Do you help at your riding club shows?

TequilaMist

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Talking members here.If not why not?Or are you a member that just competes?Just wanting to see what peroples thoughts are on this?
I will help at any of the shows I can .Usually all the shows because as do dressage(not very well I might add) am not competeing all day so can usually work some spare time in and if daughters jumping I'm spare anyway.It does seem to be the same people you see helping at each show and the usual folk that just compete that you know are members.
I'm a b***** and think if you can't help at least at one show I wouldn't let you compete at any shows!!Then prob wouldn't have any members left in club lol so probably good am not in charge there.
 

holeymoley

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I agree! I'm on committee so if not riding I usually help set up/clear away or just steward. It's an awfully long day. If competing I find it a very long day so I do usually just want to get back as still need to muck out etc! I also work shifts so come weekends I'm knackered and a show is a privilege to be able to get to! But yes, there are the usual bunch that just leave without a word or anything to help.
 

alliebaxter

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hi its a condition of our membership that you set up or take down at at least one show in the season.
if you don`t do that then all points are removed from the end of year championship.
but you still get the regulars that turn up to help all the time & those that only do the one show as forced too!
 

tinap

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I'm on the commitee for our pc branch & we have those members that help everytime, support all our social events & are generally always available if we need help. We also have those that come, watch their kids ride & us lot struggle lugging stuff about & then leave. They also never ever come to any extras like training or social events. It is very frustrating. We did state that it is a condition of membership that they must help at lease once but have found this hard to enforce. I have actually heard one parent say "why should we help when we pay this much membership fee?"!!! A very polite letter went out after that just reminding people that the commitee are unpaid volunteers & that a large amount of the membership fee goes to HQ!!!! She wound me up big style!
 

zoelouisem

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I help out where I can with daughters pc. But again it's the same people doing it again and again.
I try and help set up the day before shows as its quite hard on the day with an 8 year old and a pony to be off doing something.
Sometimes I can't always help as I work with horses so work weekends but do try to if daughter is competing. I've also offered a hand for camp.
How can parents say pc membership is expensive I think it's for reasonable for the year espeacially with the insurance included!! And also the training/rallies ect you'd never get those prices elsewhere!!!
The only thing I find expensive is the pc shows but that's often to offset the rental of the venues!!!
There's always people that expect something for nothing though!!!
 

Jnhuk

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I would say out of our RC membership only 30% actually put something back in to the club in terms of helping out..... despite all the committee's efforts to make it easy for folks to help and sometimes we have to blackmail or threaten to pull an event if we don't get folks coming forward to help.

However, it is always the same faces offering to help. We make it a condition for our team members that they must help if they want to on a team and we have a helpers award.
 

Lolo

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What I'm looking forward to next year is that after 7 years of being on the committee (so helping at and organsing each show), and more years before that helping at every show, my mum has resigned. So we won't be the only muggins left packing up the showground at the end of the day, or doing the gate when she really needs to be helping my sister out or in the entries bit when he wants to watch us compete.

So next year, we are not planning on helping at all :D

(she still runs the big PC ODE, happily. People there are much politer though, and fall over themselves to say thank you...)
 

Nicnac

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Yes and do the newsletter. It's a rule that every member needs to help out at 2 shows a year but unfortunately this isn't adhered to.

It's so frustrating as it's always the same people doing everything. We are just changing Chairperson so will be interesting to see if sanctions are imposed for those who don't help - maybe cheaper entries would be a good idea for those who help out?
 

Pearlsasinger

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Our RC is just the same as all the others mentioned on here - we'd be quite pleased if 30% of the membership helped. We did think aboput lower entry fees for helpers but apparently that would affect our insurance cover, as it would be considered to be payment for the work done.
 

Jnhuk

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Our RC is just the same as all the others mentioned on here - we'd be quite pleased if 30% of the membership helped. We did think aboput lower entry fees for helpers but apparently that would affect our insurance cover, as it would be considered to be payment for the work done.

That 30% figure included the committee so if you take them out of the equation, more like 10%
 

Britestar

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It's a problem faced by every Club. Our members want us to run an ODE next year. Fine but we'll need upwards of 40 helpers (4 dressage arenas). We struggle to get 6 to help at SJ, how the h*ll we going to get 40????
 

Theocat

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We also have a rule that everyone has to help at a least two things a year, and I think it's fair to say not everyone sticks to it ... but I'm in charge of helpers next year and I'm definitely going to be cracking the whip - no-one can compete if no-one volunteers, so it's just bad manners not to.
 

TRECtastic

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i help out at comps when i can , the riding club i belong to offers vouchers to anyone helping out , either £5. or £10. to be used for entry fees,membership etc , so far this season ive got £35. :D
 

Jnhuk

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It's a problem faced by every Club. Our members want us to run an ODE next year. Fine but we'll need upwards of 40 helpers (4 dressage arenas). We struggle to get 6 to help at SJ, how the h*ll we going to get 40????

I know exactly where you are coming from. Is there any chance that you can team up with another local PC/RC as find that way you have a bigger chance of getting all the helpers/FJs that you need. Alternatively, email round members to ask for names for ODE helpers and state that the ODE will not go ahead unless you can get at least forty names up front that are willing to be helpers for the whole day which gets a message across.

If you only can get percentage of helpers then it is up to the members to step forward if they want the ODE or not and you can give the excuse that you cannot run it without helpers
 

LeneHorse

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We have the same problems at our RC.
We have it stated on the membership form that all members must help out at one event but find that it is always the same people who volunteer. We don't really have enough people on the committee to take a tough line on enforcing this rule though, so they get away with it.
Still we always seem to get by and despite a lack of helpers we get a lot of compliments that our events are well run so maybe its quality rather than quantity that counts :) :)
 

YorksG

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We have the same problems at our RC.
We have it stated on the membership form that all members must help out at one event but find that it is always the same people who volunteer. We don't really have enough people on the committee to take a tough line on enforcing this rule though, so they get away with it.
Still we always seem to get by and despite a lack of helpers we get a lot of compliments that our events are well run so maybe its quality rather than quantity that counts :) :)

I think you are right about quality, BUT those that help at every event get fed up with it. Jumps are heavy and if there are only two women loading wings and poles into trailers at each event, eventually they say sod that for a game of soldiers and stop, the club then is left not knowing how to go on!
 

Sussexbythesea

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I'm on a RC committee and we do get helpers if we ask but that is hard work in itself. Even the committee are not always that committed. We want more members to take on responsibility for actually organising some events and clinics themselves rather than just "helping" as gone are the days when women didn't have full-time demanding careers and could spend all their spare time organising events and clinics. If we share the load we can do more overall.

We've now got a sub-committee who are going to organise a Combined training and do a bit more jumping training and we already have a Hunter Trial sub-committee - it's too much for the main committee of only 6 people plus President to organise everything. We run 9-10 dressage shows a year plus regular clinics and social rides. It's hard work!

This year we had a "best all round members prizes" which was substantial and winners got vouchers and rosettes. Next year we are thinking about discount on entries.
 

LeneHorse

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I think you are right about quality, BUT those that help at every event get fed up with it. Jumps are heavy and if there are only two women loading wings and poles into trailers at each event, eventually they say sod that for a game of soldiers and stop, the club then is left not knowing how to go on!

I know, we kind of hold things together with a wing and a prayer. Every year when we put together our events programme my heart sinks a bit and I think 'there goes my summer'. But I don't compete myself so may as well make myself useful. Don't get me wrong - quality is good but sometimes it would be nice to get a bit more 'quantity'!

Guess the RC movement depends on people like us lot who've replied to this thread.
 

Ella19

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I keep offering to help mine but given up now as I'm never taken up on the offer.

I've scored and fence judged for BE and written for BD. I'm experienced enough but they don't seem to want my help :(
 

Britestar

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Thing is, we used to run a hunter trials and an ode every year, but the price who used to help have all moved on/ kids grown up. Also many more riders have the attitude of I pay the
 

Britestar

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Entry fee so I don't need to help. Also as BE did more the riders all moved to that and didn't support the RC/PC so the course closed or got run down. Now with so many BE events cancelled or too expensive to run they want us to take up the slack.
 

showqa

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We have the two shows a year rule but in fact I did four this year happily. I ended up writing a couple of times which I really enjoyed and also it taught me a bit too.
 

holeymoley

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I'm wondering how you enforce the idea of members helping at already 1 event etc. I have the feeling we'd have people with excuses or plain and simply saying that the pay good money for it it etc so why should they help?! It's something we thought of doing before but lacked in the knowledge of enforcing it or keeping track
 

Goya

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It seems to be a country wide problem. we often have to coerce friends and family who are not even members to help run the competitions.
In fact we gave 2 presents at the recent AGM to 2 non members who had helped many times over the year.
We've tried all the ideas of vouchers, not allowing people to compete, have a trophy for the helper of the year deducting points, you name it we have tried it. If anyone has any more ideas I for one would be delighted to hear.

PS anyone free to dressage write or steward next Sunday 16th Dec? Hot lunch provided if you do all day.
 

TequilaMist

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Thanks for all replies god obviously a problem no-ones solved yet!!
and probably never will!!
Still am thankful and grateful that we have the clubs tho and will continue to support them.
 

rockysmum

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It's a pity you're so far away from us, we'd bite your hand off!

Which RC is yours?

I have helped in the past (sure its not yours) but honestly some of the club committee people are less than welcoming and can actually make people feel uncomfortable. Not just me that thinks that way either.

I think it would be worth putting someone nice in charge of organising helpers and make sure they didn't feel like spare parts.
 
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