2015 Fritz Recipient: Cody Armstrong
Credit to Pics of You
The opportunity to attend the 2016 USEF/USDF Young Rider Graduate Program is one of a lifetime. Never before have I experienced so many highly accredited equine professionals in one place sharing their knowledge. This opportunity was made possible for me with funding by The Captain Jack Fritz Grant, funded through the Carol Lavell Gifted Memorial Fund.
When I arrived on Friday night in West Palm Beach, I had no idea how much information was about to be presented to me. There is no other equine program that provides up to ten different speakers in one day from information about sponsorships to training opportunities in the US and Europe. On day one, a highlight speaker was Yvonne Ocrant. Yvonne explained the benefits of creating a syndication with a horse. She then covered all aspects of equine law and how important it is to cover all activities your business does. Her presentation was especially helpful because most equine professionals tend to focus solely on the horses and forget about the other important things like managing liability risks. Lendon Gray and Tuny Page also inspired everyone to shoot for the stars and be the best student possible. Lendon explained how she tried to never be told the same thing twice by her teacher. Tuny Page encouraged everyone to take a trip to Europe!
On day two the topics ranged from the USEF High Performance Program by Hallye Griffin to balancing your personal and professional life by Hilary Moore Hebert. Prior to attending this program I was unaware of all the funding programs provided by the USEF and USDF. It was very encouraging to hear how different sponsors are acquired and how to keep them. Keeping a balance with your personal and professional life is also a necessity; the group was reminded to look into the future and make sure we stay surrounded with family and friends, not just clients. I also personally felt relieved to hear that it’s very doable to have a family and be an equine professional. I find that most professionals tend to set their personal life aside and only focus on the business until too late in life.
As a whole, the program was not only about the information provided to us, but more about the networking we were able to do. It was an amazing opportunity to be introduced to so many top professionals that are wonderful mentors to the younger professionals. Also, the ability to meet so many other young professionals with their own career goals was amazing. We even learned from each other’s current experiences. Networking is a huge part of the equine business.
Finally, the wonderful weekend was concluded with the art of giving back. No matter what we accomplish in life, it is always import to give back. It takes a village to accomplish great things and a successful person can’t go through life without the support of family, friends and sponsors. A big thank you to The Dressage Foundation and the Lavell family for their support. The Young Rider Graduate Program provided amazing guidance and a wonderful networking opportunity to me and many other young professionals.
