The volunteers keep the handbooks for reference or to share with others. Volunteers are encouraged to review it and ask questions during their time with the program. Volunteers are encouraged to make observations and offer constructive criticisms if they see room for improvement. Videos of past lessons are shown to demonstrate what the volunteer's responsibilities are depending if they are a sidewalker, leader, parent greeter, or horse prep person. A video of typical horse moods and behaviors promotes awareness of how carefully therapy horses are trained for their job.
Volunteers hand in their lesson commitment schedules.
I review all this paperwork immediately after the session is over to start coordinating volunteers with riders into lesson time slots. This session is structured for hands-on activities. We all gather m the indoor arena to observe a demonstration of a horse that is not suited to be a therapeutic riding horse. The squeals from the rider, a variety of toys and the wheelchairs that are presented to this horse trigger the flight response. Teamwork once again is stressed.