As I sift through weekly e-mails and phone messages, I’m beginning to realize the United States Equestrian Federation’s best kept secret is no longer a best kept secret. Only a few months from its conception, and already, details of the USEF purchasing program are running through the rumor mill faster than juicy tabloid gossip. I should hardly be surprised. When money is involved, especially this much money, news tends to spread fast; and while we’re not working overtime to keep the news under wraps, we are amazed with how quickly this money-saving cat is jumping out of the bag.

Take the staff at beautiful Derby Down, Inc., in Kennett Square, PA, for example. Founded in 1947, it’s now nationally recognized as one of the foremost show hunter barns in the country. After news of the USEF purchasing program discounts spread through the lush countryside of Chester County, business manager Sally Yacka decided it was time for Derby Down to get in on the act. First step? Their Nextel phone service.

“We’ve been using Nextel for several years, but we just started getting the discount a few months ago, when you offered the purchasing program,” she says. “We use our Nextel system as a radio too, through Nationwide Direct Connect™, so if I need somebody, I just beep them.”

Sally will tell you that having Nextel’s Nationwide Direct Connect™ plan gives the best of both worlds to Derby Down, while eliminating the extra equipment. It’s a two-way walkie-talkie and a cell phone all rolled into one device, and it helps Sally keep in touch with her co-workers no matter where on the farm—or in the nation—they might be. “It’s almost like being right next to them. It saves me a lot of running around on the farm,” she says. Incidentally, it now saves them a lot of money, too.

After a few seconds of scanning the flyer detailing the discounts for products like John Deere, Sherwin Williams, FedEx and Dodge, Sally became a died-in-the-wool purchasing program fan. Nextel was a mere first step. “It was all very simple,” Sally assures me. “It took me about 30 seconds to make the call to get the Nextel discount.”

That discount offers USEF members 5% off all Nextel rate plans and accessories and 27% off select phone purchases. These discounts are in addition to regular promotional prices!

So whether you’re using Nextel’s cellular service or Nationwide Direct Connect™, Nextel’s long-range digital walkie-talkie feature, your plan will cost less. Period.

“I just called USEF purchasing and gave them the discount number and the discount went on immediately,” Sally says. “A lot of people already have cell phones and don’t even know they could be getting this extra discount.”

For more details on the discounts available through Nextel, log on to www.nextel.com/usef. To purchase online, use the code NANTR. Or to find out more about discounts offered on other useful products and services through the USEF purchasing program, give us a call and we’ll send you the details. Call toll-free, (877) 576-6872, or visit www.usef.org/content/marketing/groupPurchasing.php. The program is free with your USEF membership, and believe us, there are no strings attached.

To share your USEF purchasing program experience, please call Sarah Lane, Public Relations Manager, on (859) 225-6974, or by e-mail at [email protected].