One of my favorite days so far this summer was the afternoon I spent scribing for a dressage judge during the Surefire Horse Trials in Virginia.

It’s been several years since I’ve evented and volunteered at a horse trial, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed the sport and the people involved. When a friend asked me to scribe, I hesitated at first since I’d never done it, but I actually found it even more fun than fence judging on cross-country!

I think part of the reason scribing piqued my interest—in addition to the knowledgeable and entertaining judge I sat with—was the wide variety of horses and riders that I observed during the beginner novice divisions we presided over.

Volunteering is quite different than simply spectating at an event. Truthfully, it’s doubtful I would have watched an entire division of beginner novice dressage if I didn’t have to. And that’s unfortunate, in some ways. Yes, it’s exciting to watch the top dressage horses and riders compete at the Grand Prix level at championship competitions, but at this, the other end of the spectrum, I was inspired by the sheer enthusiasm and perseverance shown by the wide variety of competitors.

It was heart-warming to observe the many kind souls that carried their beginner riders around their often-challenging 20-meter circles and down squiggly centerlines. And, of course, there were the star-struck equines competing at their first competitions and announcing to the world that they were alone in the ring. This is where everyone starts, and it was a pleasant reminder that each advanced-level superstar of today once had a yesterday like this.

After watching these riders’ tests and writing many, many comments that I hoped they’d find valuable, I felt a connection to them that went beyond just observing that their second canter transition was much improved and scored a 7. It was gratifying when the nervous riders and horses relaxed as their tests went on, and I inwardly rooted for them to improve their scores.

Like many busy Americans—who have a family, profession and time-consuming passion (horses)—I find it challenging to fit in volunteering. A study released this week by The Corporation For National And Community Service, found that nationally 26.7 percent of adults said in 2006 that they’d volunteered in the previous year. The study cited several demographic and social factors contribute to higher volunteer rates, including home ownership, short commutes to work and high education levels.

I believe that if horse people were surveyed specifically the percentage of those volunteering would be much higher. At Surefire alone there were 75 volunteers who gave their time, and that’s just one two-day event! In addition to the obvious demographic factors in our favor, we horse people have a strong community bond that transcends into a desire to roll up our sleeves and participate.

In the hunter/jumper world, volunteering isn’t as crucial for competitions to succeed, however. In this week’s Between Rounds column, “Participating In The Process Is Every Members’ Duty,” (p. 27) Bill Moroney hopes that more competitors at horse shows will volunteer a little of their time to assist in competition evaluation. It’s incredibly important for each person to participate in the process, whether the evaluation is positive or negative, as this input is critical for the U.S. Equestrian Federation to correctly evaluate and license these competitions.
 
Each of us has something important to give back to the sports we love so much, whether it’s our time or our opinion, and it’s important to remember that the smallest actions we take can have lasting affects on others—and even on ourselves.

Tricia Booker