NEW HOST First Event
2 Months to Prepare
By Meredith Dutchess
Check out our Host and Judges section of our web site or get out and have some fun with your equine. Check out the calendar on the Equine Trail Sports website (www.equinetrailsports.com/events) for an event in your area, or contact us to host your own event. We are here to support you!
30 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Randy Gassett
W
hen I was first asked if I wanted to plan an Equine Trail Sports event at Asbury University, my initial thought was “No!” Between being the student leader for our trail club, a full-time college student, working 30+ hours a week, and training two horses, I already had a crazy busy schedule. I thought there was no way I would have enough time to add this big thing into my schedule. However, as I got closer to the start of the semester, I realized that I was going to be one credit short of graduating. The only way that I could work it into my schedule to get that credit was to agree to plan the ETS event. After talking with Harold Rainwater, my advisor and the Equine Center’s director, along with Barbara Hopper and Chris Pepplitsch, I agreed to plan an ETS event at Asbury.
leader for our trail club, a full-time college student, working 30+ hours a week, and training two horses, I already had a crazy busy schedule. I thought there was no way I would have enough time to add this big thing into my schedule. However, as I got closer to the start of the semester, I realized that I was going to be one credit short of graduating. The only way that I could work it into my schedule to get that credit was to agree to plan the ETS event. After talking with Harold Rainwater, my advisor and the Equine Center’s director, along with Barbara Hopper and Chris Pepplitsch, I agreed to plan an ETS event at Asbury.
When I first met with Barb and Chris and talked to Beth Moran on the phone, I was completely overwhelmed and immediately regretted my decision to agree to plan this. We decided to have both a trail obstacle course and an in-hand arena obstacle course. I wondered what I had committed to and gotten myself into. However, Barb, Beth, and Chris helped me get started and get things rolling. The first time Barb, Chris, and I met we talked for almost two hours. They told me everything that I would need to know, what needed done, and when it needed done. They promised me that they would be right there beside me every step of the way to help me get this done. Not once did they break that promise!