volunteer report: plantation field HT

Longtime readers will already be super familiar with my penchant for volunteering at horse trials around Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. And also my somewhat cynical view that the current model of volunteer reliance in our sport is unsustainable without further investment and support from the USEA.

they ordered perfect weather for this show!

I’m worried about the coming year too — given everything else that’s going on in the world. It’s already an expensive and demanding sport. Finding the spare time (and gas money) for a day of jump judging may feel increasingly unrealistic for many folks who might otherwise be inclined. 

this unique venue’s xc course basically cascades down a giant hillside, complete with ruins natch

It’s possible my pessimism is a direct result of this weekend’s experience, too: one of Area II’s most iconic venues (and home to an absolutely fantastic Fall 4* International), Plantation Field, was so hard up for volunteers this weekend that they risked not being able to run at all — with organizers forced to make personal phone calls right up to the day before the event soliciting prospective volunteers for even half a day’s time.

Chris Talley’s MBF Firebrand looks like how doozy imagines herself

These events can not run without volunteers. There are not enough paid stewards and members of the ground jury to facilitate horses through the phases (especially in a timely manner when individual riders may be competing multiple horses), and safely oversee the cross country event. 

Sure, a single jump judge can often manage multiple fences (especially at a venue like Plantation, with its expansive hillside profile)… But combinations with accuracy questions or narrow faces, like corners and wedges etc, often need the judge positioned strategically to observe the horse passing clearly through the flags, and be close enough to put those flags back in place when they are inevitably knocked down throughout the day. 

intermediate trakehner rode great all day, as shown here by Caitlin Reamy & El Patrone

Other fences, like frangible and MIM style jumps, similarly need the jump judge to be close enough to actually inspect the device any time the jump may have had a hard knock.

Obviously, tho, the absolute most fundamental job of the jump judge is to be the warm body with eyes on the rider and radio in hand in the event of an accident. It is unimaginable that something catastrophic could happen at a recognized event and go undetected for lack of sufficient jump judge coverage.

and local legend Sally Cousins with Truly Wiley

Whether or not you feel like the USEA should do more in facilitating and incentivizing the volunteer pipeline (as I do) rather than relying on each individual organizer and venue to cultivate their own volunteer pools… Anybody who participates in the sport and appreciates the relatively low costs for membership and entry fees (compared to say, typical rated h/j stuff) might worry about venue owners shifting away from eventing if running horse trials feels increasingly complicated, risky and expensive.

and Canadian team rider, Lisa Marie Fergusson on Raytheoin Quality Imp!
(all you Welsh Cob lovers out there should look up her longtime partner Honor Me!)

And, of course, there are more specifics related to this particular case, too. You might remember a giant controversy a few years ago when, in the wake of the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement’s ascendency in national consciousness, Eventing Nation took a moral stand against Plantation Field bc of connotations with the name. 

My understanding is that things got heated and personal behind the scenes, and of course social media was aflame with strong feelings. 

next up — a MIM table on the prelim course! these frangible devices require a jump judge to be positioned close enough to do regular checks throughout the division in case of hard knocks

Not gonna lie, tho, guys — it always felt a bit like misplaced anger to me. Especially when you consider the same publication, Eventing Nation, has since done significant sponsorship work with Morven Park — another incredible iconic local venue down in, uh, Leesburg, that… actually does include owning and housing slaves as part of its history as a plantation. 

Not trying to cast aspersions on Morven Park here, either, guys. It’s a lovely place that I’d go to way more often if it weren’t on the other side of DC from me. 

Lee Maher’s HTF Charming Cooley wasn’t touching it tho!

But rather, my point is that this publication — with whatever influence it has — took a very public stand against a venue whose historic use of the word “plantation” relates to tree farming, and continues refusing to this very day to name or cover the event itself. Instead it’s listed as the “Unionville Event” (for the venue’s location) and otherwise basically ignored. 

another local (adopted) legend, Australian rider Ryan Wood with Cooley Maestro

Which… Fine. Every publisher is allowed their own standards. From the most modest bloggers (like me!) to national legacy print media, we all get to choose what we cover, how, and why. 

i could only stay thru modified, so my last assignment was this crazy roller coaster, ridden here by Tiffany Wandy & CV Outlaw

But I was recently rereading Originals by Adam Grant, and he introduces a topic of “horizontal hostility” that really reminded me of this exact scenario. His case study was on Lucy Stone and her role in the women’s suffrage movement — and the rivalry that broke out between her and other suffragists at the time. A rivalry that risked fracturing the entire movement.

According to Grant, “horizontal hostility” arises in group dynamics, and is reflective of the small differences that drive apart otherwise aligned groups. A typical dynamic includes the differences between purists and more moderates. Issues with the “true believers” and folks who might be more peripheral. Another example he shared was the frequent friction between vegans and vegetarians, with vegans often spurning vegetarians as not being “true” supporters of the cause. 

Elle Stephenson & Treasury Stock made it look easy too

That passage immediately reminded me of countless other instances where I could think of people who might otherwise appreciate the same things, like the same sport, share the same values, instead find themselves at odds bc of disagreements on the details. 

There seem to be countless ‘tribes’ among equestrianism, too, right? Shod vs barefoot, bits vs bitless, stalls vs turnout… and that’s before you even get to the particulars of any given sport. 

it was Conrad Alexander and Just My Style, tho, who won the class

And I guess I’m not really necessarily trying to get into all that, or pick the scab on a sensitive and nuanced issue in our society — at a time when ‘nuance’ and ‘sensitivity’ themselves seem to have been completely discarded by the powers that be. 

Except to say that… Listening to the book’s segment on “horizontal hostility” got me thinking about all the times in my life where conflict, friction or controversy has arisen between friends, groups or similar associations in ultimately devastating and counter productive ways. Whether for me personally, or for issues I care about. 

anyway. there’s video if you’re into that sorta thing moreso than the words!

I honestly don’t even really know if there’s any relationship at all between that and Plantation’s severe volunteer shortage this weekend, either. It’s probably a fluke. Or one of those random convergences of many small issues (for example, changes in key operational roles within the venue in the last year leading to gaps in coverage, etc). 

Or ya know. Maybe it’s just Mother’s Day weekend and people are busy. Who knows, right?

all in a day’s work!

It got me thinking, tho. And so here I am writing about those thoughts. 

So. Eh. If nothing else, there are pretty pictures and some cool video clips of amazing horses and riders doing their thang. Or this could be the reminder you needed to remember to sign up for a volunteer shift at your favorite venue sometime soon. 

Or, maybe, it’s a reminder to myself — for any of us, really — in this weird strange and ominous era, to be more thoughtful in looking beyond purity tests among those who would otherwise be friendly and/or aligned with our vision for the world we want to be a part of. To focus on the values we share, the areas that bring us together, and our common goals.