A Day in the Life of a Volunteer

A Day in the Life of a Welsh Volunteer.

Hi,

My name is Charlotte and my brothers, Ethan and Sam, and I have been volunteering at North Wales Animal Rescue Centre for over 2 years. My mum who is called Cariad has been working with the horses, sheep and pigs for the same amount of time. I love going there and I even got my mum to change a day that she worked during the week to the weekend so that I could still work there every week!
The first thing that I always do is feed the sheep-they are so noisy. My mum trusts me to feed the 3 Shetland ponies, Maggie, Noddy and Leroy, a beautiful Connemara called Crystal and an old grey horse called Ross. Crystal gives me a lovely whinny when she sees me, I love her.
When everyone is eating I help my mum to put the 30 horses into different fields. Lots have had tragic lives and I feel so privileged to be allowed to care for them. My friends at school are very envious. Sometimes one of the horses or ponies feel like having a joke and run straight past us and runs down the track. They soon turn around when they see that the bottom gate is shut!!! Who has the last laugh?
By the time the horses are put out it is usually panad (tea)time. All of the staff meet in the caravan and it gets quite noisy because everyone gets a chance to chat. I normally eat my Pot Noodle listening and giggling at the same time. Then it's back to it. Whilst my mum begins mucking out the horses I like to go and feed Rosie and Vanessa the pigs-Vanessa is a Pot bellied pig, Rosie is a very old small pig. They are such clean and intelligent animals. I then go and join mum, I may be asked to prepare evening feeds, fill water tubs, bed up the horses or fill the haylage racks. It keeps you fit!!
Although I am confident around the horses I still remain cautious as they can be dangerous. Me, my brothers and mum have spent our lives around a variety of animals especially horses. We were all babies when my mum held us on a horse's back! If there is time mum sometimes does horse whispering. This is a great way to tame a horse no matter how wild they are. When my mum thinks that the horse or pony is ready to be backed I will carefully climb on, with my mum right next to me, and I sit still whilst we go around the Agri so that the horse can get used to a human on it's back. When the horse has been ridden on the road over a period of time the horse is ready to be adopted. Copper was a pony that I adored and was rehomed. I feel great knowing that I have been a part of an animal's rehabilitation although I do get a lump in my throat-and I know that my mum does!
Everyday we go to look after our own horses, who happened to be rescued by my mum. We have a Welsh Mountain Pony and a Shetland. At the beginning of November 2009, my mum agreed to foster one of the rescue centre's colts, Finn. He will be 2 in May. When he arrived he was completely wild, he'd never eaten hard feed, fruit, carrots or hay. His coat was in a terrible state because he did not let anyone near him. He was terrified. He is now socialised, stands up for himself and it is fantastic watching him play with his friends. He loves his food and is beautifully groomed, when I stroke him you can hear the static electricity on his coat! We have taken him out onto the road and he is great. I think that Finn is super glued to my mum, he does a little whinny when he sees us. My whole family are totally in love with Finn, my mum, especially, has worked so hard on him.
I have learnt so much from being a volunteer from the specialists that I have watched, like Andre the equine dentist, to the different problems that an animal can have, and from the really pleasant members of expert staff.
I have also learnt that running a rescue centre is very expensive and they are desperate for donations from people like you. I have seen so many sorry animals and they need help from people like you to keep their chances of survival a reality.

By Charlotte aged 11.