Working Vaction

This 8 or 7 day working vacation package is perfect for riders who like more hands-on time with the horses or who like to stay active while on vacation. In exchange for a deeply discounted vacation, you will volunteer your time working on the ranch, in the saddle, and engaging with clients. Due to the small nature of our business, we only accommodate one volunteer per scheduled riding week.

Our Expectations

  • The role of a volunteer is to assist with the riding, care, and preparation of our horses and clients. We are a small, family operation, and we want this to be a great experience for all involved. We hope that you feel like you’re staying with friends, so it is important for you to be aware of our expectations.

  • Experience: This program is open to riders no younger than 15 years old. We do require our volunteers to have an intermediate level of riding with a basic understanding of how to catch, groom, and saddle a horse. For information on the different riding levels, please visit our booking page.

  • Working Environment: We understand that there are many different training methods out there. We do not prescribe any one method. We have developed a program that works for our horses and trainers. We ask all volunteers to be open to our program, be willing to follow directions when working with horses, and be respectful to trainers, wranglers, staff, and clients. If at any time we feel like a volunteer has placed a horse or another person in a dangerous situation, we will ask them to leave with no refunds.

  • Punctuality: When dealing with the welfare of animals, there are certain tasks that must be done at certain times. Failure to do this not only holds up staff and other volunteers, it also affects the experience of the client and the amount of time we can spend in the saddle having fun. In the summer, we ride very early in order to beat the heat of the day, which means some mornings will start as early as 5 a.m. We ask that all tasks be finished before leaving the barn.

What’s Included

  • Lodging is in either our guest house or main house. We provide basic toiletries, a hair dryer, linens and towels, wifi, and laundry services.

  • Meals. If we have clients, you will be joining them for meals. Breakfast is a European continental, lunches are often light salads and soups, and dinners are family-style that highlight New Mexican cuisine. If we do not have clients, then meals will be similar and taken with your hosts. We can accommodate many dietary needs.

  • Airport transportation to and from Albuquerque Airport.

  • Access to a pool, hot tub, hiking trails, and mountain bikes.

  • Lots of riding and horse time! If we aren’t riding, we will be training horses. You will receive hands-on time during our training process.

TYPICAL day

  • Helping with ranch chores and horses. Staff members handle the majority of the everyday tasks, like feeding and mucking, but you may be asked to grab a pitch fork and pitch in. We also have chickens, cows, and gardens that always need attention. You may be asked to gather eggs, pick veggies, or ride out to check on the cows.

  • Loading and unloading equipment and tack in the trailer before and after rides. Cleaning the tack, the trailer, and the horses after rides.

  • Grooming horses and helping tack before rides or training.

  • Lots of riding! You will either be riding with clients, going on training rides with wranglers, or exercising ranch horses.

  • Other activities may include visiting the horse rescue and going with clients on tourism days to Madrid, Santa Fe or Albuquerque.

Ready to get to work?

OUR WORKING VACATION PACKAGES ARE 8 OR 7 DAYS APRIL-OCTOBER

Volunteer dates coincide with all other vacation dates.