For Immediate Release
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Contact:
United States Equestrian Drill Association
Telephone: 972-679-0770
Drill offers an affordable and disciplined path of entry
into the world of high level equestrian sports competition
"Drill stems back to the military, and its all about precision. Any
horse can do this, it doesn't
have to be a big show horse. It can be from a pony to a draft horse.
A great thing about drill, is that anyone can do it. It doesn't have
to be a $30,000 horse.
Everyone can have good horsemanship skills - and drill, I think,
helps promote that..."
- Carmen Herrmann Stiles
Judge, 2006 United States Equestrian Drill Championship
To the uninitiated, competitors in the 2007 United States Equestrian
Drill Championship (Super Ride
V) may appear to be worlds away from the highly intense spotlight
that falls upon champions of the
horse world's most storied national and international competitions.
Events such as Germany's Official International Horse Show (or CHIO)
at Aachen, Canada's Spruce
Meadows Masters Tournament, The Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse
Trials in England and the
annual fixtures staged at the legendary North American venues in
Wellington, FL, Devon, PA,
Upperville, VA, Harrisburg, PA, Monterey, Mexico and at the Kentucky
Horse Park annually attract
international television coverage, tens of thousands of spectators
and millions of dollars in sponsorship.
In many ways, however, the team sport of equestrian drill provides a
very sane and disciplined entry
point, both for the confirmed amateur and for riders with lofty
ambitions in the pursuit of their
equestrian dreams.
It's one of the only sports where you can get six to thirty riders
that are on the same team,
working for the same goal.
For 4-H, and for the youth, isn't it better to have kids working
together as a team (as) opposed to
competing against each other.
The camaraderie that you have in drill team is like a football team,
or a soccer team. You have
such camaraderie with each other, you become such a family, and you
care... And that is what's
lacking in the horse show world.
So, it just teaches them such good sportsmanship that is going to go
through the rest of their life.
- Carmen Herrmann Stiles
Super Ride V:The United States Equestrian Drill Championship (USEDC)
will be held June 6 – 9
at the Austin Arena in Myrtle Springs, near Canton, Texas. A record
number of entries have been
received.
Based upon the fundamentals of Dressage (or training) and military
formations, equestrian drill is a
well established tradition in many parts of the world.
The art of riding in formation is deeply meshed in the military,
ceremonial and civilian histories of
nations on all continents.
With a predominance of stock saddles and colorful western attire, and
with the popular choice in theme
music clearly skewed towards Country and Western, competitors in the
Super Ride event may seem
quite unrelated to the continental elegance epitomized by the famous
horses and riders of the Spanish
Riding School, Le Cadre Noir de Saumur or the Royal Andalusian School
of Equestrian Art. To the
knowledgeable horse person, however, the skills on display merely
represent different branches of the
same firmly rooted tree.
Prior to the mechanization of cavalry units and the transfer of U.S.
equestrian sports leadership to
civilian entities, drill competition was principally a military
exercise.
In the 1930's, drill team competition was a popular feature of horse
shows throughout America,
including the National Capital Horse Show in Washington, DC and the
National Horse Show held at
Madison Square Garden in New York. The legendary horseman John
Clarke, an officer in the 9 th U.S.
Cavalry, helped to train and coordinate U.S. Army drill teams that
successfully competed against many
of the world's best, including members of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police1, known internationally
for their famous 'Musical Ride'.
For youth competing in the junior divisions, as well as for adults in
the Rodeo Speed, Gaited Horse,
Theme and National Championship Open Divisions, the USEDC offers a
unique opportunity to
compete on a prestigious stage, in front of well-informed and
supportive audiences, without the need
for astronomically expensive horses, professional grooms, custom
build horse boxes (vans)
international air shipments, or major corporate sponsorship.
Each of the 58 teams competing in Myrtle Springs has compiled
countless hours in practice,
choreography, music selection, costume design, fund raising and
travel.
In the United States, the sport is today overseen by a national
sanctioning body, the United States
Equestrian Drill Association (USEDA), based in Canton, Texas.
Plans to organize an international end-of-season drill and color
guard championship are underway for
the fall of 2008.
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1 Source: L ove of Liberty: A frican American Soldiers In The Post
War Years 1900-1916, by Anthony L. Powell