There is no such thing as a typical day, but below are some activities which you will almost certainly be involved with during your stay:

Horse management and general equine care:

• Feeding, grooming and health checks.
  
• Maintenance and cleaning of tack and stables.
  

Anti-poaching support:

• Ensure the conservancy is a safe and secure environment through regular and extensive horse patrols.
  
• Undertake moonlight patrols and camp-outs (depending on the season and weather).
  
• Assist with the communication of conservation messages to local children.
  
• Learn from the K9 Anti-Poaching team and meet the project's anti-poaching dogs.

Game park work:

• Provide daily assistance to the Game Park Manager to ensure the effective running of the reserve.
  
• Assist in horseback game counts and animal welfare monitoring.
  
• Locate and assess specific herds around the game park.
  

Cattle ranching (seasonal):

• Monitor the welfare of the cattle herd and move cattle to different sections of the reserve.
  
• Work with the Cattle Team to conduct health inspections.
  
• Patrol the park to find lost cattle and check for new calves.
  
• Assist with cattle counts and dipping (dependent on the dipping schedule).
  

Endangered species conservation work:

This part of the programme is not always done on horseback

• Observe social interactions and monitor the behaviour of the black and white rhino and elephants.
  
• Learn to track collared rhino using telemetry.
• Maintain and clean out elephant beds.
  
• Carry out research projects and data collection on their feeding behaviour and movements.
  

A Day in the Life

Horse riding volunteers will usually get up around 6.00 - 6.30am to get started before the day heats up.

Have breakfast and pack your water bottle and a packed lunch; feed and groom the horses and head out into the game park to locate the sable and blesbok antelope. Count the size and composition of the herd, assess the condition and number of any babies and check the health of mothers.

Locate one of the baby giraffes and check the health and location of baby and mother.

After a packed lunch and a short rest, sitting under the shade of the msasa trees, or on top of one of the viewpoints, get back onto your horse and head to one of the far-flung areas of the park, checking for snares, fence damage and evidence of fires or traps. Make your reports to the Game Park Manager who may task you with fixing any broken areas or repairing fireguards.

Then its time to drop the horses off, feed and groom, before heading back to the volunteer house for an evening swim to cool off before a much needed and hearty dinner!