How was my week as a volunteer at Tenerife Horse Rescue
I spent a week in Tenerife at Tenerife Horse Rescue in March 2024 as a volunteer helping with the care of the animals. It was a truly unique experience that I still fondly remember.
In this blog post you will read about how life at the Tenerife Horse Rescue is like, how volunteering works here and what volunteering activities you can do in this place near the ocean.
Basic information about Tenerife Horse Rescue:
- Tenerife Horse Rescue is an organisation founded in 2018 by Emma Greenfield from England and Edo from Italy.
- The animal sanctuary and community of volunteers (known in Spanish as finca) is located on the island of Tenerife near the village of La Jaca, which is on the Atlantic coast.
- It is a non-profit organization that offers stays for volunteers year-round, starting from one week.
- The main mission is to help and care for abandoned animals, among which we find, besides horses and donkeys, dogs, cats, birds, ducks, guinea pigs, goats, piglets, turtles and others.
- A total of 750 animals have been rescued and 140 animals are waiting for help and adoption.
How volunteers stay in the shelter
My stay lasted a week, during which I worked only five days a week, 5 hours a day. It is therefore a time-saving job. We met every day at 8:30 and worked until about half past three in the afternoon. There are several teams at the shelter and each team has a different agenda. My teams took care of small animals and horses. My first two days were spent on the “Small Animals” team, where we cared for guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, piglets, rabbits, and lizards. The course of activities was the same every day. Clean the enclosure and the food and water bowls, fetch the bedding, fill the bowls with fresh vegetables.
But in the “Horses” team the day was more interesting for me, because we went for walks with the horses and donkeys in the surroundings. We also looked after their coats, which I really enjoyed. Physically, working with horses is less demanding because the small animals have cramped quarters for humans. So they require a lot of work in the underbrush.
However, there are more teams at the facility. Here is a list of them.
- Small animals
- Horses
- Office
- Construction team
- Kitchen
- Dogs
When do volunteers eat in the community?
Every weekday, volunteers and community residents eat together at 11:00 and 14:30. Attendance is of course not compulsory. As for the type of food, it is based on free food imported from supermarkets on the island. Why? It has to do with the theme of sustainability.
Sustainability at Tenerife Horse Rescue
Tenerife Horse Rescue lives in a sustainable way. Their electricity comes from solar panels, they heat water using manure from the horses, all food scraps are composted, they eat a ‘freegan’ diet and their facility is built from recycled materials and clay.
Tenerife Horse Rescue's vision: we want to see progress towards a world where people and animals coexist in harmony without abuse, neglect and pollution of our common home.
It is this combination of an animal shelter with a community built on the principles of sustainability that is typical of Tenerife Horse Rescue. I think a lot of people might be interested and into it, but on the other hand there are people who might be uncomfortable with the ecology aspect and how the community lives that theme. What do I mean by that? From my point of view, the conditions of accommodation and food, the sanitary facilities were uncomfortable and unhygienic. However, I respect that this does not bother some people.
Types of accommodation for paying volunteers
- Cupcake house is a private accommodation, built by volunteers from materials found in the finca. (price per week 175 euros)
- The caravan and greenvan are located in a quiet community area. (price per week 175 euros)
- The Mongolian yurt is located in a private fenced area near the small animal section of the shelter and, together with a separate living-kitchen, presents the best possible accommodation in finca. (price for a week 560 euros) I chose this option.
- The cave house is a private house with its own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. It also has a view of the goat ranges. (price per week 560 euros)
- The cottage overlooks the gorge with its own veranda with a view, dining area and sun lounger. (price per week 420 euros)
Do you want to try it too?
It’s great to spend a week or even longer here away from your normal work or student life. All the more so because it’s a sunny island all year round. Before I describe how to sign up, just be warned about the fairly frequent strong winds, which can be really annoying.
It’s also good to remember that the community is made up of people who have a specific relationship with life in general. Relaxed, alternative, non-conformist are words that come to mind. It’s good to reckon with that. But what I am sure of is that most of the volunteers and permanent residents of the shelter are kind and helpful.
How to volunteer at Tenerife Horse Rescue
I used Volunteerworld.com when looking for a volunteer program. There are several filters on the site which helped me find the finca on Tenerife. I got a response fairly quickly, but be warned. There is quite a lot of interest in staying here, so it can be a problem to find a vacancy. I only paid for about 20% of my stay in advance and paid the rest on the spot with a credit card.
So fingers crossed for everyone who tries it!
And next time, another article approaching the fate of the animals at Tenerife Horse Rescue.
