I started volunteering mid-summer of this year and can't believe I waited so long to do it. Not only are the horses very well cared for, so are the volunteers. I volunteered at another rescue for almost three years and while that was an excellent learning experience for me, I never got a chance to do many things I wanted to. You can only hear "you can't do that" so many times before getting disheartened. At GG, you don't hear "you can't do that", you hear, "WHY can't you do that?". There is a young girl that is volunteering to collect hours for her future education as a veterinarian. She told our director that she had never been on a horse before. 16 and never been on horse. Christine was shocked and said, "well, we shall fix that." She looked at us and said, "Go get John" and 20 minutes later that young girl was up on a very large, gentle horse and the smile on her face was priceless. After she was done, another "older" volunteer asked if she could get on him and of course, she could. That woman left as if her whole year had been made in those short 20 minutes of walking around bareback on a Shire. Volunteering is not easy, it's hot, it's cold, it's wet, there is a lot of poop, there is heartache and there is a lot of happiness and camaraderie. I am going to be 56 years old very soon and am going to be a toy soldier in a Christmas parade, possibly even riding one of the giants. How many people get to say they did that? If you ever, ever had a desire to volunteer at an extremely well run rescue, this is the place. No experience? No matter...you will be taught. Experienced? Then it's a win win for both you and GG. I will be with Gentle Giants as long as they will have me.