GIVING BACK WITH ANDREA WEBB

GIVING BACK

Tales of a travelling volunteer

The best way to sum up Andrea Webb’s dedication as a volunteer official in equestrian sport is by looking at the odometer reading in her car, writes JO MCKINNON.

In just five years, Andrea Webb has clocked more than 300,000kms travelling to events all over Australia in her role as an FEI steward. She also racks up plenty of frequent flier points journeying to various parts of the US and Europe to officiate at competitions.

“I do a lot of miles, let’s put it that way. It keeps me busy which is the way I really enjoy being,” says Andrea.

Most weekends Andrea is committed to working at an equestrian competition somewhere around the country and says she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“If I didn’t have that I don’t know what I would be doing. I’m on my own so it gives me a great social network.”

Andrea first became involved in the sport through her daughter Connie, a keen rider and competitor: “I love it because my daughter started riding back in 2001 and when she began moving up the ranks in 2008 I really got into it and started to help her out. Then when she moved overseas I wondered what I was going to do with my time, and I realised it would be a really good opportunity to give back to the sport so I decided to move forward through my stewarding,” Andrea explains.

In 2011 Andrea became an FEI accredited steward and nowadays specialises in various disciplines including eventing, jumping, vaulting and dressage. She also works as an official at major driving events in Australia and throughout Europe. Although she labels eventing as her favourite discipline, she says driving comes a very close second.

“Carriage driving is like eventing on four wheels, but it’s where you get to sit down for the whole time. I think what they do is amazing. When they are trying to get those carriages around the marathon courses the precision is incredible,” she says.

A major highlight for Andrea was being invited to work at an event earlier this year in the Netherlands. It was hosted and organised by Australian legend Boyd Exell (OAM) who is a seven-time FEI World Cup Champion, and the current and four-time World Champion Four-inHand Driving.

Recently Andrea was appointed as a member of the Equestrian Australia Driving Committee and is now ranked as a Level 3 FEI Course Director for Driving.

Deservedly, she has received various accolades for her huge commitment to horse sport with one of her proudest achievements being named Equestrian NSW Volunteer of the Year in 2011.

“That was a really exciting moment and highlighted that giving back really does provide you with opportunities down the track.”

She puts in enormous hours but says it’s all worthwhile: “It’s early starts and late finishes. You are on the ground from dawn till dusk to make sure everything is running in accordance with what the OC (Organising Committee) wants.”

“I love seeing riders and helping them. It’s also a great networking opportunity and you make some great friends. It becomes like a family,” she adds.

Andrea travels to every single event she attends with a mascot called Stewardberry, a stuffed toy horse. This is in honour of UK eventing rider Hannah Francis who died at a young age from cancer. Before her death, Hannah’s family created Willberry the Wonder Pony as her cancer mascot. Now, proceeds from the sale of Willberry the Wonder Pony

‘ ‘... you make some great friends. It becomes like a family...

toys go towards raising funds for cancer research.

Andrea’s own life has been touched by the disease when in 2009 she was diagnosed with breast cancer: “Quite a few people know that I had breast cancer back in 2009 and got thru that a-ok. So when I saw Hannah’s story it really touched me.”

“Stewardberry comes with me to all the events I attend. I’m not one to enjoy having my picture taken, and that way I can go to these events and promote them when they are on by putting her in the photo rather than me. Essentially, Stewardberry has become my wellknown and much loved travelling companion,” she laughs.

Andrea clearly loves what she does and that’s projected through her various social media posts capturing her travels around the world, taking many people in the equestrian community along on the journey with her. While she certainly hopes to be volunteering as a steward for a long time to come, she acknowledges that the day will eventually arrive when things will change.

“As a steward you need to move quickly as some horses can get fractious. Physical fitness is important so that you are able to get out of the way fast if something happens. And concentration is also really critical. Being aware of cues that tell you a horse is about to do something unexpected can keep you out of harm’s way. Eventually a time will come a time when I’ll be too old to do this anymore, so I might as well do it while I can,” she explains.

However, there’s definitely no sign of Andrea stopping just yet. Already this year she has attended seven FEI events and also recently travelled to the Tokyo 2020 Test Event. She’s hoping that next year she might get the call up to help out at the Olympic Games there. That would be a just reward for everything she has and will continue to do for equestrian sport. Top: Tor Van Den Berg and his wife Melissa, whom Andrea met while working at the Boyd Excell hosted event at Valkenswaard in the Netherlands. Above: Andrea with the ground jury and official vets at the 2017 Virginia Horse Trials in Lexington, Virginia. Far left: Andrea Webb, the only formally accredited Australian FEI Carriage Driving Steward.