United States Eventing Association

Scattered among the eventers and horses at the MARS Maryland 5 Star horse inspection in October were volunteers dressed smartly in matching red shirts. While all eyes were on the athletes, they worked behind the scenes, ensuring the event ran smoothly. The event was particularly special for volunteer Rebecca Proetto, who kept records and guided the athletes at the end of the jog strip.

This month’s VIP Volunteers are a mother and daughter duo who have a unique tradition that started over four decades ago: volunteering at the Kentucky Horse Park together. While both Marjorie “Marji” Hines and her daughter, Robinson Regen, have a pleasure riding background, and Hines used to work cattle with her father on the family farm, they knew very little about eventing when they first started volunteering.

Eventers are generally quite good at creating a welcoming community for people of all backgrounds and abilities, whether they’re brand new to the sport or competing at the five-star level. It’s not uncommon to see an upper-level rider taking their time to say an encouraging word or extending a hand to a new competitor.

If you’ve ridden at Fair Hill International (Elkton, Maryland) in the last decade, you’ve most likely ridden at an event put on with the help of volunteer Dennis Davis. Davis and his wife, Bobbie Davis, have been volunteering at Fair Hill for the last 11 years.

You might not know her name, but chances are, if you’ve competed at an event in South Carolina, Virginia, or other venues across the eastern United States, you’ve met Diane Bird.

Stuart Landrum and Laurie Garner have been helping direct riders to the dressage ring at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event for nearly 30 years, maintaining a calm and collected atmosphere for each pair in the final warmup ring before they head down the chute to the Rolex Stadium.

Since the mid-’80s, lifelong horsewoman and professional artist Debra Sue Waters has devoted countless hours to the sport of eventing, and last year topped the rankings of the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program in Area V. Assisting behind the scenes at an event just comes naturally to the Millsap, Texas, resident.

While not an eventer himself, Jim Moyer has been involved in the eventing community for five decades through his late wife, instructor Jean Moyer. When Jean died in 2020, Jim continued volunteering in the sport to stay busy in retirement and stay connected to the community he loves.

For Jameson Cahill, volunteering is a way of life, and she's enjoyed donating her time to events across Area IX. In 2023, she clocked 63.30 hours to top the Area IX USEA Volunteer Incentive Program leaderboard. Learn more about Cahill below!

It was by mere accident that David Slagle stumbled upon the horse world and the sport of eventing. "I'm not a horse person," he said, "but I discovered the sport. Really, Elisa Wallace is responsible, as I just happened to be watching YouTube videos and came across her mustang training videos, which led me to her. She posts cross-country helmet cam videos, and I started watching those and thought, 'Man, that looks like fun.' I didn't know anything about the sport. I spent my first few years in Lexington, Kentucky, but I knew about racing, not eventing. And I saw these videos and said, I want to go to one of those events."