Volunteer Activities

In order to help us provide the best possible care for the horses on the ranch, and to bond with our 4 legged families, you will assist with a number of day to day activities (Monday to Friday) involving the care of all the animals. Being part of the ranch in this way will really immerse you in the Peruvian way of ranch life and make you feel part of the team. We expect enthusiasm, initiative, responsibility and some independence of the volunteers in their tasks at the Ranch.

Horse (and other animal) Management

• Feeding the horses in the mornings and afternoons. In the mornings you also feed the dogs, cats, chickens, ducks and guinea pigs.
• Raking, cleaning & watering the yard around the horse stables.
• Showering and grooming the horses.
• Saddling and unsaddling the horses before and after every ride.
• Natural horsemanship training, from the ground and in the saddle.
• Assisting the equine therapy for children with special needs.
• Hoof care and assisting the farrier.
• Sometimes: sweeping the balcony where the cats live and cleaning the cat litters and guinea pigs cages (usually this is done by local workers).
• Sometimes: stocking up hay bales or mucking out some stables (usually this is done by local workers).
• Track maintenance and cleaning.

In the Saddle

The riding is varied and can change from day to day, but you will generally do a 2, 4 and 6-7 hour ride each week between Monday and Friday. Sometimes you will join and help with the tourist rides, and other times we ride just with the volunteers to keep the horses fit and active. During your stay you can get involved in the following riding activities:

• 2 hour horseback rides: Enjoy rides along the Urubamba River banks; we cross the wooden bridge over the river on horseback, see ancient Inca tombs, natural rock formations and we pass some quaint little towns.
• 4 hour horseback rides: We cross wooden bridges over the river on horseback and ride along the water’s edge where you can spot cormorants, kingfishers and ibis. We pass an ancient pre-Inca town and end up on a wide grass field down the mountain where cows and sheep are peacefully grazing. Or we go up the mountains around the ranch and have a beautiful view over the sacred valley and its quaint little towns.
• Full day horseback rides: These are amazing tours where we ride high up in the mountains. Some days we will ride along a narrow path to the radiant Salt Flats where local people are still mining salt from ground. You have the possibility to eat in a local restaurant and try the Peruvian cuisine on the way, from where we continue riding to an amazing viewpoint over the Snowy Mountains and the Moray circular grow complex of the Inca times where you can usually spot hawks and eagles as well.
  Other days we explore more hidden gems of the Sacred Valley off the beaten track, going up-mountain while crossing a beautiful old forest and crossing through rivers on horseback. Arriving at an amazing lake oasis with big rocks nestled amid the trees and towering mountains, where we will eat a self-prepared picnic-lunch. We continue to a beautiful humming-bird reserve where you can sit down and peacefully observe these very special little creatures in their natural habitat.
  Sometimes we do a ride along the river banks and head up into the mountains by the old Inca Trail. We arrive at an amazing viewpoint over the ancient and touristic town of Ollantaytambo, it’s stretched out fields, the river down of you and the Snowy Mountains to your other side. From there you can do a hike to the ancient stone quarry of which the town in front was built.
• Other days we explore more hidden gems of the Sacred Valley off the beaten track, going up-mountain while crossing a beautiful old forest and crossing through rivers on horseback. Arriving at an amazing lake oasis with big rocks nestled amid the trees and towering mountains, where we will eat a self-prepared picnic-lunch. We continue to a beautiful humming-bird reserve where you can sit down and peacefully observe these very special little creatures in their natural habitat.
• Sometimes we do a ride along the river banks and head up into the mountains by the old Inca Trail. We arrive at an amazing viewpoint over the ancient and touristic town of Ollantaytambo, it’s stretched out fields, the river down of you and the Snowy Mountains to your other side. From there you can do a hike to the ancient stone quarry of which the town in front was built.
• If there is a multi-day ride planned with tourists somewhere during your stay, you are lucky having the possibility to join this ride by paying only 50% of the normal price.
• Natural horsemanship training to familiarise the horses with various aspects of their work. During the rides you mainly ride or pony a horse that needs training to get to know the trails or how to cross water, bridges or meet certain other challenges. We train in a positive manner, encouraging confidence and happiness in our horses.