Kentucky Dressage Association offers a scribing clinic every spring. It might even be on-line now.
2 Likes
Most of my volunteering experiences have been positive, albeit a lot of long days. The one thing that has pissed me off the most in 20+ years of volunteering was jump judging when the organizer did not provide water to the jump judges - in mid- July! It’s been 10 years or so and I’m still mad about that.
There was a period of a few years that the eventers walking their course all said thank you for volunteering. That has faded away. Now they mostly ignore us.
5 Likes
well, I got to shadow scribe Saturday at our local event. I still suck! But at least I got to try again, and it didn’t count which was even better.
As far as water, I NEVER go anywhere near a xc course, (or anywhere else,) without my own water.
2 Likes
Wow - so many great comments and I hope the COTH article writer takes a peek and maybe does as round #3 for this topic.
I grew up eventing/Pony Club and am a current professional instructor but sway over to H/J for teaching these days. I’ve managed many a horse show and I also judge unrated horse shows in my area - both local unrated h/j specific shows and also open and 4-H shows that run multiple disciplines. I also have been an IEA coach and and IHSA coach and have some experience with the AEL organization as well.
I volunteer at events when I can and whomever said that the morning jump judge briefing meeting is cliquey is spot on! Geesh! I know a good amount of people usually at these events and yet I am blown away by the brush off and non-welcome of the people in charge of the briefing as they chat with their cronies and acknowledge no one outside their circle. Definitely a turn off. I think I will offer myself to be a greeter at some point! Mind you - this is not at many events but certainly some.
Here is a wrinkle for you…what I see in my travels is a phenomenon of sexes. Each type of horse competition that I brush with has it’s own feel and characteristics/demographics/ energy. This is a disclaimer to please not turn this into a thing…it is just an interesting piece to what I have noticed in my area and across the different “crowds”. I encourage you to take a look at your crowds just for the sake of an interesting phenomenon. A few musings of mine…
Hunter seat IHSA, hunt seat IEA and AEL - pretty much exclusively women and girls. Women are coaching, running the shows (organizing, doing the programs, sec’y, prizes/ribbons. point keeping, announcing and etc) as well as helping, doing the jobs, parenting their kids/helping their kids get ready, driving their kids. Girls are volunteering to be helpers - horse holders, in gate, runners, groom/tackers - most of them are competitors in these competitions or siblings or barn rats/lesson kids of the host farm. And of course there are the exceptions - we have a man who co-coaches an IEA team in our region and we do have boys/young men who are on the teams competing and doing the required jobs as show hosts but it is female heavy for sure.
Rated Dressage show - we run one at our facility and I have not been to off site ones in a good 10 years so my experience here is limited. ALL show personal are women/girls except our hired announcer and hired EMT (and some years we hire a male judge). We are getting more and more desperate for volunteers as the years go by. The less volunteers we have, the more “jobs” they have to do for their shift and them more burnout they feel and then they don’t return. I understand this completely. Heck, I get paid as a partial - manager and I feel burnt out with this particular show. We are always scrambling for scribes, scorers, runners and for ring stewards. Thankfully, our loyal exhibitors are quite excellent in giving a few hours of time in and around their own rides. Scribes are tough though even when we partner with the L program. We are at a point that we have to pay some people just to have bodies in the required positions.
Unrated h/j exclusive horse shows at various farms and local venues. Mostly women and girls doing it all. A couple of farms I judge at have a man each. Literally! One farm has a (wonderful) man serve as announcer/ring master and another farm I judge at is the ring dragger and helps move jumps. There are dads there but they are not helping with their kids braids and back numbers, nor doing the ingate, nor holding horses, nor handing out ribbons. They are mostly sitting on the bleachers or are at the family car back at the trailers. This sounds like man bashing and I don’t mean it to be at all. It is just an observation for these types of shows that I have judged this past year at these certain farms. It is the moms doing the heavy lifting for the most part.
Rated low level events (S- P) and Pony Club activities that I have volunteered at over the last several years - some men for sure - usually jump judges or controllers or xc starters/timers or scorers or hired TD’s/course builders/designers or farm owners doing tractor/equipment/logistics type jobs.
Rated high level events like Maryland 5 star - lots of men - both hired officials and volunteers.
Here is where it gets interesting,…open type and/or 4-H shows with multidisciplines both one day and multi day (campers/rv type crowd) - WOW - many more men and boys present, doing the jobs - ingate, announcing, sec’y, points, handing out ribbons, ring master, driving the rigs and helping their kids with their horses and…setting up camp complete with grills, beer (multi day after hours) and amazing support in all ways. One dad type walked over and gave me his raincoat out of the blue to use for the rainy morning session and then cooked me up a hotdog for a late afternoon snack. The men here ride often too and it is really a family affair and dare I say it…it seems to be the Western discipline and/or the 4-H crowd where I see this the most. These shows are absolutely thriving. The entries are ridiculously reasonable - usually $12- $15 per class and the camaraderie is evident. It is…welcoming. They need volunteers too and they get them.
Like I stated- different types of shows have interesting demographics and different energies. I don’t know how to solve the volunteer crisis and it is at crisis level for events (and…I would say dressage shows too.) Maybe USEA/USDF/USEF membership and/or being admitted as a competitor to any given competition comes with a requirement for volunteer hours/days. Heck if the USHJA did that their might even be a mitigation of the INSANE entry fees. The H/J managers learned long ago that they have to hire pretty much every position and the price for that is evident.
12 Likes
