United States Eventing Association

If you rode at the this year’s USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds (AEC) at Galway Downs in Temecula, California, chances are high you were greeted at the warm-up ring by volunteer Suzy Edwards. Edwards has dived headfirst into the world of eventing, following on the heels of her daughter, Jenna Edwards. At 20 years old, Jenna is competing at the Novice level and hopes to move up to Training next year. Together, Suzy and Jenna have been volunteering for over a decade.

Originally from Orange County, California, Suzy wasn’t able to ride growing up, but as soon as she left home and moved to a more agricultural area, she bought her first horse. While she rode both English and Western, Suzy focused her energy on barrel racing and reining. Now, she says, those days are mostly in the past.

“I do occasionally ride, but it's really all about my daughter at this point,” Suzy said. “I tried really hard to keep her out of the horse arena at a very young age, and I was very unsuccessful. She's always been obsessed with horses.”

Like her mother, Jenna did it all but discovered eventing and fell in love with the sport. Suzy did, too.

“The atmosphere of eventing– having a young child was amazing. It was really the environment that I wanted her to be in,” she said. “They're very supportive and encouraging. Even if someone makes a mistake, the riders are always laughing it off and talking about what they could do differently next time. I thought that this would be a good place for my daughter.”

When Jenna was young and in Pony Club, Suzy and Jenna would volunteer together. Now, while Jenna is able to volunteer on occasion, Suzy has been the one who really found her home volunteering at local horse trials. Now, Jenna rides while Suzy volunteers.

“I'll take a break from volunteering and run over and cheerlead and watch her compete,” Suzy said. “So now I mostly go to events that she competes in, unless there's something local. I'll still go in if they need help.”

As her daughter grew, Suzy felt that volunteering together taught her some important life lessons.

“It's always good to give back when you can, of course,” Suzy said. “Patience– being able to stop and watch the styles of riding from other competitors. You get different perspectives. It's almost like auditing. When you're jump judging for a trainer, you get to see all kinds of things going on.”

“You really learn a lot more about the sport when you're right there in front of it,” she continued. “We would spend a lot of time jump judging. You can't really get any more up close and personal than that. We're hearing the radio all day with the announcers and the other judges calling out their fences, and you start learning the rules.”

These days, Suzy spends most of her time keeping a lid on the chaos of the warm-up ring as a ring steward. She says the close-knit nature of the Area VI eventing community makes her job easier.

“I've gotten to know quite a few of the riders in our area, so it makes it fairly easy to spot them in the arena to know who they are. The more you do it, the easier it gets,” she said. “I do my best to keep the number of horses down so that everybody has an opportunity to warm up in a safe space. There are usually options nearby where they can get started with their flat work and then come in when it's closer to the ride time. If they arrive a little early, I try my best to keep the rings on time, if not running early. It gives us all a little bit more flexibility, and it does keep that warm-up ring safer, because you don't have so many horses.”

To Suzy, the most important part of volunteering is to do your best to support every rider’s needs.

“There's so many young riders out there, and they're impressionable, they're nervous,” she said. “I want to make sure they have the best experience. So, I don't mind if those young riders ask me 100 times, ‘How many riders do I have until I go?’ If they're having a moment at warm up, we try to work with the trainer in the background to allow those few extra minutes so that they can get their confidence back before they have to go into the ring. Those kinds of things are important.”

A resident of Southern California, Galway Downs is Suzy’s home event, but she also volunteers at Twin Rivers, as well as local events like Shepherd Ranch and Fresno. As it was held at Galway Downs, Suzy was the ring steward for several arenas during the AEC.

“I was probably a little bit nervous to do it because I didn't know what to expect coming in,” she said. “There were a lot of new faces, which was super exciting. I really liked it. It was great to make small talk with people and find out where they came from, what their background is. You feel like you just met some new friends. You really get to know different riders, personality types, what needs they're going to have to get them into that start box comfortably.”

Jenna also rode at the AEC in the Novice Rider division. She came home with the title of Reserve Champion aboard RHF Peterzano. Volunteering at the events Jenna competes in doesn’t just allow Suzy to cheer her on; it also brings this mother and daughter pair closer together.

“It definitely brings us closer,” Suzy said. “It's an amazing friendship that we have now. I'm really glad I get to go out and support her, and this is something that we can do together, right?”

A third generation has started joining Suzy and Jenna at events– Nelda Wamsley, Jenna’s paternal grandmother. “Now it's the three of us, three generations. Nelda does some volunteering, and she goes out and supports my daughter as well. It's brought us all girl time,” Suzy said, laughing.

“[Nelda] is amazing, she's dynamic,” she continued. “She wasn't able to make it to the last show, and already all the volunteer ladies are asking for her. She's one of those people that brings joy. She's that little grandmother that squeals and smiles, and she's so proud of her granddaughter. It just makes me so happy.”

According to Suzy, volunteering isn’t only about spending time with her relatives. Working at events has also enabled her to stay connected with her chosen family.

“We started volunteering when Jenna was in Pony Club and a handful of those same people are still volunteering,” she said. “It's nice to catch up and touch base. We all continue to cheer each other on and be supportive of each other. It is like that second family. Thanks to volunteering, you get to maintain those friendships.”

About the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport—the unsung heroes, and the people who make it possible to keep eventing alive. In efforts to recognize the dedication, commitment, and hard work that volunteers put into eventing, the USEA formed the Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) in 2015. In 2017, an online management portal was designed for volunteers, organizers, and volunteer coordinators at EventingVolunteers.com, which is also available as an app for iOS and Android.

Volunteer incentives include national and area recognition, year-end awards, a top 10 USEA Volunteer leaderboard, and a Volunteer of the Year award which is given to the volunteer who accumulates the most volunteer hours on EventingVolunteers.com at recognized events throughout the USEA competition year. Click here to learn more about the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program.

The USEA would like to thank Horse Illustrated for their support of the Volunteer Incentive Program.