THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

What.You.Can.Do|How.To.Get.Started|Volunteer's.Essay

Please Note
ERL Volunteers must be at least 18 years old.

What You Can Do
Do you have a specific talent that could help keep Churchland Farm a safe and attractive haven for horses in need of the Equine Rescue League's services? Would you like to volunteer some time at the ERL, but aren't sure you can handle a horse?

The ERL needs volunteers to help with a wide range of projects that can give you a feel for the farm without doing anything you feel unsure of. In addition to helping with the horses themselves, you can:

* Rake the main yard * Maintain flower beds * Write thank you notes * Clean
tack * Clean feed and water tubs * Design educational posters * Keep the office tidy * Organize (okay, clean) feed and tack room * Staff information and pony ride booths at local events * Photograph horses for the "For Adoption" album (and this website!) * Muck and bed empty stalls * Repair fence, barns, plumbing, equipment, etc. * Donate an item to Open House fundraisers *

Of course, if you are experienced with horses, we can always use help with feeding and grooming chores. Let us know what YOU are good at! Call us at (703) 771-1240.

If you are scrubbing water tanks, be ready to answer to Evantine, ERL's Chief Inspector!

How To Get Started
If you would like to help ERL care for needy horses, the first step is to call the office at (703) 771-1240 to schedule your first visit. We will arrange for you to work with a staff member or veteran volunteer until you learn how things work.

Once you have had your "orientation" visit, it is entirely up to you when and how often you come to help. All we ask is that you call ahead and let us know when you can come, so we can schedule the day's work load according to how much help will be available. Many people choose to come on the same day each week. Others just come when they can!

Morning feeding begins at 8 AM every day (the horses don't know the meaning of the phrase "day off"!) Once everybody's bellies are full, there is a variety of tasks to take care of from mucking stalls to writing "Thank You" notes to assisting the farrier. Every day is a little different. The day ends like it began - feed time again at at 4 PM!

Horse care experience is not necessary to become an ERL volunteer. You will never be asked to do anything you feel uncomfortable with. As you learn more about horses, you can tackle more jobs if you feel up to them. No question is "stupid"... the more you ask, the more you learn.

Think you'd like to help?
Call us!
(703) 771-1240

"The Horse-Love Virus" - A Volunteer's Essay
by Cristina S.

I've been a volunteer at the Equine Rescue League for at least six years now - maybe even as long as seven or eight. The passage of time has kind of blurred the memory of when I started. It has not, however, faded my first impressions of the ERL. I remember it very clearly; I was attending the Washington International Horse Show, and while walking among the vendor's booths, I found the ERL information stand.

If you were to ask me, I would not be able to tell you who was there - maybe it was Pat, or Cheryl, or one of the volunteers. What I do recall is the pathetically skinny horse named Bitsy, her sad eyes regarding me from the front of the brochure. My membership check was in the mail a few weeks later.

That was in October. It was January before I made my first visit to Churchland Farm. Strangely enough, my mother and I made the trip up there to adopt a dog, not a horse. Pat gave us the grand tour, which included an introduction to some of their newest arrivals; two very thin appaloosas (Apache Rose and Looking Glass) and an older buckskin mare (Mary). I believe that was the day I decided I wanted to come back to the ERL as a volunteer.

Unfortunately, wanting to come back, and being able to come back were two completely different matters. I was a retail jewelry store manager at the time, and I worked all days, and all hours. My schedule was extremely sporadic - my life as a volunteer started with coming out for the Open Houses only. It was a couple of years later that I found a 9-5 government job, which freed up my weekends and allowed me to get to the farm on a regular basis.

A Volunteer's Reward Monty waiting at the fence for his visit from Cristina.

What an experience it has been! I have seen so much over the years… I've been to horse auctions and horse shows. I have walked countless miles in a circle, giving pony rides at the fairs. I've sold T-shirts, baked goods, and used tack at the Open Houses. I've helped staff the information booth at equine events. I've tossed hay bales, filled water buckets, and mucked out stalls. I've swatted flies, and detached ticks. I've been to the farm on summer days so hot it felt like my eyes were melting. I've been there on days so cold that long underwear, jeans, two pairs of socks, insulated boots, two extra shirts, a turtleneck, gloves with liners, and a heavy coat still weren't enough to keep out the chill. I've rejoiced watching neglected animals become fat, shiny and happy again. I've cried after saying good-bye to those brave hearts whose broken and battered bodies just didn't have enough strength left to make a comeback.

People I know always ask me - why do you go through all this? I have a theory about that. I have always said that the true Love of horses is a virus. It is something undeniable in your blood, that won't go away with the onset of puberty, the purchase of a car, the start of a new job, marriage, pregnancy, or any other "life altering" event. What other reason could there be that causes normal, sane people to make such an intense physical, mental, monetary, and emotional commitment to their hooved friends?

Throughout my many years at ERL, I've showed several new volunteers around the place. They all ask pretty much the same questions. Is life as a volunteer glamorous? Maybe once in a while, at a show, but the rest of the time, no. Is it easy? Not hardly. Is it a lot of hard work? Oh, my aching back, is it ever! Is it fun? Yes, it really is. Is it rewarding? If you have the horse-love virus, it is incredibly rewarding.

Inevitably, they ask, "When do we get to ride?" The answer is, we don't ride. Their reactions always tell me if they are infected with the horse-love virus or not. Sure, it would be great if we could saddle up the horses and take all the volunteers on a trail ride, but the ERL simply is not that type of place. It has always been a rescue and rehab organization, not a weekend pleasure farm. I've seen a lot of people leave in a huff because they think they deserve to ride. When that happens I always wonder two things: 1) Do they truly have the horse-love virus and 2) Do they truly understand what the definition of "being a volunteer" is.

Then there are the REAL volunteers, the people who are there every free day they get. They use their sick leave when they catch ERL-itis, and show up when it's hot, cold, muggy, buggy, rainy, muddy, or whatever. These folks show up at the farm and beg for something to do, no matter how dirty, stinky, or filled with donkey poop the task may be. This core group is so infected with the horse-love virus they are terminal. It's to this group I dedicate my essay and my best wishes. I've been where you are; I've dragged the manure skip through the same stalls you have.

Finally, my best wishes and my love to Pat and Cheryl Rogers. If ever people could be a carrier of the horse-love virus, it is these two. God Bless the ERL - long may it continue to make a difference.

Please Note
ERL Volunteers must be at least 18 years old.