Our Featured Volunteers of the Month is the Beynon family!

Jacqueline started riding at Lancers in 2022. She is the only member of her family that rides at Lancers, although her parents; Marianna and Nick, and her brother Austin have become involved in all of the volunteer opportunities at Lancers and enjoy learning about the sport.

“(We began volunteering) at the first hay delivery in the fall of 2022. It was a big learning experience and a great workout! We were in awe of everyone pitching in and everyone working so hard. It was impressive to watch.” The Beynon family is always willing to help out with hay and shavings deliveries, and barn clean-up days.

Marianna is part of the gardening committee, and both she and Nick were a huge help on our sponsorship sub-committee. They enjoy working with other volunteers. Marianna will often spend time sweeping in the barn, and helping out in any way she can, including being an invigilator for rider-level testing!

Jacqueline enjoys spending a lot of time at the barn. She is always happy to help out with any chores needed, and is eager to learn! This summer Jacqueline has been grooming at horse shows and has joined the Musical Ride as an honor guard.

“Austin is happy to buzz around and take care of anything anyone asks him to do. Even lift hay bales bigger than him! He helped to create the barn Easter egg hunt this year and gave out cake on his Birthday. He fell in love with Jakey and gave him lots of attention before he retired.”

“Volunteering at Lancers is very easy because the barn creates a culture of family and working together to maintain and grow what we all share. The help is requested clearly and appreciated. It is easy to help because everyone is willing to teach you how and questions are encouraged. Lancers is also open to new ideas. There is always something to do and there are so many areas where help is needed that there is something for everyone. Jacqueline loves that she can get her hands dirty, and physical aspect of the chores.

We love giving our time to Lancers because there is a feeling of community. It is a place full of history, culture and diversity that we feel is important to maintain and grow in the heart of Halifax. It is a place that supports individual, cultural, and neurodiversity. Lancers gives such a wealth of opportunities to all Lancer members to become the best they can be and celebrates it. We are grateful for this, so it is super easy to give back. We have met so many lovely people by helping, and reconnected with some old friends.”

When the Beynon family is not at the barn they enjoy spending their time being active in all seasons. They have traveled the world doing various sports: Nick played Rugby, Hockey, Volleyball, Basketball, and Football! They enjoy and value sports for physical, mental, emotional, social and community development.

“We love the outdoors, animals and sports of all kinds. You will find us with some kind of sports equipment on or in our car and in hand.”

We are so grateful to the Beynon family for jumping right in to help out in so many ways while supporting Jacqueline in her passion!