United States Eventing Association

The VIP Volunteers: Ed and Leanne Barnett Dedicate Nearly 40 Years to Volunteering

Last month, readers met VIP Volunteer Rebecca Proetto, who volunteered at the MARS Maryland 5 Star horse inspection. This month, the focus turns to husband and wife Ed and Leanne Barnett who introduced Proetto to the art of running an efficient horse inspection at Maryland. Ed and Leanne undertake a 12-hour drive from their home in Indiana to Maryland just to volunteer at the event.

“My best friend, Stacey Blyskal, is the volunteer coordinator for Fair Hill International, and one year, they were looking for somebody to volunteer to do horse inspection,” Leanne said. “It would be something that you could do from afar, because there's really not much that you have to do beforehand. And so, she asked, ‘Would you do it?’ And I said, ‘Yes!’ So, we started going out for the big event at Fair Hill in the fall, and then it became the Maryland 5 Star, and I just continued on with the job.”

Leanne takes a big picture perspective on running the horse inspections. “My goal is to make it very efficient,” she said. “Every year we try to make it just a little bit better and a little bit more efficient. It's the first time that the competitors are seen by the judges, and so we want to make that go very smoothly for them, also so that the competitors and judges have a positive perspective going forward. I know that their goal, and everybody's goal, is to run a very professional event that people really enjoy so they'll come back.”

While Leanne is running the jog, Ed is putting his experience as a veterinarian to good use, as well as helping out wherever he can. “At the Maryland 5 Star, Leanne coordinates the jogs and then I'm out there with the vets, scanning microchips and passports and stuff,” he said. “On the Tuesday of the event, they put me in charge of parking all the RVs up on the hill. So, I get to meet Buck [Davidson] and Lauren [Nicholson], and all those people that come up there to park. That's really casual. We get to chat for a little bit while they're setting up, and their kids are usually there. That's pretty cool to get to meet those people.”

The Barnetts weren’t always a horsey couple. While Leanne started riding at 16, Ed wasn’t introduced to horses until college. “I was on a horse a couple times here and there, but I didn't start riding until I met Leanne in college, and then I was smitten,” he said.

“And here we are, 40 years later!” Leanne said, laughing.

The pair first started volunteering together in 1986 when they helped build the cross-country course for the 1987 Pan American Games, held in Indianapolis, under the guidance of course designer Paul Popiel. “We spent the whole summer of ‘86 and winter of ‘87 preparing for the Pan American Games. That was our big intro to volunteering, and we've been volunteering ever since,” Ed said.

Working as mounted stewards at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is perhaps their favorite role as volunteers. A highly competitive position, volunteers have to submit a resume for both themselves and their horse, as well as three or four references, and write an essay.

“It's a pretty in-depth [application]. The number one thing is that they've got to make sure they've got safe horses out there. Safety is by far number one on their mind, and I think they've done a great job,” Ed said. “Being a mounted steward is being a liaison for the sport—having the kids come around and surround your horse.”

“I looked down one time and there were nine kids petting my pony,” Leanne added.

“It’s an extremely popular position,” Ed said. “I think they're opening it up a little bit more, but it's been pretty much strictly foxhunters for many years now. For the most part, hunt horses are pretty bomb proof. They’re probably going to tolerate children and dogs and crowds the most, and they’ve proven themselves in the hunt field.”

Unlike other positions, volunteers can’t expect to be taken right off the bat. According to Ed, be prepared to wait a few years before being accepted to the position, if it’s the right fit. “It probably took us a couple of years of just kind of keeping our name in the hat before we were asked to send in a resume. Anybody that wants to be a mounted steward just needs to start getting their name on the waitlist and sending emails and saying that they have an interest,” Ed said. “It's really cool. It's well worth it. This will be our third year doing it. We don't have any plans to stop anytime in the future.”

Volunteering as a mounted steward is a big responsibility. Not only do the mounted stewards have to be good liaisons for the sport, but they may also escort retired horses back to the barn or vet box, and, most importantly, alert volunteers and spectators to a competitor’s approach.

“If you have been to Kentucky, you can follow the horse around the course by listening to the whistles, right? You have to buy a special kind of whistle that's very, very loud. Let me tell you, it is very, very loud when you blow,” Leanne said. “When the horse approaches the jump, we blow a whistle. Or when they approach a crossing. For example, I'm assigned a certain jump. So, when the horse comes up to the jump and is several strides away, you blow the whistle to say, ‘Hey, heads up, there's a horse coming.’ ”

“The crossing guards are listening for that whistle because they can't always see the competitor—they might be over a hill. If they can't see the horses, they're listening for those whistles so they can get the ropes up,” Ed added.

Whether they’re volunteering in their home state of Indiana or traveling to the East Coast for the Maryland 5 Star, Ed and Leanne enjoy working at events because of one common thread: the people.

“A lot of the people that come to events don't know a lot about the sport, and so just being able to talk to them about what's involved in training the horses and the competitors, and what we like about it—that's pretty cool,” Ed said. “Just talking to all the different people, that's probably the best part.”

Leanne and Ed feel like volunteering really gives them the chance to give back to a community that has done so much for them. While they’re avid fox hunters, Ed has ridden in four USEA American Eventing Championships, and Leanne is a national examiner and a chief horse management judge for the United States Pony Club.

“The riders say thank you. The judges say thank you. The people who are putting on the event say thank you. To me, that's worth it,” Leanne said.

Having been on both sides of the coin, Ed and Leanne know just how essential volunteers are to running a horse trial of any kind. “The bottom line is, we can't compete if we don't have volunteers. Volunteering is our way of paying back for the opportunity to compete,” Ed said. “We're gonna keep riding as long as we can and keep volunteering as long as we can.”

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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 ten 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.