Located in a beautiful, rural setting in Orinda, Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center provides therapeutic horseback riding, therapeutic services and related activities to children with physical disabilities, and to Veterans from all theaters. Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center is a 501(c)3 and a Premier Accredited Center with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International.
Position Summary
Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center is looking for a part-time barn supervisor. In this position, the barn supervisor will oversee all veterinary, dental, farrier and chiropractic care for our herd of eight horses, as well as support our equine care team volunteers in their morning chores. The part-time barn supervisor will work closely with the afternoon supervisor to ensure fluid cross over and stellar cross team communication. This role is a Monday-Friday 8A-12P position, and reports to the Executive Director.
Responsibilities
Horse Care:
Arrange and oversee all veterinary, dental, farrier and chiropractic care.
Regularly monitor horses’ health and physical condition, and respond immediately to any urgent needs.
Maintain medical, dental, farrier, chiropractic care, horse incident and training records.
Support the executive director in the selection of new horses.
Take a lead role in training new horses.
Order hay, supplements, and other horse-related supplies.
Provide pasture time on a rotational basis, optimized for equine mental health
Horse Development:
Prepare horses for lessons by providing, or coaching volunteers to provide, weekly groundwork with each horse.
With volunteers, develop and maintain ground manners in all horses.
With volunteers, work horses on lunge and long lines to prepare them for lessons.
With approved exercise riders, ride all horses each week.
Maintain exercise schedule for each horse
With the afternoon supervisor, monitor the calendar of herd visitors to decrease overstimulation.
Qualifications
5 years relevant experience managing multiple horse barns
Experience with multiple riding styles, including dressage
Strong riding skills in preferred style.
Ability and willingness to marry deep personal knowledge with the Xenophon way of horse care, training and maintenance.
Openness to learning.
Strong interpersonal skills.
Patience in working with committed volunteers who are still themselves learning horsemanship.
Excellent organization skills, detail orientation, and capacity to work collaboratively across several teams.
Confident in leading others and setting a standard for persistence, integrity, and safety.
Passion for Xenophon’s mission and a foundational commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
