📚 Helpers’ Handbook
(For Part-Time Staff & Volunteers)
🌱 Welcome
You are part of a community built on trust, care, boundaries, and growth. Whether you’re a worker, part-time team member, or volunteer, this guide is for you.
We don’t expect perfection — but we do ask you to show up with presence, curiosity, and a willingness to learn.
We grow through relationships.
🧭 What Guides Us - Our CORE VALUES:
🛡️ Safety – Leading with calm, steady awareness to keep people and animals safe and ready to learn.
🤝 Inclusion – Welcoming differences, adapting to meet needs, and holding boundaries that protect our community.
🧭 Integrity – Doing the right thing, even when it’s hard. Owning our actions, following through, and learning from mistakes.
💗 Compassion – Acting with empathy, honoring dignity, and treating all beings with kindness and respect.
🐴 Connection – Building trust and confidence through meaningful relationships with animals and people.
🌱 Growth – Encouraging learning and supporting each other through challenges — because everyone is capable of more than they know.
👥 How We Work With People
(Inclusion, Integrity, Compassion, Connection)
Speak clearly and calmly — be kind, direct, and consistent.
Redirect students with kindness and firmness.
Respect different ways of communicating and learning.
Hold boundaries with compassion.
What matters most is your presence. Being kind, calm, and willing to help goes farther than you think. You set the tone — your calm presence makes growth possible.
🐴 How We Work With Animals
(Safety, Compassion, Connection, Integrity)
Our animals are not tools — they’re partners. We lead with calm body language, clear signals, and steady follow-through.
We honor hesitation, while encouraging gentle persistence — especially with our older horses, who still deserve purpose and partnership.
Caring for animals means more than riding or handling. It’s checking water, cleaning stalls, and showing up to meet their needs — every day.
We communicate with animals the same way we aim to communicate with people: clearly, respectfully, and with care.
🧑🌾 The Work We Do
(Integrity, Growth, Safety)
There’s always something that needs doing — like cleaning stalls, sweeping, or refilling water buckets.
Ask if you’re unsure. Stay engaged.
We grow by doing hard things — together.
📚 Learning Is Part of the Job
(Growth, Integrity)
You’ll get corrections, feedback, and redirection. That’s how we grow here.
Be open. Stay curious. Remember: practice doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong — it means you’re building something that lasts.
This is a place for learners, not experts. We’re all growing here.
⏱️ What to Expect Day-to-Day
(Safety, Integrity)
Be on time (or early if you can).
Wear closed-toe shoes and weather-appropriate clothes.
Bring a refillable water bottle.
Stay alert and ask questions if something feels off.
Jump in when you see a need.
Please read our What to Wear & What to Bring section: chra.us/dress
💬 Final Note
You matter here. Whether you’re cleaning stalls, leading a student, or filling a water bucket — your presence makes a difference.
Everything in this handbook reflects the values we live by: Safety, Inclusion, Integrity, Compassion, Connection, and Growth. You bring them to life every day.
Thank you for being part of Cheyne Ranch.
🔗 How to Use This Page
Bookmark this page and return to it anytime. We’ll update it when things change, and you can always ask if something’s unclear.
