The Sport of Eventing owes a huge amount to the astonishing family of Organisers and their teams of helpers (the vast majority of whom are totally voluntary) who run ESNZ Eventing Canterbury's 8+ events. Their enthusiasm, energy and dedication to the task is quite remarkable. Where would we be without them?

Many have been involved for years and have had to adjust to all the increased rules, regulations and the health and safety minefield of our present age plus the considerable growth in the number of runners for which they cater. Many would wonder what return they get back for their hard work – putting something back into a sport which has given so much pleasure, watching the pleasure and joy their competition gives to riders & owners, the challenge of it, raising money for local events, riders, charities or simply to boost their business income – whatever they glean from it, long may they continue.

The sport, and so too the events, have made giant strides in catering for a vast range of rider abilities and interest with an enormous choice of categories from pre-training, training, pre-novice, novice right up to intermediate, advanced and the Badminton levels of ability. Rules have to be maintained and course design monitored, with safety the highest priority and of course running and event to the highest standards dictated by ESNZ Eventing. Many competitors are blissfully unaware of the long, arduous and numerous tasks involved in setting up what equates to a small village in a field or major Army manoeuvre.

Organisers' Responsibilities

Dressage (with Dressage Convener)
Location
Arena Layout
Judges/writers/stewards
Arenas & Equipment
Refreshments
Expenses
Thank yous

Show Jumping (with Show Jumping Convener)

Location
Arena Layout
Judges/writers/stewards/timekeeper
Ring stewards/Commentator
Show Jump Hire/Equipment
Refreshments
Expenses
Thank yous

Cross Country (with XC Convenor)
Course Designer/Builder/Helpers/Repair
Fence Judges/Stopping Stewards
Score Collection
Equipment & Numbers
Start Team and Timekeeper
Collecting Ring Team
Control Team – location & personnel
Refreshments
Expenses
Thank yous

General
Layout – Marquees, Loos, Litter
Scoreboards/Prize givings
Medical & Veterinary Cover
Rosettes, Prizes, Badges, Car Passes
Sponsors
Marketing & Publicity
Secretarial on site – numbers,WDs, etc
Access & Traffic
Car Parking/Floats

Catering
Blacksmith
Tradestands
Programmes
Health & Safety / Crisis Management
Timetable, Entries & Balloting
PA system & communication
Omnibus Entry
Budgeting & Accounts

Again, this is where the delegation comes in – with three separate disciplines, an army of volunteers, infrastructure, marketing campaign, the accounts of a small business, one person cannot feasibly do everything! Most events start about six to eight months ahead of their event with initial preparations – organising helpers and officials, cross country course work (weather permitting), sponsorship seeking and renewal, etc. Then countdown in months, weeks, days, hours until the big event. When we’ve all enjoyed the event, there’s still lots of work to be done in taking everything down, repairing ground, thank you letters, accounts – usually a month’s worth before you can shut down until it all starts for the next year!