What do volunteers do?
The chapter doesn't run very well without volunteers! We try to make being a volunteer worthwhile by offering incentives like the opportunity to be included in the drawing to attend the amateur clinic and other chapter sponsored activities. But really, it's just a chance to hang out, meet some people, spend a few hours doing something different and get to see lots of horse and rider combinations in a short period of time (if you're volunteering at a show).
Besides volunteering at shows, many of the positions on our "Board Members" page are volunteer positions (like webmaster). So, if you don't want to volunteer at a show, but have another skill to offer, let us know and we'll try to put your skills to the chapter needs.
Volunteering at Shows
Following are the volunteer positions needed to make a show run, along with a short description of the job and the time involved:
Dressage Court Set Up/Take Down.
It usually takes about 1 1/2 hours to set up the dressage court the night before the show (we usually start around 7pm). If there is an experienced crew, sometimes it's even shorter. I think our record is about 45 minutes! All you need to be able to do is load poles and stanchions onto a truck or trailer and then unload them in the arena and set them up. There is always a supervisor for this task!
The take down crew usually goes a lot faster - no measuring or straight lines needed. Just taking down the poles and stanchions and loading them onto a truck or trailer and then moving them over to the storage trailer and unloading. This job usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
Scoring
Each test needs to be tallied throughout the show day. This involves using a calculator to add up the score for each movement and then calculating the percentage. We usually have several "shifts" of scorers, each working for a few hours. The score table is always in the shade!
Scribes
Each show has to have a scribe! Usually this is the job everyone wants. It's fun to hear what the judge has to say about each ride. It's tough though, trying to write down those remarks before the next move comes up. We often have a morning scribe and an afternoon scribe. Since we have been having schooling rides in the evening at the past couple shows, there has been a scribe for the evening shift as well. For more on scribing duties, check out "Dressage Scribe 101".
Runners
Runners generally spend their time walking over to the judge's stand to collect completed tests and bringing them back to the score table to be tallied. They also relay requests to or from the judge or maybe carry a message to the paddock stewards. Runners can drop in any time of the day - we generally have a few people at any given time who are "running."
Paddock Stewards
The Paddock Steward alerts riders when it is time to enter the arena and generally keeps order back by the in-gate. You'll have a clipboard with a list of riders in the order they are riding and indicating the individual time for each ride. This is a great way to meet people and their horses close up!
General Help
We always need people to pick up coffee in the morning or food for lunch. Plus there always seem to be other little things that need to be taken care of. If you can stop by for a few minutes at some point during the day, let the show secretary know and maybe we can get you set up with a little job to help us out!
I want to volunteer!
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