Our Featured Volunteer of the Month is Monique Hartlen

Monique has been a volunteer at Lancers for the past fourteen years. She first became involved when her oldest daughter, Sophie, started riding at Lancers in 2006. While Sophie “graduated” from Ride 1 in 2017, Monique’s daughter, Kate, is also a longtime Lancer and is in Ride 1. 

Monique at the 2018 Welcome Back BBQ

As a Lancer parent, Monique has volunteered for various roles. She has been a “ride parent” which was a former system of having parent representatives from each ride, and for the past several years she has organized and facilitated our Welcome Back BBQ. She is also always one to bring items for canteens and potlucks! Monique is actually quite allergic to horses so that has kept her away from a lot of the in-barn volunteering opportunities. Nonetheless, she has found ways to participate in non-horsy volunteer roles which still make an impact on the Lancer community. 

We greatly appreciate that particularly for the Welcome Back BBQ, Monique shows initiative and is always organized. We appreciate that she has taken ownership of the event and it runs smoothly with hardly any help on our end. This year will be different due to social distancing but we hope to see all Lancers in attendance at our BBQ tomorrow at 5:30pm. 

Over the years, Monique has experienced, either as a volunteer or a parent, just about every aspect of Lancer life. She notes that one thing that stands out to her at Lancers is “the sense of community that you can feel when you walk in the barn; watching the riders support and mentor one another is a really special thing”. 

Volunteering for such a community brings its own joys. Monique described, “Organizations like Lancers really enrich the lives of its members, from instilling a sense of responsibility in caring for the horses to the bonds that they form with them. I'd also like to get to know a little more about the Therapeutic Riding program, it's such a wonderful service to provide”. Perhaps in the future, we can add Monique to our roster of volunteers for the Therapeutic Riding program. 

Kate and Mato and the 2019 Downtown Horse Show

Monique’s favourite horse is usually whichever one she hears the most about from her daughters which at the moment, would be Mato. Despite being allergic, Monique can never resist giving Mato a pat on the nose when outside. A favorite memory of Monique’s is of an event which certainly requires a lot of volunteerism and that is, the Musical Ride! She explained, “I know how much work goes into it and the performance is such a treat to watch!” The 2017 opening performance for the RCMP Musical Ride on the Garrison Grounds was a big highlight because, according to Monique, so many more people had a chance to see our riders in action”. 

As Monique’s time as a Lancer parent will draw to a close in the not too distant future, we wish to thank her for all of her volunteer hours over the years and hope that she will become one of our newest volunteers for the Therapeutic Riding program! The Lancer community would not be able to be what it is without our volunteers. Thank you, Monique! We appreciate you! 

You can read Sophie’s 2017 feature here. Here are photos from past Welcome Back BBQs and of Monique’s daughters, Sophie and Kate.