Kyra Kyrkland was the featured clinician at the New England Dressage Association (NEDA) fall symposium last weekend.
Potential demo riders jumped through flaming hoops for the chance to ride with Kyra. Well, not literally, although it would be refreshing, wouldn’t it, to see some of those dressage pairs jumping through flaming hoops, like in the circus? There should be some form of rebalancing (half-halting) the current vogue of requiring that everyone walk on tippy toes beside the dressage arena so horses and their riders don’t lose focus during a test. A test that allegedly tests, in part, the extent to which a horse is on the aids.
But I digress. Back to the flaming hoops simulation. Potential demo riders first submitted applications and video back in August. Out of the seventy applications received, sixteen semi-finalists were chosen in early October. The day before the symposium, those semi-finalists arrived at Hadley Farm at the University of Massachusetts to ride in front of Kyra. Nine riders were accepted, and the other seven drove their trailers home. I’d venture a guess that some of those riders were among the hundreds of thousands of New Englanders without power. I volunteered at the registration desk, and I was one of many volunteers without power at home.
At the symposium, the emphasis was on riders competing at the upper levels. In fact, one participant was listed as “almost Grand Prix.”
Reflections on Riding 