HELP WANTED!!

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- We are seeking an experienced horse person -

Click here to contact us!

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FEEDERS

We are always looking for assistance in feeding, morning or evening (or both, especially on camping weekends...).  

Please inquire: upsanddownsacres@gmail.com


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SKILLED RIDERS
always welcomed and needed
to work with rescued horses...

(free lease available)

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We are in Need of Volunteers ~ 
We are very short staffed.
  
We would love to have some volunteers to help us clean stalls, help with morning feedings, and other chores around the barn, like:

  - cleaning and filling water tanks
  - keeping hay nets filled for free-choice grazing
  - morning or evening feedings on weekends
  - putting on or taking off blankets (or fly masks in spring/summer)
  - mowing the pastures
  - fence repair and maintenance, and
  - well, let's face it, more manure management tasks.  

If you love horses -- or even if you have never been around horses in your life -- we can teach you how to handle a horse, and teach you how to accomplish each of your volunteer goals (whether it's mucking stalls or very interactive feeding time with horses).  

Please email to let us know your interest and availability. We would love to meet you!


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But this all seems like so much work...
     It is!  But it is SO rewarding!!

   Wondering how can YOU help??

Caring for the horses is a full-time job, just like farming:  
  • The horses must be fed, so it's hard to get away on weekends... 
  • The horses injure themselves, so we must always inspect them and be on the lookout for cuts, injuries, and lameness...
  • The horses love to damage fencing and find dangerous things (like tree branches) to scratch themselves on in the fields...
  • There are *a lot* of thankless tasks to do at a horse facility, like cleaning the stalls, water buckets, errands running for feed, holding the horses for farrier, vet, and dentist...
All of these are things that we would LOVE help with...

You can volunteer your time:
  • clean stalls   
  • clean tack 
  • put on blankets at night/take blankets off in the mornings
  • put hay out in the mornings
  • build a shelter
  • install (or repair) pasture fencing
  • paint wood fencing/posts
  • install and/or donate a round pen 
  • build (or donate) a tack and feed shed
  • help us make hay for the winter season

You can make a donation: 
  • You can make donations by cash or check!  (here is the link for PayPal!)
  • You can donate feed.  
  • You can donate tack and other supplies. 
  • You can help us write grants for additional funding.
Sometimes you just  CAN'T make the time commitment...
But sometimes you CAN make the monetary commitment to the horses. 

We would LOVE and so appreciate any donations you can provide, whether that is the cost of your morning latte coffee you will skip today (which would pay for one day of supplements for 1 horse), or if you can give much more, it's up to you.

Either way, THANK YOU so much for your help!
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED as SUMMER APPROACHES...
We need volunteers for all sorts of activities on the farm: 
 Like what? 
~ pulling noxious weeds from the hay field,
  ~ soaking hay for a horse that has food /sugar restrictions, 
 ~ cleaning up manure piles from the riding ring, 
  ~ putting on fly masks (seasonal), etc.
~~ helping us make and bring in hay
~~ Pasture maintenance (mowing, overseeding)
~~ Fence repair and maintenance

  ANYTHING YOU CAN DO to help would be greatly appreciated, and  DOES NOT necessarily require special horse knowledge...! 

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UPCOMING / NEEDS:
  - Upcoming throughout 2025:  
      -  NEEDS: 
         1)  Fertilize!!!  The Hay fields haven't been fertilized in a few years...   
         2)  Shelter: We need to build another shelter, AND
         3)  a new pasture (lots of fence posts and wire fencing!).  Please let us know if you are interested and able to help!!  Volunteer here!

        4)  STORAGE SHED:
             We also buy our horse feed in bulk when we can get it on sale.  But that leads to a storage problem...  Right now we store our feed in a broken down car, but not only do we plan to remove the car (for volunteer parking, of course!), but we really are running out of room for feed.
       -- AND... the saddles and tack should really be stored in a place that is *not* the barn, where they are currently stored -- but get very dusty, and in very humid weather: moldy*.  This is bad for the tack and our investment.   We have decided we simply MUST build or get a storage shed to hold the tack and feed -- in an air-conditioned space.  If you know of one that is cheap, used, or ready to be donated, PLEASE Contact Us!  We are a 501(c)(3) charity, we will provide a receipt, and donations can be deducted for tax purposes. Thanks! 
  •    (*Note:  It shouldn't surprise anyone that the horses are spoiled enough to be outside nearly 24/7, and they have box fans in their stalls when they are inside.  But the fans don't seem to be able to prevent mold from forming on leather tack...)
 - Completed: 2024:
      - Purchased THREE new (used) metal Hay Wagons!!
      - Purchased new rake (after both the "modern" and the antique rakes died...)
      - Sprayed for weeds

 - Completed: 2023:
      - Purchased new 35 HP compact tractor!
      - Purchased new truck after the 3500 quit... (yikes!)!!

 - Completed:  2022:
       - Lime the hay fields
       - Purchased new baler!!!  In-line so it's a little different than I'm used to, but both the New Holland AND the JD balers broke...

 - Completed 2021:
       - Traded old 48-ft sprayer (way too big for my farm!) for JD baler

 - Completed: Fall/Winter 2020:
      - Soil samples, fertilizer, and spray for weeds.
      - Get/build storage shed?
      - Put away all hay making equipment (where? build another shelter?)
      - TBD

 - Completed in Summer/Fall 2019:
     - Made First and Second cuttings of hay!
     - Purchased new (used) tractor with bucket for moving manure!
     - Repaired my dad's old John Deere tractor (that had been damaged, abused, and wrecked...).
     - Purchase extra hay to get us through the cold winter??!! (Gulp! This is *not* ideal!)

  - Completed in Fall 2018:
     - Got new insurance coverage!  Yeah!
     - Sent out THREE (3) proposals for funding the rescue!
       -  Brand new, 44 ft. x 13.5 ft. Shelter COMPLETED!!

   - Completed, Summer 2018:
      - Lean-to shelter, Extended, roof completed, added walls!
      - Delivered Leo for training and picked up, all trained up and ready to go trail riding!
      - Unfortunately did NOT get done making hay -- with the RIDICULOUS amounts of rain we had, we still have perfectly good grass, standing in the hay field, unable to be made (we lost several hundred bales trying to squeeze some hay in between weekends, and then the skies opened and poured on the hay (August-September 2018).  (So we may need help -- both physical and financial -- to actually purchase hay to get us through the winter... stay tuned...)

    - Completed, June 2018:
        - FIRST CUTTING of HAY!!  We have been working FOR WEEKENDS on end to get the first cutting done and stored in the barn...  (May 24-28, June 5-11, June 13-18, and June 20-23, and (finally!) June 30-July 2!) Yeah!!  
       - Repairing the "little" truck's brakes (again!)

 - Completed: in May 2018:
     - May 28: Part of first cutting in the barn...
     - May 12th: CECTH Therapeutic Horsemanship Training! (Phase I). - Check!
     - Spraying Hay field for weeds. -Check!
     - Preparing the hay equipment for the season...
     - Delivering Sterling and Chaco for training (May & June).  -Check!

 - Completed in April 2018:
      - Hay field fertilized!
      - New Pasture Fence (for better herd and pasture management.  We can now rotate the herd better)!
      - Re-Seeding the pastures!
      - Spring Vetting  (wow! Expensive!!)!
      - Purchases new Hay Wagons (ok, used, but "new to us"!)!
       - BECAME A 501(c)(3) CHARITY!!
      
Completed in March 2018:
      - Purchased (used) hay bine, hay baler (for emergency back-up), and hay rake!

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 NOTE:  Please see our "Paperwork" page for information on Ups & Downs Acres requirements to volunteer, participate in equine activities, or to ride. 

  We do prefer volunteers that can commit to a routine schedule (for routine help), but we know everyone is busy... especially in summer!  So for instance, if you can volunteer even just a few days per year, that is still a great help to us!  
  •   For instance, hay-making and other construction is irregular, but help is needed fast and furious to bring in hay "while the sun is shining!"  If you are available during prime hay-making weeks (for making hay or helping us with machine and equipment repairs as we go along), please let us know in advance, and we will make every effort to coordinate with you when we plan to mow, bale hay and unload the hay wagons...
Note:  This list and tasks around the farm are never-ending.  Please check back as we develop our rescue and volunteer opportunities...