Volunteer Orientation

This training will cover in more detail what we do, the tools we use, and our policies and procedures. There will be a classroom portion on Friday evening, followed by hands-on work with the horses on Saturday. This training will give you an overview of what we have to offer to kids in our community, ways you can be involved, the work we do with the horses as well as alternative activities with children. By the end of this training, you will have the knowledge needed to jump in and dedicate time to working at BMYR.

Preliminary Schedule

5:30-8:30 Friday - classroom training, location TBD

Topics:

• Program Overview
• Volunteer Application & Programming
• Core Values
• Ranch Rules and Policies

9:00-4:00 Saturday - hands-on demonstrations and training at the BMYR Ranch (lunch break at 11:30)

Basic Horse Safety (9-9:30)

• Reading body language, Setting and enforcing boundaries, Good practices, Riding safety

Neurobiology (9:45-11:30)

• Optimal child development
• Impact of trauma
• Hope and healing
• ACE scores
• Origins of resilience
• Bottom-up and top-down regulation
• Sympathetic and parasympathetic responses
• Window of tolerance
• Mind-body connection

LUNCH BREAK

Felt Safety (12:30-1:30)

• Consent, Agency, and Effective Communication

Relationship Skills for Mentoring (1:45-3:00)

• Self-Awareness, Self-regulation, Connection through the body to the horse
• Clear communication, Timing of requests and responses to the horse
• Music and rhythm
• Setting boundaries, Felt safety
• Reading and interpreting body language
• Trust building and Partnership

Q&A and Group Processing (3-4:00)