HEY! THAT’S ME! :lol:
I always scribe…but then again, the events I volunteer at seem to always need one, and I commit early and always show up on time, so they know they can rely on me.
hehe I tried scribing 4 years ago. I WAS TERRIBLE!!! I guess I didn’t realize you had to have readable handwriting and write at some speed. For the sake of al involved, I will NEVER volunteer for that again!
Thank you! It was not half as hard as getting oblivious pedestrians – including a completely oblivious mom with a toddler – out of the way of a Preliminary horse galloping right at them at the recognized event a few years back.
I think that I inherited my mother’s no-nonsense teaching voice.
I’ve had to stop people on course before, but usually just because they are being overtaken, or someone ahead of them is in trouble. The only other one I’ve had to send back to the trailers was a few years ago, a girl who fell off and landed on her bum. EMTs checked her out, she was fine, and she was really polite about it. The Spring Classic is always a bit more … entertaining.
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They drive around with a truck load of volunteers and stop at each jump and ask for takers and people pile out of the back.
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I skipped the event at Heritage due to other commitments, but @Larksmom and @CindyCRNA that sounds incredibly disorganized compared to the events at Longview. I know this was at least one of the organizers first years so maybe some learning curve and hopefully next year will be much better. Although, if 4 years ago it was the same maybe it is a MACTA problem as a whole? I don’t know. I will say that the part I was going to volunteer for was a mess. Good communication to start and then never heard official word back on what was needed if anything (although rain put a kink into plans). This year has just been a crap shoot with weather for every event!
At the events I’ve volunteered at at Longview we 100% have always gotten assigned jumps out there. We didn’t get to choose, we were handed our paperwork with the jumps pre chosen for us. We get a list for every jump we’ll be monitoring for each level and we had breaks in between to ensure we could use the facilities and could move our chairs for the best vantage point of the next jump. We did roll call before each division to ensure coverage was prepared and in place. The Mill Creek Pony Club event runs a tight ship from my experience. If you get a chance to volunteer for it definitely do!
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well doesn’t MACTA do Longview as well? One thing that has just occurred to me is this: Heritage is a little older than Longview, but not by much. I remember being on some sort of a group way back when Longview was being created. The council was made up of all equestrian groups in the area. Quarter horses, Arabians, Morgans, gaited horses, HJ, Dressage eventing, driving and everyone else involved, what did each group need for a horse park. Most of course just need a ring. But in all the time that has passed, Longview has gravel parking, permanent stabling, a show ring, and a dedicated place for dressage rings. Plus of course, cross country course, and driving obstacles. Heritage has a nice cross country course. Period. Now that has nothing to do with the organizing, but IDK why that is. Weather in spring and fall here has been horrendous. Do all the other groups just go to Kemper or Sprint arena? Longview IS lovely. Why can’t HP be upgraded so others can use it?
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I have never heard of not assigning jj’s to jumps. And have volunteered at quite a few horse trials in two different areas.
There is just one HT that I will not volunteer at any longer because of … well, the experience of being a volunteer there, I’ll just say that. I’m not the only one. I was actually warned by another well-respected volunteer, thought I’d stick it out because I wasn’t in the key position that she was, only to give up on it after a year.
Even though most volunteers I know will stick out some less-than-ideal circumstances for the good of the sport and the riders, everyone has their limits. A HT can unfortunately get a reputation as just not a worthwhile way to spend a few hours (or a full day). I suspect that in those cases usually there is someone in a key coordinator/organizer position who is obdurate and can’t be dislodged.
:lol::lol::lol:
I really want to scribe because so many people say it is such a great learning experience. But I write slowly and if I speed up, no one can decipher it. Afraid I’d be fired after a test or two! So I haven’t tried yet! :winkgrin:
How about one of the competitors who had finished her round, taken her horse back and untacked, and then brought her haltered horse out to graze … all the way out onto the course.
It wasn’t a short walk to get there and the volunteers hollering at her to move horse coming! couldn’t figure out why THERE. She wasn’t hearing them because it was in a galloping part and none of the jj’s were that close to her. She finally looked up toward the jump , saw the horse approaching the jump and about to be galloping right over her, and the jj waving at her, and realized where she was. It was kind of funny as she was hastily trying to get out of the way but her horse wasn’t keen to give up on the grass.
I suspect she wanted to watch friends ride their courses while grazing her horse, and just didn’t realize where she had ended up. :lol:
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I really want to scribe because so many people say it is such a great learning experience. But I write slowly and if I speed up, no one can decipher it. So I haven’t tried yet! :winkgrin:
yeah, I thought so too! Until I got in that booth and the poor judge! They need to have training for scribes just as they do for judges! It would have been fine if I were any good at it. but just think of looking at your test. EVERYONE wants lots of comments, and the scribe has to write that legibly. So I probably won’t offer that again. What I used to do way back in the way back was pick up judges from the airport. Now THAT was fun! Sometimes I got to take them to dinner.
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Interestingly, the last time I JJ’d at Longview someone checked on us once and I pee’d by my jump. I had brought toilet paper in anticipation of this. I had a cooler and food. I don’t remember if anyone offered food but I had plenty. I did prelim to starter that year so a long day. This was roughly 2-3 years ago. Often when they are short on volunteer’s they are spread too thin, checking on people falls by the wayside. But I think John Staples is able to drum up sufficient volunteers.
No two different groups. Heritage Park I feel is always positioned to toss the horse park out. We are not allowed to put anything permanent there. The soccer fields bring more revenue. Longview is committed to the horse community.
Was that at Pony Club weekend @CindyCRNA ? When I’ve gone there are tons of parent and rider volunteers at that event. Maybe that is why it runs smoothly? I don’t know. They always do food (sandwich and chips), have golf carts providing water, and give enough time between divisions to hike to the porta potty. If it is real far and you ask nice sometimes you can flag down a ride. Haven’t made it to John’s event yet… but one of these days I will!
That is interesting about not being able to put up anything permanent at Heritage… but they do share the facilities with all sorts of sports so makes sense (even though it would be great to get permanent set ups for horse activities). I do love that we have both facilities in such a close radius instead of having to drive half a day like riders in other states do.
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my point in bringing up Longview was just that all the equestrian groups came together to say, yes e will use this facility. I wonder if the number of indoor arenas keeps people thinking, let’s just have the show, here, no matter where it is. But I do wonder if they all came together and pledged to use it…It does make me sad to see those sports fields, equal to any in the country, and right next door, our orphan cross country course.
Dragging up an old thread but to address this, Longview has a 99 year lease that that part of the park will remain a horse park. I think Heritage Park is 5 year lease. Hoping not to JJ this year because we will be too busy competing!
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