The New England Dressage Association (NEDA) is extremely pleased and honored to welcome United States Olympic equestrian dressage team coach and German Olympic Gold medalist Klaus Balkenhol to New England for the first time. NEDA has been working on this event for over two years, and their efforts have finally been rewarded. Balkenhol will visit the University of Massachusetts’ Hadley Farm from his home in Germany this November 3-5.

Accompanying him on his trip will be his wife, Judith, and the highly regarded biomechanics expert and German veterinarian, Dr. Gerhard Heuschmann, DVM, of Warendorf, home of the German National Equestrian Federation. Former New Englander, now Californian, Volker Brommann will assist his friend and mentor with translation and in-depth explanations when needed.

The symposium’s prime focus is education—bringing auditors three full days of insight to the shared philosophies and training perspectives of Balkenhol and Dr. Heuschmann with the help of some of the best of New England’s (and possibly other areas) horse-and-rider teams.

The weekend will begin with a warm-up on Friday with Balkenhol working with and seeing some of the horses and riders for the first time. Saturday morning will start with an in-depth lecture and slide presentation by Dr. Heuschmann at the Student Union Ballroom where he will explain the biomechanical approach to building a strong “bridge.” He will discuss in detail exactly how the horse’s back works. Balkenhol will also participate in the discussion and will give a preliminary look into the weekend’s goals.

Participants will head back to the farm after lunch and begin training sessions working through the levels and culminate on Sunday with grand prix. Saturday and Sunday will be strictly geared to the auditors with plenty of time for questions from the floor. Dr. Heuschmann will also paint two horses to show the skeletal references on a moving horse and what “true collection” looks like from the inside out.

Balkenhol will be the featured speaker at the year end awards banquet and gala on Saturday evening at the Student Union Ballroom. Tickets for the gala will be sold separately.

All the information, sign-up forms and updated news regarding this event will be available at the NEDA website at www.neda.org.


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