year in review: volunteering

We’re slowly drawing to a close on another exciting year full of changes. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a full blown comprehensive ‘year in review’ type series, mostly because… Well. You all know. It can be a bit of work pulling it all together lol. 

With that said, however, I DO like to do smaller and more focused summaries of key aspects of my horsey existence. So let’s kick things off with a reflection on my volunteerism in 2025.

jump judging the Intermediate class at Plantation’s spring USEA HT

Longtime readers will remember that I actually first familiarized myself with formal eventing in 2014 by jump judging the cross country at my local club’s annual recognized event. I got to see legends like Phillip, Boyd, Sally, Ryan, Courtney, you name ’em, jump around what seemed to be impossibly enormous* tables, and it was hugely inspiring.

Ever since, and especially since the USEA rolled out the EventingVolunteers portal in 2017 (vastly simplifying the signup process!), volunteering at events has remained a key aspect of how I enjoy and participate in this crazy sport.

(*Preliminary looks less enormous to me today, tho still perhaps intimidatingly impossible!)

The average Area II volunteer spent ~2.5 days at events this year.

Especially in the last few years, when Charlie was out of commission more often than in, time spent volunteering filled an important gap in my horsey experiences. 

Chasing the 500hour Bronze Medal volunteer recognition award gave me a reason to stick around, stay active, keep participating, while I figured out how to get back into the competitive saddle myself.

My personal totals ticked up a bit unexpectedly, more on that below.

It always seemed clear, however, that bringing Doozy home would necessarily coincide with a drop in participation. Naturally, I still wanted to go to all the events — but as a rider again, yay!

And it’s been funny this year, too. A lot of local coaches and riders don’t necessarily ‘know’ me, per se, but they recognize me from stewarding so many warm up rings. And more than a few of them this past year remarked on how nice it was to see me from this new angle lol — looking up at me in the saddle, vs the other way around!

I spent more time at unrecognized events this year - like scribing dressage at MDHT’s October starter trial!

Oddly enough, tho, my overall volunteer participation rates… didn’t actually drop in 2025, compared to 2024. Quite the opposite, actually. Which honestly surprised me a bit, until I started digging into the numbers for this post.

Getting back to my roots in 2025 — my grassroots ;)

I’ve already written at great length my opinions on how the USEA could continue to foster and incentivize volunteer participation, so I won’t get into all that again. 

But one thing is clear, at least, from my experience: While I was chasing that 500 Hr Bronze Medal award,* I prioritized volunteering at USEA recognized events that would count toward that goal, at the expense of supporting grassroots unrecognized events (with notable exceptions including those organized by my local club). 

(*The prize for which was literally the worlds ugliest cheapest boxy white embroidered polo, exactly like what you wore in middle school…)

I still love the thrill of the FEI classes tho — and learned a new skill by timing the show jumping rounds at Plantation’s Fall International!

Not this year, tho! Because it turns out… Most organizers offer the same attractive volunteer rewards (like schooling passes or certificates) at ALL their events — and in some cases actually offer better rewards for folks who show up to the unrecognized stuff, since those events are often most in need of support.

And now that I’m actively riding and schooling and competing again, those schooling passes and certificates are actually being put to good use! Finally!

FEI events are technically a subset of my recognized category, although the volunteer experience is a little different re: rules and guidelines, and the presence of official FEI stewards.

Plus, not gonna lie, there’s something special about supporting the grassroots stuff. At least in Area II, there is a whole ’nother community outside the periphery of “USEA Sanctioned” events. A whole world of adult amateurs doing it for the love of the horse and the sport and literally no other reason, a world of folks (of all ages!) just starting to dip their toes into a new sport. 

Folks just like most of us, who want to get out and do the things — but maybe don’t really need all the trappings of “USEA” (especially re: the extra expenses!). 

Ain’t a bad way to spectate, tho!

And actually, one of my favorite volunteering memories from this past year was jump judging at the Fair Hill starter trial in July with my mom. It’s been a pretty challenging couple years for my family, with a lot of sadness and loss — this past spring in particular. 

Spending the day sitting in the air conditioned car, parked in the shade, watching the World’s Cutest Ponies (and occasionally retired 5* horses!) bop around little logs was the perfect antidote. We got to just sit there, make a radio call and mark a form every couple minutes, and otherwise just relax and enjoy the show. For those 5 hours, we were happily captive.

In a way, it’s reassuring and even exciting to see that volunteering roughly once a month can still fold in neatly with my schedule of actively training and competing. It’s something I love to do, for many reasons — not least of which being that familiarity can breed confidence and inspiration. 

Definitely something I want to carry forward in 2026, even if I no longer feel compelled to wrap the habit in any hard numbers or goals. What about you? Think you’ll do any volunteering in the coming year?