Fall into Gratitude: Our September Volunteer Spotlights

Every day, our volunteers bring compassion, strength, and heart to the horses. From early mornings in the barn to busy days at the store, from lending a hand at events to countless behind-the-scenes tasks, their dedication makes a world of difference.

Through this series, we get to share the stories of these incredible people, shining a light on the kindness, generosity, and hard work that often happens quietly in the background. We hope each feature reminds you just how special this community is and how powerful it is when we all come together for the horses. And maybe even inspires you to volunteer if you aren’t already!

Meet Lisa and Rich!

AAE Volunteer for 12 years!

We work on the Thursday AM shift! We love our shift lead, Jen, and our Thursday Volunteers! We are bartenders at our Boots & Bling event. Lisa gives tours at the Ranch and does “follow-up calls” after orientation. Rich helped build the barn in El Dorado Hills. We are both “handlers” occasionally for orientation.

What do you love about AAE and/or volunteering at AAE?

What’s not to LOVE! Volunteering for any worthy cause is so personally rewarding, and volunteering in the care of animals is so much more special. We love all our horses, farm animals, & volunteers at this fantastic organization (AAE). What a beautiful place to spend a morning or afternoon with our human and animal friends.

Who is your favorite AAE horse and why?

Hard to pick a favorite given the 12 years we’ve volunteered. Finnegan is one as we’ve watched him grow from a baby to the big lovable goober he’s become! Selena is another horse we partially sponsor and love to spend time with. She was rescued, and we thought she was pregnant, but she was just a “healthy” horse! Stay “healthy” Selena!!!! Love our shoulder HUGS!

We’re always looking for more helping hands and kind hearts. If you’ve been thinking about getting involved, now’s a great time to join us.

Learn more about becoming an AAE volunteer below and help us change lives, one horse at a time.

We are currently looking for volunteers to help in the following ways:

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

·     Daily Horse Care/Barn and AAE Used Tack Store volunteers, always

·     Used Tack Store Support (e.g. tack cleaning, customer service, sales, donation drives, etc.)

·     Special Project Day: Saturday, September 6, AAE Pilot Hill Ranch; Join us from 9am to 1pm (or until done) as we tackle general cleanup around the property to prepare for fall and an upcoming event, or help with another special project (eg. tortoise habitat, fence panel install, etc). Once we know how many volunteers are signed up, a coordinator will reach out with details and let you know if any specific tools are needed for the day. Please sign up here under “Facility and Special Projects”.

·     Welders: If we have any welders out there that might be available, you are especially needed to help with some pipe panel repairs. Please reply if you’re available.

·     Outreach: Draft Horse Classic, September 18-21, Nevada County Fairgrounds; Share with event attendees about AAE at our information booth. Sign up for a shift here. (Times are tentative, we’ll be confirming this week).

·     Do you know Weebly? We need website help. We’re looking for a volunteer with Weebly experience to help us update and manage our website, especially horse pages and photos. If you have the experience and weekly availability, let us know by replying to this email.

·     Boots & Bling 2026 Planning Team: Let’s make the next Boot & Bling a big success for the horses. We’re looking for support in all areas of the event, including the auctions, dinner, decor, set-up, break-down, and more. Interested? Share more about how you would like to volunteer here.

·     Many more volunteer needs can be found here.

SPECIAL FACILITY PROJECTS

·     Apply wood preservative to the round pen boards,

·     Organize our tools and equipment,

·     Install new plywood on shelters,

·     Paint shelters,

·     More special projects here.