Fidgety
Well-Known Member
I've just spent the afternoon volunteering at an event where I was stewarding for the dressage. This is the first time where I've come away feeling that my time could have been much better spent, doing something that wasn't the equivalent of herding cats, preferably with my family who I see little enough of as it is.
Far too many competitors forget that their sport depends heavily on volunteers such as myself and that a little appreciation of how much we put into the sport so that they can have a day out would go a long way - and would probably mean that I and others volunteer our precious time for them in the future.
A dressage steward is not your mother. We will tell you if the class is running to time, where your arena is, whether the judge will use their car horn or bell, the number of the person who is in before you, show you the clock that we are working from - thereafter, it is not our responsibility to get you down the centre line. Riders, please :
* Announce yourself (as the sign says) when you come into the working in. Then I can help you with the above - and I also know
you've actually arrived at the event and will be participating.
* Don't tell me that you don't know what section you are in and expect me to look through 3 sheets of 20-30 competitors to find you, you should have checked that out when you got your times, again last night, and then again this morning before setting off. I am not your mother.
* DO NOT circle me on your horse as I am explaining everything in the paragraph above to you. I am not your mother, treat me better than that.
* Make sure you know what your number is when the steward is calling for you!
* Keep an eye on the time - your time is not an advisory, that is when you should be entering at A, not an approximation giving you just enough time for an extra canter if the class is running to time.
* On the subject of time - when your time is drawing close is not the time to go off and work in at the bottom of a 2 acre field - especially if you don't know your number and are therefore oblivious to the fact that the judge is waiting for you and the steward has been shouting and waving at you for the past 2 minutes! We are not your mother.
* And re the above - no, the judge DOESN'T peep their horn when they want you to work your way down from the top
of the said field. The judge is not your mother.
* When a steward has three or more rings, upwards of twenty people working in, three people wanting to announce themselves to you, please ask your friend to stop asking them how many more to go before you more than once - especially if both you and your friend have already been given all the information in the paragraph above - keep an eye on the person before you I told you about and the arena.
* If you are a friend, parent or groom - please do not interrupt the steward who is already helping a competitor. First come firsr served, I will not break off my conversation with that person unless you, your rider or horse have a limb hanging off.
* If you ask, we are only to happy to take your whip off you and lean it against our chair as you go in. Please don't announce you are throwing your whip down as you trot past me and expect me to pick it up and place it against my chair - I am not your mother.
* No matter how your test went, a thank you as you leave the arena makes us feel appreciated.
As ever when I volunteer, I have met some lovely helpful competitors, parents and helpers today, and yet it's just the handful that have made me come away today questioning whether this was a way I wanted to spend my spare time in future. The odds are I will because I love the sport, but I will be very careful to choose the days (and therefore classes) that I will volunteer my time for after I've had a check on the BE site what classes will run on which days. I've not enjoyed spending my free time metaphorically wiping noses for people who have all been old enough to wipe their own - most of my frustrations (apart from the young man who did the volt around me) were down to the adults and not the U18s.
Please be nice to us - we're supposed to enjoy the day too, because apparently that's why we do it
.
Moan over, off to fill a jug with ice and Pimms - I might be gone for some time
Far too many competitors forget that their sport depends heavily on volunteers such as myself and that a little appreciation of how much we put into the sport so that they can have a day out would go a long way - and would probably mean that I and others volunteer our precious time for them in the future.
A dressage steward is not your mother. We will tell you if the class is running to time, where your arena is, whether the judge will use their car horn or bell, the number of the person who is in before you, show you the clock that we are working from - thereafter, it is not our responsibility to get you down the centre line. Riders, please :
* Announce yourself (as the sign says) when you come into the working in. Then I can help you with the above - and I also know
you've actually arrived at the event and will be participating.
* Don't tell me that you don't know what section you are in and expect me to look through 3 sheets of 20-30 competitors to find you, you should have checked that out when you got your times, again last night, and then again this morning before setting off. I am not your mother.
* DO NOT circle me on your horse as I am explaining everything in the paragraph above to you. I am not your mother, treat me better than that.
* Make sure you know what your number is when the steward is calling for you!
* Keep an eye on the time - your time is not an advisory, that is when you should be entering at A, not an approximation giving you just enough time for an extra canter if the class is running to time.
* On the subject of time - when your time is drawing close is not the time to go off and work in at the bottom of a 2 acre field - especially if you don't know your number and are therefore oblivious to the fact that the judge is waiting for you and the steward has been shouting and waving at you for the past 2 minutes! We are not your mother.
* And re the above - no, the judge DOESN'T peep their horn when they want you to work your way down from the top
of the said field. The judge is not your mother.
* When a steward has three or more rings, upwards of twenty people working in, three people wanting to announce themselves to you, please ask your friend to stop asking them how many more to go before you more than once - especially if both you and your friend have already been given all the information in the paragraph above - keep an eye on the person before you I told you about and the arena.
* If you are a friend, parent or groom - please do not interrupt the steward who is already helping a competitor. First come firsr served, I will not break off my conversation with that person unless you, your rider or horse have a limb hanging off.
* If you ask, we are only to happy to take your whip off you and lean it against our chair as you go in. Please don't announce you are throwing your whip down as you trot past me and expect me to pick it up and place it against my chair - I am not your mother.
* No matter how your test went, a thank you as you leave the arena makes us feel appreciated.
As ever when I volunteer, I have met some lovely helpful competitors, parents and helpers today, and yet it's just the handful that have made me come away today questioning whether this was a way I wanted to spend my spare time in future. The odds are I will because I love the sport, but I will be very careful to choose the days (and therefore classes) that I will volunteer my time for after I've had a check on the BE site what classes will run on which days. I've not enjoyed spending my free time metaphorically wiping noses for people who have all been old enough to wipe their own - most of my frustrations (apart from the young man who did the volt around me) were down to the adults and not the U18s.
Please be nice to us - we're supposed to enjoy the day too, because apparently that's why we do it
.Moan over, off to fill a jug with ice and Pimms - I might be gone for some time
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I used to fence judge quite regularly and was amazed at the attitude of riders, as you say some of them don't seem to realise that their sport relies on their volunteers 
My terrible memory for putting faces and names together is actually quite helpful, as it means that I can generally reply honestly when asked, "Do you know who I am?"---"No, actually, haven't a clue." It also helps to have a very, very loud voice. Biggest cause of delay is generally not the riders (whom I rule with an iron fist), but dressage judges taking forever to write up the collective comments! 
.