United States Eventing Association

When competitors arrive at Larkin Hill Horse Trials in the early morning hours, they’re stepping into a world that Crystal Santos has quietly, tirelessly helped hold together. A Novice-level amateur rider and the event’s longtime volunteer coordinator, Santos is one of those behind-the-scenes forces whose steady presence helps keep events running smoothly. Her mission is simple but essential: making sure the volunteers who power the sport feel supported, prepared, and appreciated.

“It’s a labor of love,” she said. “Most of us aren’t getting paid, and it really does take an army. But I love organizing, I love horses, and I love helping people have a great day at a horse trial.”

Santos’s volunteer story began long before she ever picked up a radio at an event. “I started in high school,” she explained. “There was a requirement that you had to volunteer and give back to your community, and I just never stopped. I said, ‘OK, well, what do I like doing?’ And it was horses.”

Because she couldn’t afford a horse of her own at the time, Santos began spending Saturdays at High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Center in Old Lyme, Connecticut. “It was great,” she recalled. “I showed up, and it was all about getting the horses ready for their lessons—grooming, tacking up, making sure the right saddles were on the right horses, then putting them away afterwards.”

Eventing followed soon after. As a junior, she started riding at Mystic Valley Hunt Club in Gales Ferry, Connecticut, and got hooked on the sport’s unique sense of camaraderie. “Even if you don’t know the person, you still want them to succeed,” she said. “At Rebecca Farm [Kalispell, Montana], someone forgot their bridle, and we were all pulling apart bridles to make her a new one so she could go do her course. Nobody wanted her to miss out. That’s what I love about eventing—everyone wants each other to succeed.”

Larkin Hill—owned by event organizer Margie Hutchison—hosts two USEA/USEF recognized horse trials each summer in North Chatham, New York, along with several schooling shows throughout the year. When Santos later moved to the Capital Region of New York, she boarded her Hanoverian gelding, Dr. Pepper (“Fizz”), with Hutchison at the facility. Her step into the volunteer coordinator role happened almost instantly. “I said, ‘Margie, what can I do to help you?’ And she replied, ‘You’re my volunteer coordinator.’ That was all it took.”

Since 2019, Santos has taken ownership of that role, implementing structure and strategy into Larkin Hill’s volunteer program. “One of my best tools is my color-coordinated spreadsheet,” she said. “I can filter volunteers and track who has completed waivers, who’s confirmed, who’s a maybe, who’s traveling, and who might return in the future. I pull information from the USEA's VIP app so I can stay in touch with everyone.”

Her dedication shows in the way she nurtures long-term relationships. “I’ve had people whose kids used to volunteer come back years later,” she said. “I’ll text and say, ‘We haven’t forgotten you.’ Sometimes they even bring their kids home from college to help. It’s become a real community.”

Santos’s approach is rooted in understanding what motivates each volunteer. “Everybody wants to be a dressage scribe, and I only need three,” she said. “So I ask them what they like about that role and find something else that fits.” She recalled convincing a reluctant volunteer to try stadium timing. “She ended up loving it—‘It’s the best job ever!’ You get to watch show jumping all day. Sometimes it’s just reframing the job description.”

She’s also thoughtful about people’s schedules. “Do they want to come early and leave early? That’s dressage. Do they want to sleep in? Cross-country starts last. You find what works for them, and then they come back.”

For brand new volunteers—often parents or friends unfamiliar with the sport—Santos provides a thorough introduction. “I have a whole email that goes out,” she said. “Here’s where you park, here’s where to find me, here’s the volunteer tent. Show up early. Here’s the USEA page explaining your role, plus six videos to watch if you’re a jump judge.”

She also provides practical comforts: extra folding chairs with sun shades, small coolers for drinks, reminders to bring hats and sunscreen. “People are giving up their free time and weekends. I want them to feel appreciated.”

Her nationwide volunteer experience has shaped her philosophy. After a decade in Area VII, Santos admired events like Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina. “The prizes, the gourmet volunteer kitchen—it was impressive, especially as someone with food allergies,” she said. She also loved the clever system of using a karaoke-style speaker for stadium announcements.

Santos hopes to bring similar polish to Larkin Hill, working toward what she calls “the Millbrook standard”—a nod to Millbrook Horse Trials in New York, where each phase has its own dedicated coordinator. “That way all questions don’t come to me. Volunteers would have an expert to go to for support.”

Despite her deep involvement in operations, Santos is also an active competitor. She currently events at Novice with Dr. Pepper, her opinionated but honest gelding. “He’s not an easy ride, but he’s making me a better rider,” she said.

At a June Larkin Hill Horse Trials, Santos found herself toggling between volunteer management and competition warm-up. “I was doing everything,” she said. “A volunteer texted me when I was supposed to be getting ready, and I said, ‘Beth is the coordinator today,’ but I still ended up answering questions. I told someone, ‘I have five minutes before dressage—can I get back to you after I go?’ ” Even so, she finished fourth behind three professionals, including her trainer, Booli Selmayr.

She uses her own experience to encourage competitors who think volunteering will ruin their results. “I’ve volunteered at GMHA [South Woodstock, Vermont] twice and finished first both times,” she said. “There’s something everyone can do—months before, the night before, or the day of. People are just afraid of the unknown.”

Area I’s new volunteer hours requirement for year-end awards has changed the landscape, she says. “There was pushback. People were watching to see how it would work. Some pros said, ‘I can’t,’ and then they discovered they could.” She even received a call from a rider who realized too late they hadn’t logged hours. “I had to say, ‘We’re done for the year. You can volunteer in another area, but our season is over.’”

She wants riders to understand the full range of options. “We start in March. There are things you can do from home that won’t conflict with your riding schedule—calling firefighters, arranging EMTs, handling paperwork. People don’t realize how much goes into an event.”

She believes broader participation would reduce post-show criticism. “If riders understood that the person they’re frustrated with isn’t being paid—and everything that had to happen for the show to run—they’d think differently. Sometimes the one thing that went wrong was the weather.”

Looking ahead, Santos hopes to elevate the volunteer experience even further. “I’d like more hands on deck, more availability, more structure,” she said.

One improvement she hopes to implement is better support for volunteers traveling from far away. “Some events put up their core crew. But plenty of people would volunteer if lodging were easier. Same with competitors—sometimes all it takes is someone saying, ‘I have a spare trailer spot—who needs a ride?’ We could apply that same idea to volunteers.”

Her approach always includes constant outreach. “I send tons of emails, texts, and Facebook messages. If it gets me five more people, great. Nobody’s offended I asked.”

Though she identifies as an introvert, Santos finds confidence in the horse world. “My friends say I’m the quiet one at parties,” she said. “But at shows, I’ll walk right up to someone and say, ‘Do you want to volunteer?’ It feels like a big family, and more often than not, people say, ‘Yeah, actually, I’m available.’ ”

Volunteers like Santos—steadfast, organized, and committed—play a vital role in keeping events running smoothly and ensuring the sport continues to thrive, one generous hour at a time.

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.