Naxos Horseriding

I loved volunteering at Naxos horse riding. They have got 24 horses/ponies on a tidy yard. My job was to exercise all horses, go on tours with tourists and take care of the horses and the yard. Couldn't have been better really! I rode daily around 2-3 times - along the beaches, or up in the mountains, or for a nice swim, or just around the beautiful terrain. It was all my childhood dreams coming to life. Sure, it's hard work, but it's a lifetime experience. I would have stayed longer if I weren't needed back in Sweden, but I would love to go back some day.

I lived in the staff house in the center of the town. Close to everything, and provided with everything you might need. Roof top available for sunbathing, big plus for a sun craving Swede like myself.

Lots of love

If you are not prepared for 10% of your time to be spent on the beach relaxing and 90% of it to be shoveling horse manure, then this is not the volunteer position for you. You are not paid, yet you are expected to work every single day (including Saturdays and Sundays). A typical day involved waking up at 7am to get to the stable by 8am to tie up all of the horses, mix their feeds, clip their buckets to their harnesses, shovel their manure that had accumulated since the last time you shoveled, go around and take their buckets, wash their buckets and stack again, and lastly unclip the horses. The horses are rather mean so you also have to make sure you avoid their bites and kicks while you're in the field with them. Then you would saddle the horses if you had a morning tour. The tours were beautiful and were on the beach. If there was an afternoon tour, you wouldn't be done feeding and unsaddling the horses until 9pm or later. This was a very long and physically demanding work day for an unpaid volunteer position.

Overall, I loved the experience. Greece is absolutely gorgeous, and Linda is a really hardworking and admirable woman. I wish she would have been more upfront about the conditions of the apartment and the expectations for work. If you are hoping for a true nitty gritty horse stable experience in a beautiful setting, then this is the program for you.