The Green Horseman

“If your actions don’t live up to your words, you have nothing to say.”

— DaShanne Stokes 

Last year I attended my first event as a spectator. I wasn’t able to view the first 2 phases but I drove up to Green Mountain Horse Association in South Woodstock, VT for the cross-country jumping phase. I brought my camera and a good friend.

We were in awe of all the eventers cruising around the miles of course and jumping such sizable solid obstacles. As my friend put it (I don’t quite remember the exact wording) “If I felt like a badass before; I’m humbled.”

We were able to walk around the course and I took some photos. I had a great opportunity to talk to the official photographer who, instead of writing me off and dismissing me, was happy to help me learn. He gave me some very useful tips in between taking photos of the preliminary level riders galloping down the hill at us and jumping a gigantic log into the water.

I went back later in the year with another friend for the same event, also to watch cross-country. As we sat on a beginner-novice table in bewilderment at its size (they look so huge when you sit on them) I noticed the jump judge. We talked for a little while; she had already ridden earlier and was now volunteering as a jump judge for the lower levels. I asked her about what it entails and how it works. I filed it away thinking it might be something I’d like to do someday….but I really want to take photos first.

In September we attended the fall horse trials at Larkin Hill. Again I noticed the jump judges but ultimately decided I wanted to work on more photography. I was feeling shy and unsure if I’d make a good volunteer and typically I do these events with friends so I wouldn’t want to hold them up while I worked.

Fast forward to this year. My friends were all busy and GMHA was hosting its spring horse trials. I really wanted to be there in time to see all the levels, and they start early…this year at 7:30am to make room for the new modified division being offered. Oddly enough GMHA is 2 hours from my home but 2.5 hours from my farm which is also 30 minutes from my home (and all of my friends are close to the farm adding an additional hour to my drive if we rode together). At this point, I was planning to go it alone. Maybe with my camera.

A few days prior to the event I looked at the GMHA event’s page and the volunteer page caught my eye. I perused some more. I finally decided well hey this is the time. I emailed to see if they still needed help and if I could even be useful never having done it before I obviously had a ROUGH idea of the job. She wrote back and said they’d be glad to have me and she’d start me with a straightforward jump to help me ease into it.

So there we have it. I kept saying “I’d like to volunteer someday.” “Maybe I’ll volunteer more next year.” I felt like a broken record and I loathe the idea of being all talk no action. I’ve grown up seeing it in the world so often that I pride myself on doing what I say I’m going to do. So I signed up.

I left my home at 4:15am so I could arrive at GMHA on time for our 6:30am briefing. I brought a book for any extended downtimes, a chair, and some snacks. I was stationed at Jump 1 for the preliminary and modified divisions and moved to jump 2 for training. It was exactly as described. Nice and straightforward.

Everybody there was so kind and helpful. People came out of their way to thank me for volunteering. I wasn’t sure how to respond, I felt so happy to be there at all. I found that a lot of the volunteers were competitors who unfortunately had to sit this one out due to either their health or their horses were temporarily out of commission. As I sat and watched I got my bearings. It didn’t take long to get comfortable and confident and it was an excellent chance to see several horses and different approaches to the same jump.

I stayed for the first three divisions but had to go home at lunchtime to clean stalls and ride my own horse. They provided a delicious lunch to eat on my drive home.

I didn’t bring my camera since I knew I’d have to be paying attention. As the first few riders passed and I got comfortable I found I was able to set up my phone’s camera for video to get some footage of the riders and still do my job well. From the video I was able to get some photos. They aren’t high quality nor could I call it “photography” but it’s still really cool to see some of these great shots and amazing horse/rider teams.

In all it was a fantastic day. If you love the sport I highly recommend you spend a day or even a half day volunteering to help make the event a success. Every little bit counts. I most certainly have plans to volunteer more throughout the year and next as time allows. I work full time, run a busy business, ride my horse as often as I can, and have my own family and friends to tend to. Despite my busy life I found time to pitch in. It didn’t feel like work either because I loved every minute of it.

So I challenge you to volunteer, even if it’s just once. Half a day. Something. Pitch in your time to an event you care about. You’ll meet great people and maybe even learn something in the process. But ultimately you are contributing to the success of that thing you love.

“If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, it’s real.”

— Anthony Robbins