June 13, 2008
Fans Raise Funds to Send Sue Jaccoma and Matrix Horse Wadamur to National Dressage Championships
Dressage rider Sue Jaccoma and her Matrix horse Wadamur will be competing in this year's Intermediaire Dressage Championships after all.
The pair, ranked among the top five in the U.S. in the Intermediaire Level, had qualified for the championships, but the $25,000 cost for Jaccoma to ship herself and Wadamur from Maine to California, where the championships are being held, was out of her reach. That was before supporters stepped up to a challenge issued by six-time Olympic rider Robert Dover. During his recent clinic in Massachusetts for the New England Dressage Association, Dover, after being told by Jaccoma that she could not afford the trip to California, turned to the audience of spectators and issued a challenge.
"Riders need support. Sue is a hard-worker with a world-class horse. They are very good representatives for your part of the country and it's a pity she can't go to San Juan Capistrano," Dover said. "I think all of you need to find a way to send her to California."
NEDA members responded by creating the Sue Jaccoma California Dreamin' Fund after an anonymous member who heard Dover's comments offered to match any amount raised. As of June 13, the fund had raised nearly $6,000, with the match, that brings the amount to nearly $12,000 and still growing.
Wadamur, called "Moe" by Jaccoma, is an eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding. Jaccoma started him on the Matrix earlier this show season and has been astounded by the results. "I love the Matrix. I think it's really made him bloom. It has sort of addressed his whole system and I think he feels great on it," Jaccoma said. "He's gotten much stronger and happier - the whole nine yards."
Jaccoma said she's thrilled that she and Wadamur, who is sure to one day be a leading international dressage horse for the U.S., can attend this year's Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions in San Juan Capistrano. She's a bit astounded by the outpouring of support, but also very grateful.
"You know, if I never got to California, if I never actually got a cent of the money, all that matters is that it's so wonderful that everybody cared that much. When you ask, 'What are some really good moments in your life?', I say, this is one of them. It feels totally awesome. It's a bit humbling to accept all of this, but I'm thrilled," she said.
The Matrix is a whole food composed of organically-grown medicinal mushrooms that provides overall good nutrition for horses, as well as humans and small animals. That good nutrition results in overall better health and that, Jaccoma said, is what sold her on the Matrix. Produced by Golden Gourmet Mushrooms of San Marcos, California, Matrix nutritional supplements are 100 percent certified organic. To learn more about the Matrix visit www.mushroommatrix.com.
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