As some of you may know, I am the faculty "adviser" for my high school's equestrian team (really a liaison). At the first show this year, I spent the entire day hanging around watching and trying to be encouraging and was only slightly helpful. At the second show, I volunteered to help open and close a gate with another volunteer and was somewhat more helpful. Today, I really earned my keep. I opened and closed a double gate for both practice and indoor events, called riders to enter the ring, be on deck, and be ready to be on deck, let the judges know who the riders were and which school each represented, and kept the gateway clear (where horse and rider enter and exit the ring).I was pretty much on my feet and busy straight through from 8am until about 5pm. I sometimes had someone help, but for the most part, I didn't. I did the work of three people, but my pay reflected the extra work! I was paid three times what I would normally have gotten (3 x 0=0). For the first four hours or so, the weather could only be described as raw. The rest of the day was just chilly until the end of the show when the temperature shot up to about 52. There are many other volunteers who make a day like today successful, but I only know what I did. I am still aching even as I write this. The good news is that my school's team did pretty well - seventy-five percent qualified for the state-level show (that's three of four riders). For their first year in interscholastic competition, that's really impressive.
As my daughter won't be on the team until next year, she took some pictures and helped my wife at the food booth. Usually at a horse show where my daughter does ride, all she has to do is ride her horse and look great as is illustrated in the picture above. I don't do much except take pictures and schlep water, and, you know what? Overall, I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Later.
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