Written by Kenneth J. Braddick for Dressage-News
The training trio of Kyra Kyrklund, Jan Brink and Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour captivated a sold-out audience of 2,000 spectators from around the world for almost three hours at Wellington’s Global Dressage Festival Wednesday night.
In a first-of-its-kind masterclass in the Americas staged by 3 Graces Dressage and Wellington International, the three dressage trainers presented their training and competition styles in a mix of intense detail and frequently humorous language. Both appreciative applause and occasional raucous laughter reacted to the down-to-earth explanations by the trainers, among the best in the world.
Under the title Dressage Infusion, the trio brought their experience riding in 12 Olympics and a host of other championships, which have earned them global acclaim.
Highlights were Kyra and Jan engaging the audience in terms that the audience soaked up, and Cathrine, often world No. 1 rider and with three Olympics on three different horses, including leading Denmark to silver at the 2024 Games in Paris, riding Dalton de Prepinson.
Speaking as a competitor and trainer, in ways that expressed what so many spectators felt but hadn’t previously heard described so vividly, loved it… She rode an eight-year-old gelding owned by 3 Graces and is coached in real life by Kyra.
“For me,” said Carol Cohen Hodess of 3 Graces, “it was the best clinic I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen some of the top riders in the world, but I think it went spectacularly well. And it was so much fun. They were fun, engaging, enlightening and informative. And they’re the best people.
“Wellington International has been amazing. Murray Kessler (chief executive officer) gave us the platform, believed in me when I brought this to him from seeing them in Sweden and said, ‘we have to bring this to Wellington’.
“He believed in me. He said, you can do it. We did it. And I have to say, this was a dream come true for me. I love the sport. I’ve always loved this sport and giving back to the sport. And now that my daughter (Rebecca) is so much a part of the sport, it’s important for me to be as engaged as I can be because I have skin in the game.
“But meeting Jan and Kyra and Cathrine in Sweden, which happened in a very crazy way, I just feel that I’m at a turning point, as is my daughter, of starting to build something more important than just a show or a clinic, that we’re building on a plan and an idea of where we want the sport or help to make the sport where we all believe it can go, with these incredible, intelligent, caring clinicians and riders.”
