Volunteering #CovidStyle

Hope everyone had a good weekend!! Esp if it involved some fireworks :D

My plans got a little shuffled around, but worked out alright enough. Originally I had planned to check out the FEI cross country at MDHT's first big event of the year.... but sadly, no spectators allowed. Womp.

#CovidStyle

So instead, I got my horse show fix by volunteering in the show jumping warm up ring for the I / P / M / T classes.

This was my first time volunteering since the coronavirus pandemic fandango, so I figured it might be worth running through how things are different right now.

one of the check-in stations along the driveway. sorry for the glare off my windshield!

Perhaps most importantly -- there's a lot more paperwork. I guess it's a liability / insurance thing, but really any venue looking to hold any sort of event right now has gotta cross every 't' and dot every 'i.'

At Loch Moy, this involved a few "checkpoints" along the driveway into the venue.

this wristband makes me feel like horse shows are the new night clubs LOL

At the first checkpoint, they take your temperature and hand you a wrisband + some forms to sign. At the second checkpoint, those forms are collected as in the earlier picture.

Hilariously, this volunteer just aimed a giant fishing net toward my car window for me to place the forms, which were then immediately dumped into a large bin.

guys this hand washing station was LEGIT!

From there, tho, everything proceeded basically as normal, with just a few small distinctions -- like these super sweet hand washing stations!!

And obviously, everyone had masks and was very sensitive about not encroaching in personal space. Each horse was allowed I think one additional "help" person (meaning, riders who had multiple horses could have multiple helpers), but otherwise there were no spectators.

there might be a global pandemic going on, but pros still gotta pro!!

Which... Let's be real, there aren't really all that many spectators at your typical national horse trial anyway. Unless it's the Kentucky 5*, or just a verrry few FEI events (like the 4*-L formerly held at Fair Hill, or Jersey Fresh and Plantation's big events), eventing in the US really just doesn't seem to draw much of a crowd.

Especially when compared to similar events in the UK and Europe, where whole families seem to come out to spend the day picnicking in the park watching horse sports. Idk, it always just kinda amazes me tho LOL!

and gosh i just love watching the warm up ring.
nbd, just Liz Halliday Sharp and Allison Springer jumping in sync...

Anyway, tho, back to the point. Loch Moy is always super organized anyway, so it's no surprise that they have individual plastic tubs for each volunteer stand -- whether that's the dressage, SJ or XC warm ups, in gates, start box, etc., materials for scribes, judges, timers, you name it.

Everything is pre-sorted into labeled lidded tubs. Clipboard, order of go, radio, pens, markers, and a few other extra odds and ends just in case. Each volunteer station also gets an umbrella and stand, chairs, and a cooler packed with various beverages.

could see most of the show jump ring from my station!

As far as I'm concerned, tho, so long as I have a clipboard and order of go, I'm happy.

Personally, my favorite volunteer positions are in the warm up rings. Ideally for jumping, but really any warm up ring is fine. It's always such an interesting energy and atmosphere -- everyone is so focused in anticipation of what's to come, ya know?

obligatory round for your gratification -- Ryan Wood on his zillionth T horse

Plus, personally I enjoy watching the riding that happens in warm up rings, too. Seeing how people prepare, and all that. How the pros might be doing it differently than the amateurs. Or how riders at the higher levels do things differently from me.

For instance, the typical SJ warm up ring has a crossrail, vertical and oxer jump. I've mostly done N and below, and at those heights, you don't need a whole heckuva lot of build up. Like, Charlie is absolutely fine warming up for jumping with his second fence being at 3'. And actually, the one time we did T, I just went for the at-height fences right away too.

could spy on the vet box too!

But actually, riders at the higher levels spent a lot more time adjusting fences in the warm up (generally with the assistance of a trainer or working student). Starting lower then building up. Some asked for different configurations of placing poles and/or ground lines. And most seemed to want to end on first a big square oxer then one last trip over a high vertical.

Interesting food for thought haha.

guys, this visor mask shield thingy is a game changer --- my sun glasses even fit under it!!!

Honestly, tho, there isn't always a ton of time for concentrating on watching when you're checking in riders and funneling horses to the in gate.

My method for approaching the warm up ring madness is basically to impose my order on the chaos haha. I've got the list and the ride times, and generally want to stick to that list as closely as possible within reason.

It's worth checking with the judge about that, tho, since most optimally prefer to keep a horse in the ring at all times. If that means taking horses slightly out of order, so be it. Considering there are usually pros with multiple horses per division, you gotta be flexible anyway to keep them moving so that they can get all the horses done in time.

Generally, riders seem happiest when they know what to expect re: timing. Common questions to the steward might be about whether the ring is running ahead or behind, and how many horses are in front of any particular rider. So long as you can answer those questions, most riders don't mind if you deviate from the order of go.

lol and even glitter nail polish can't fix the horrors of the #HorseShowTan (hint: is actually dirt LOL)

Overall, it was interesting how little the whole scene has changed with respect to Covid. Aside from the masks and extra consciousness about social distancing, the show went on as normal.

Like, even tho it was an intensely hot day, we had very few scratches. Honestly everyone just seemed happy to be out at all. Which ya know, me too, haha...

It was good to get out into that environment again -- esp in a way that felt safe with realistic risk mitigation. Esp since this event finally pushed me over the 100hr threshold for volunteering at USEA recognized events (not counting the many many more hours spent at local schooling or non-USEA stuff in recent years). Which is kinda cool lol.

Would be cooler if USEA recognized stuff like that lol... Rewards programs attainable by mere mortals like myself with day jobs. Like... WTF USEA, do you realize your lowest national recognition level starts at 500 hours -- the equivalent of working full time for 4 months???

Oh well. It's still nice to hit 100, even if it's a meaningless number haha. And nicer still to be out at a show! Who knows what will happen this fall, but I'm hopeful about getting a chance to get Charlie out at least once or twice if possible too!