Acting like a grown-up.
The last couple of days have been filled by chore-completion and a touch of going out into the world.
I had a date wit Kevin (gag - I hate the phrase dating) on Friday. It was not stellar, but not too bad. We went to dinner then to the new Indiana Jones movie. I like Indy, really I do, but this movie was just over the top with cartoonish CGI and aliens. Is this what we have come to??
I spent most of my day yesterday being a big person. I really wasn’t sure that I wanted to, but did anyway.
There is a series of local Dressage (horse) shows that I started 4 years ago. I organized and ran everything, conscripted friends and family to volunteer, some coming from as far as Chicago just to help out. The organization that I ran this for was in favor of holding the shows (they made a great deal of money for the club) for the most part, the club members wanted to ride, which is understandable. Since I was hiring the judges and running the events, I did not ride but did coach some students as time allowed.
After three years, I got burned out. I passed the torch to two ladies in the club who picked up where I left off.
My gripe? Both of these ladies show their own horses on show day (at times they have brought multiple horses to show) and leave the volunteer staff on their own. This is just wrong. Many of the volunteers have no idea what happens at this kind of show and serious technical knowledge is required for many of the jobs. It makes me crazy. If you want to run a horse show just so you can collect ribbons from the judges you hand pick and pay, there is something wrong.
My dilemma is that I truly want to support the sport and help to encourage growth in the local Dressage community. I don’t support what these women are doing per se, but I do support the sport. Damn.
So, I spent the day volunteering for the most technical jobs that I could find. I was a scribe for the in-hand classes (where the horse’s conformation and movement are judged without a rider on them - the judge has a score card with lots of little boxes that need to be filled out with scores and relevant comment, the scribe scribbles furiously into the boxes so the judge can do her job). I scored the in-hand and Dressage tests (it sounds easy, but there are collective marks, error deductions and coefficients to take into account, then everything needs to be tallied correctly so a percentage score can be arrived at).
The huge benefit of doing this is that I was able to spend time with my client Barb, who happened to be the judge. She is a riot!
Only one of my students (9 year old Kiersten) was participating, but she won a bevy of ribbons, even beating the two ladies who ran the show in her Dressage Equitation classes. She earned Reserve Grand Champion Equitation rider, which was a huge honor, especially as she was one of the youngest riders in attendance.
Another friend, Christel, who is a professional photographer was at the show doing her job. I haven’t seen her for months, so it gave me a great opportunity to catch up. She had been at the Rolex 3-Day Event in Kentucky a few weeks back (I have never been to this American pinnacle event, this year because of all of the travel to Chicago and responsibilities that entails). I am so jealous! She goes every year to work on her craft and just have some fun watching the world’s top riders tackle the incredible cross country course.
One of my favorite riders, Olympian Darren Chiacchia had been very badly injured in a fall while on the cross country course at the Reed Hill Horse Trials back in March when his horse took a misstep, catapulting him into a jump. He spent 42 days in a coma. In my former life, as the advertising director of a national horse publication, I spent a great deal of time working with Darren and his Olympic horse’s owner Tim Holekamp. I have been closely watching his recovery and in regular communication with Tim and his wife Cheryl receiving updates.
(learn more about Darren here: http://www.eventrider.com )
The nice thing about the equestrian community, is that there actually is a sense of community when things like this happen. There have been fund raising events across the country, including several activities at Rolex. Knowing I am a fan and acquaintance of Darren’s, Christel purchased some items that were being sold as a benefit to help with his medical expenses. Hoping that I might be there, she brought them along to the show for me. What a considerate and thoughtful friend!
Back in the real world, my client/friend stopped by after the show to pick asparagus, see the new baby and do some catching up. We started planning for our trip to Devon in September, which is exciting as it may be where Darren’s horse Windfall makes his Grand Prix Dressage debut under fellow Olympian Robert Dover. Barb’s horse Sandor is also scheduled to make his GP debut with rider Patti Becker, so it is heady stuff. I will be showing 3 or 4 young horses in-hand, vying for the Born In the USA award, which honors the top American-bred Warmblood horses.
Dinner took a group of us, including the ever-traveling Jeff, to dinner then on to see Michael Murphy and the Mob at a local tavern. The music was good, the company very nice, the bar on the seedy side. I miss the pub.
Next Saturday is Ballyhoo’s to see Sunspot. I love seeing these fine folks perform (especially without having to travel to do so). To support the local music scene, I think everyone who reads this blog should bring a few friends and come out to see Sunspot with us.
Acting like a grown-up. | Animal Breeding Resource Page said:
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBoth of these ladies show their own horses on show day (at times they have brought multiple horses to show) and leave the volunteer staff on their own. This is just wrong. Many of the volunteers have no idea what happens at this kind of … […]
May 25th, 2008 at 11:22 am #