This message is from: "Ed Sullivan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Woohoooo! Good for you, Vivian, and for all of us, too!
For those of you who don't realize the financial impact of being on the USET, I'd like to tell you the "ballpark" estimate a friend of mine spent going to the World Games: $100,000 -- it takes a lot of barn dances to raise that kind of lettuce -- if a driver is in the horse business, or any other business for that matter, they could also add lost revenue, as they are away from home training and competing for extended periods. It would be great if all the regional groups that sponsor fjord horse shows could run a benefit driving class, or division, with the proceeds going to Team Creigh, or anyone else who qualifies in the future -- seems to go along with our current breed-promo discussion. Does anyone know whether the USET still offers clinics to the public as a fundraiser and PR activity? It would be fun to have a Fjord presence at this sort of thing, as I imagine it would be well-attended. Ann in CT ----- Original Message ----- From: vivian creigh Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 10:33 AM To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com Subject: Good news and "the reality" This message is from: vivian creigh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Several days ago I received a rather exciting letter from the USET informing me that Olympia aka Mira and I have been long listed for the 2004 season in Combined Driving. What this means is that we will be able to participate in all Official USET Training sessions and will be under consideration at all 2004 selection trials for the next World Pony Championships. As exciting as this is here is the reality of this honor. I am a 52 year old woman who realistically has maybe 10 competitive years left to participate at the upper levels of my sport. At the International level of Combined driving there are no competitors who do not receive some kind of outside funding, even in the singles division. Fred Merriam our bronze medalist is fully funded, Lisa Singer, Larry Poulin, James Fairclough, even Chester Weber who himself has a fairly large personal sum of money is sponsored by Cosequin. The bottom line is that to do this correctly without bankrupting my family I need a sponsor. In order to keep myself in the eye of the NGB and USET provong my commitment and improve skills as well as improve my chances for selection on the next team I need to be able to spend time away from home, train down south in the winter and pay the bills incurred by pursuing this venture. There is no guarantee I will be selected for the Worlds even if I do everything right. Only if Mira and I prove ourselves competitively do I have a chance and the only way to do that is to become entirely focused on our goal. This is not an inexpensive sport. I know as I have funded myself for 15 years. Carriages, harness, training and travel all mount up. It would be a real boost for the Fjord as a competitive combined driving pony to be able to represent the USA at a World Championship. If anyone is interested in helping out please contact me privately by e-mail, snail mail to: 740 Dutton Dist. Rd., Springfield. VT 05156, or phone 802 885 5762. Thanks for reading this far. Sincerely, Vivian Creigh
