Volunteer

No, CTREE and Topping Riding Club does not permit unscheduled drop-in visitors or volunteerson the property. All visitors and volunteers must be scheduled and accompanied by a CTREE instructor or staff and sign a waiver prior to their visit.

All volunteers must apply, attend orientation, and be scheduled to volunteer at CTREE.

Some of our horses have specific dietary needs and could have a reaction to other food. Please do not feed the horses without permission of a CTREE instructor.

Please see our policies for more information.

No. Previous horse experience is helpful, but not necessary. We provide orientation for all volunteers. At orientation our volunteers learn all they need to know about proper horse-handling techniques, safety precautions, and how to assist our instructors and the participants in our therapeutic riding and equine assisted programs.

In order to provide our therapeutic riding lessons and equine services, we must have a certain number of volunteers for each day. To provide consistency for our riders and with scheduling, we ask that lesson volunteers commit to weekly volunteering on the same day each week for the duration of a session. Our program sessions are 8-10 week long, year-round on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays in the late afternoon/early evening and on Saturday afternoons. See our calendar for session dates and holiday closures. You will receive reminder notifications for your volunteer days. If you have a conflict or need to cancel, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible so that we can find a substitute volunteer for that day.

No. Some of our volunteers continue with us for all sessions throughout the year, but it is not required. When you sign up to volunteer you sign up by the session. You will be contacted at the end of the session you sign up for. You have the option to commit to the next session, take a break and come back another session, be on our substitute list, or discontinue.

Once you are registered and scheduled to volunteer you will receive automated email and text reminders. If you are unable to attend, you can click on the cancel button or link or contact the office at (631)488-0142 or volunteer@ctreeny.org. Since we need a certain number of volunteers each day to provide our therapeutic riding and equine assisted programs, please give us as much notice as possible so we can find a replacement for that day.

Volunteering with our therapeutic riding program requires some physical activity, such as walking and jogging alongside the horse and participant.  

The minimum age for program volunteers is 14.

For the safety of our staff, volunteers, and riders orientation is required for all program volunteers. Orientation includes a tour of our facility, plus instruction in hands-on grooming and tacking, learning and practicing leading and side-walking, and an overview of safety procedures. You will also receive a link to watch a mandatory video prior to orientation. This video is approximately 20 minutes long. We offer orientation in small groups of applicants as needed throughout the year. After you apply, you will be added to our email list to be notified when our next orientation is scheduled.

If you are a fundraising volunteer only and are not volunteering at the barn, orientation may not be required.

Please add both info@ctreeny.org and volunteer@ctreeny.org to your contacts in your email program/application to ensure you receive our emails.

1. Read all of the Requirements & Eligibility FAQs above.

2. Fill out the application below.

3. Watch a short orientation video and attend a barn orientation (approx 1 hour long).

4. Sign up for a weekly time to volunteer for a session.