfNoReturn said:
I can walk, trot, canter, hack and school to a small level and I can also jump relatively small. I am looking for a horse that can further my riding and hopefully also my jumping ability. The horse would have to be 14.2hh upwards and preferably a younger horse so that I can also help to possibly bring them on a bit more.
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It might be worth putting up a wanted ad in a local tack shop or somewhere like Preloved, but just a word of warning...from your description of your ability above I would be very careful about wording what you are looking for. You say you are looking for a horse that can further your riding yet in the next sentence say you want a young horse that you can help bring on - the two statements completely contradict each other so you need to be very clear about what you want, so many shares go wrong because the sharer isn't honest about their ability or the owner about the horse and I'd hate for you to put yourself or the horse into a dangerous position. Be absolutely honest about your abilities, what you want and what you could realistically cope with.

Personally if I were you I'd continue having riding lessons to improve your riding and maybe look to help out with a horse that just needs hacking out a couple of times a week. Volunteering is also a good idea, are there any local charity/rehoming centres near you that you could help with? Or how about the RDA (riding for the disabled) as they are always keen for helpers. On a non-horsey front maybe a dog centre would appreciate someone to come and help work the dogs etc.?
Hope you find something :)
 
There's not much up here I'm afraid, I've been looking for months after I stopped riding a PRE stallion, and I've only really found one horse suitable that I've still to look at...

Maybe look at volunteering for the RDA at either the Drum or Thronton Rose, wouldn't reccomend our local normal riding schools though.

Maybe stick an add on gumtree being honest about your experience and there might be someone willing to help you.

I'm looking for something to bring on and compete, even just to further its education and don't mind if owner takes back sole ride after a while and I'm really struggling!
 
I would contact animal charities/shelters to see if they need volunteers. I know the Lothian cat rescue place near Gorebridge needs volunteers.

With regard to horse share - be very clear about your abilities and experience. I would put together a wee advert about yourself showing some riding pictures and be very honest and specific what you can do and what sort of horse share you are looking for. Once you have done that then put that on gumtree and/or contacting a few RCs in the area and ask them to circulate your advert round their members as well as putting up in the normal tack/feed shops. I would suggest Drum feeds and Millers at Fordel were the best bet for that.
 
Princess Jess said:
It might be worth putting up a wanted ad in a local tack shop or somewhere like Preloved, but just a word of warning...from your description of your ability above I would be very careful about wording what you are looking for. You say you are looking for a horse that can further your riding yet in the next sentence say you want a young horse that you can help bring on - the two statements completely contradict each other so you need to be very clear about what you want

Personally if I were you I'd continue having riding lessons to improve your riding and maybe look to help out with a horse that just needs hacking out a couple of times a week. Volunteering is also a good idea, are there any local charity/rehoming centres near you that you could help with? Or how about the RDA (riding for the disabled) as they are always keen for helpers. On a non-horsey front maybe a dog centre would appreciate someone to come and help work the dogs etc.?
Hope you find something :)
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In my head they don't contradict each other :D, but now that I look at how I've written I see how it can be taken out of the context I meant it in :P. What I basically meant was a younger horse, not necessarily a youngster, that would prove a bit of a challenge to me and at the same time would further my riding by challenging me, if you get what I mean? I can't really think of a better way to word it. Yeah I think I'll continue getting lessons and even if I can only get a horse that needs hacking out a couple of times a week, it still means I am getting to ride :3. I used to help at an RDA but had to give it up, so I could maybe look at getting back into that as I am learning to drive this year :). I did find a greyhound rescue that I was going to help out with, but at the last minute I got an email saying I had to be 18 to help out, so I had to give that a miss. Thanks for the help!
 
Jenni_ said:
There's not much up here I'm afraid, I've been looking for months after I stopped riding a PRE stallion, and I've only really found one horse suitable that I've still to look at...

Maybe look at volunteering for the RDA at either the Drum or Thronton Rose, wouldn't reccomend our local normal riding schools though.

Maybe stick an add on gumtree being honest about your experience and there might be someone willing to help you.

I'm looking for something to bring on and compete, even just to further its education and don't mind if owner takes back sole ride after a while and I'm really struggling!
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I know that's what sucks so bad :(. Good luck looking at that horse! Hopefully it works out :3, it is just so difficult to find places. Yeah normal riding schools are a bit of a hassle, and I'll see about an RDA because I used to help out at one and had to give it up. Yeah I think I will, it's so difficult! I feel your pain, good luck in your search too :).
 
jnhuk said:
I would contact animal charities/shelters to see if they need volunteers. I know the Lothian cat rescue place near Gorebridge needs volunteers.

With regard to horse share - be very clear about your abilities and experience. I would put together a wee advert about yourself showing some riding pictures and be very honest and specific what you can do and what sort of horse share you are looking for. Once you have done that then put that on gumtree and/or contacting a few RCs in the area and ask them to circulate your advert round their members as well as putting up in the normal tack/feed shops. I would suggest Drum feeds and Millers at Fordel were the best bet for that.
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Ah Gorebridge might be a bit too far for me to go unfortunately. Thank you :).
 
numptynoelle said:
Have you tried Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home? They might be interested in a dog walker?
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I tried them a while ago and they weren't looking for volunteers, but it might be worth another shot to ask them :). Cheers for the suggestion I'm also going to ask my local vets if they wouldn't mind an extra hand around the place. My friend volunteers at two vet surgeries and she adores it, so I'm hoping I can do the same, fingers crossed!
 
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