With eventing under tremendous scrutiny from outsiders and insiders alike, few people would want to tackle the responsibility of making sure every aspect of the competition meets U.S. Equestrian Federation standards. But since 1986, Helmut Boehme has gladly taken on the role of technical delegate with competence and grace.

“I have a good time wherever I go,” said Boehme. “I like to do a good job and communicate with the organizer and the competitors, and it seems to me that they’re always happy to see me. If someone needs help, I love to help out. An event is such a team effort, and it’s very rewarding to be a part of that.”

Boehme, 68, doesn’t have the typical background of an eventing official. He grew up in a non-horsey family in Germany during World War II and came to the United States to study business before even-tually finding his niche in the horse world.

“As a kid there was farmland behind our garden,” he recalled. “Whenever I saw a horse I climbed over the fence and went for a ride, and my mom would know where to find me. But I had no idea what I was doing, of course.”

After coming to the United States on Halloween in 1962 for graduate school, Boehme found plenty of opportunities to ride. He settled in the Washington D.C. area and eventually bought a horse of his own as soon as he could afford it. Out of sheer luck he ended up with a good-hearted, if green, mount named Slow Journey who took him from trails to training level.

“There was an event nearby in 1972 or ‘73 that I went to watch,” he recalled. “I knew as soon as I saw it that it was something I would enjoy. I tried it once, and that was the end of it.”
 
Boehme started training under Morven Park International Equestrian Institute founder Maj. John Lynch, who instilled plenty of discipline into the rough-and-ready rider.

“I can still hear his voice in my head,” said Boehme. “If I do what he said we should be doing, it works. We weren’t allowed to move up until we went clean four times at a level. And if you couldn’t go clean four times, [Lynch] would have killed you.”

A Hard Lesson
While formal training provided the basis for Boehme’s riding and horsemanship, he picked up his most important tips from experience. Early in his eventing career Boehme learned a stinging lesson about the importance of walking a course carefully before galloping over it.

“Partway through the course, we knocked a table, and wasps came out and started chasing us,” Boehme recalled. “It certainly gave you the incentive to go clean the rest of the time!”

After that incident Boehme became religious about inspecting the underside of fences. Years later, he spotted a loose brace under a table, so he tracked down the show’s technical delegate, Col. Paul Wimert, to let him know. Impressed with the competitor’s diligence, Wimert thanked him and suggested that Boehme consider applying for his TD license.

“At the time I said, ‘No thanks, I want to ride,’ ” recalled Boehme. “Later on my horse had an injury that ended his jumping career. When [Wimert] found out, he called me and said he’d heard of Sam’s misfortune, and did I want to be a TD now?”

Boehme knew he wouldn’t be able to shake the encouragement of his de facto mentor, so decided to give officiating a shot. He earned his TD license in 1986 and his R rating in 1996. Despite his initial misgivings, Boehme found that the job fit him to a T.

“The best part of my job is being there if anyone has any questions, whether it’s the organizer, a rider or a judge,” said Boehme. “I want to give the best explanation in the most positive way.”

Boehme has lived on his Slow Journey Farm in Gordonsville, Va., since 1987 with his wife, Diana, and a barn full of retired show jumpers, as well as three of his own horses. He runs his own consulting and purchasing service for fabric stores (since 1975), but he keeps his schedule flexible enough to work around the horses.

He officiates at up to 25 competitions a year, mostly at events, but he fills in at dressage shows as well.
Boehme’s willingness to lend a hand whenever it’s needed has made him a popular official.

“Helmut is the kind of person who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty,” said Coleen Hersson, who
organizes the CDCTA Spring Horse Trials (Va.). “If the tractor’s sitting there, and it’s the day before the event, and something needs to get taken care of, he’ll hop right up to dump that load of bluestone himself. He’s a real team player, and that takes maturity and experience.”

Keeping His Cool
Since Boehme began officiating 21 years ago, he’s presided at competitions across the country, including Morven Park (Va.), Waredaca (Md.), Pine Top (Ga.), Groton House (Mass.), Greenwood (Texas), Seneca Valley (Md.), Rubicon (Va.), MeadowCreek Park Charity (Texas) and Lexington (Va.).

At the end of the day, it’s his people skills that keep his phone ringing with invitations to officiate.
“A TD must be a diplomat,” explained Hersson. “Your TD has to interact with everyone at the show, not just the riders, but the course designer, show jumping steward, dressage steward, cross-country fence judges—everyone. Plus, most of the sport is volunteer, so you need someone who can be pleasant and still get things done. Helmut really has the unique people skills to get it done, plus he’s incredibly good at his job. Plus he doesn’t sweat the small stuff.”

One of the most challenging moments in Boehme’s career came in 1995 at CDCTA when Christopher Reeve suffered his much-publicized paralyzing fall. All of a sudden the national spotlight shone brightly on his corner of the horse world, and journalists from across the country began hounding Boehme to appear on their morning shows. As one of the competition’s organizers, Boehme found himself the unlikely defender of the sport.

“It was a rude awakening, whether it was Christopher Reeve or Jane Doe,” said Boehme. “I learned about the press, and it was not positive. The horse stops in front of a fence—it happens all the time. That it happened in such a terrible way was horrible, but we shouldn’t make all this business out of it. I was glad when the attention was over, but it took two or three weeks.”

After two decades of keeping an eye on the galloping lanes, Boehme has spent plenty of time trying to keep the sport as safe as possible, but he acknowledges that you can’t control everything.

“We had one time at an event when a rider went to mount, and the horse flipped, and we had to get a helicopter in,” said Boehme, “It can happen anywhere, unfortunately. You have to anticipate that things could go the wrong way, keep a watchful eye and have proper training to keep accidents to a minimum.”
One of Boehme’s biggest pet peeves is watching riders breeze up the levels too quickly.

“I’ll see a horse going novice at an event I’m officiating in March, then see the same horse and rider going prelim in the fall, and it makes me flinch,” said Boehme. “And more often than not the riding looks worse in the fall. In the ‘70s and ‘80s the fences were nothing compared to now with safety. The courses have definitely improved—that isn’t the main problem. Yes, sometimes we have to remind the course designers to keep the technical aspects to a minimum, but really it’s the riders who need to be better prepared.”

Boehme credited his ability to keep a cool head to his upbringing in Germany.

“I grew up during the war and saw bombs falling, and now I enjoy every day I walk the earth. I enjoy everything I can afford, and when something terrible happens, I take it very much in stride,” he said.

Mollie Bailey