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Volunteers



>> Anyone who is mean and wicked to the volunteers, should be made to
perform community service at the next ride. Something like painting the
numbers on 100 hostile horses wheeling butts

There's a difference in being rude to volunteers, and respectfully
disagreeing with them.  A *long* time ago I volunteered to do P&R's at a
competitive trail ride.  I'd only gotten started doing endurance and
learned to take a pulse.  Most of the horses were being led a couple of
miles into the pulse check and were at about 48.  One that looked
*really* fit came in and I couldn't get any pulse at all.  I finally was
able to "feel it" (I thought) and put 64 on her card.  Looking back I
know that I took my own pulse from the throbbing in my fingertips.  Would
she have been a horrible person to disagree with me because I was a
sanctified "volunteer"?  

I agree we have to be polite to our volunteers...but as a ride manager
I'd have been frustrated if a couple of my pulse takers were doing more
than taking pulses, and as a rider I'd have been frustrated. 

So often the riders are far more experienced than the volunteers, and I
appreciate a volunteer who accepts help when necessary.  At Hahira I came
into the 1st vet check with the leaders.  The pulse taker was using a
hand held heart monitor and couldn't get a pulse. Kaboot was her first
horse.  My husband was using ours on the other side and it was working
fine.  We didn't comment on our numbers, but she was very open in asking
advice on how to get hers to work. She knew not to have her regular watch
on the arm holding the heart monitor, but it turned out she didn't know
how to turn her heart monitor wristwatch on.  I helped her and she
thanked me.  I've had others act as if they thought I was cheating when I
tried to point out they were doing something wrong...like wearing their
own wristwatch next to it. (O.K. lady, I'll take that 60...and so will
everybody else in line!)

Angie
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