Taste of the 'L' Education Program

As you may have heard, the Utah Dressage Society is going to host the L Program in 2025/2026 for those interested in becoming an L Graduate or in deepening their dressage knowledge. To give everyone a sense of what the program will be like, we have organized the “Taste of the L Education Program” for the first weekend in March. This clinic, led by living dressage legends Dolly Hannon and Debbie Riehl-Rodriguez, will have a series of events designed to help enhance your understanding of equine biomechanics, rider biomechanics, the purpose of the movements on USDF tests, and the scoring of those movements. 

The first day of the clinic will begin with a three-hour classroom session, in which Dolly and Debbie will educate participants on the horse’s gaits, horse and rider biomechanics, and the principles of scoring. This lecture will be followed by a lunch break (with lunch provided by the UDS), after which we will have three sessions of demo rides. Each of these sessions will include three riders, and Dolly and Debbie will critique the horse and rider’s performance and movement, connecting the theory from the morning session to actual performance. While we hope our riders learn a lot from the critique, those considering demo riding on day one are advised that this session will not be focused on their education but rather on providing a kind of case study for the participants, and we have tried to reflect this in the price difference for day one and day two. For participants who are L graduates, this day will count as eight hours of continuing education.

The second day of the Taste of the L will resemble a traditional ride-a-test clinic. We hope to showcase fifteen riders who will ride the test of their choice, from intro to FEI level. Dolly and Debbie will judge each ride from two different locations in the arena, after which they will coach the rider, offering exercises and instruction designed to help them improve. Each rider should have thirty minutes with these two expert judges and coaches, packing as much education as possible into the time allowed. As with day one, we will be providing lunch for riders and participants.

The cost of the program is as follows:

Non-riding participants, UDS members……$100 for both days or $60 for one day

Non-riding participants, non-members…….$150 for both days or $90 for one day

Demo riders*, day one (preference given to UDS members)....$75

Demo riders*, day two (preference given to UDS members).....$150

Junior/young rider UDS demo riders*, day two………………….$100

*Demo riders will also have full access to all sessions on both days of the clinic.

If you wish to apply to demo ride on either day, please complete the application by Jan 31. Your $50 application fee will be applied to the clinic cost if you are selected and refunded if not.

The application can be found here: https://utahdressagesociety.com/l-program#demo-rider-application

We are extremely excited to be hosting this event in person for the first time, giving participants more opportunities to interact with the instructors and ask questions. Dolly Hannon and Debbie Riehl-Rodriguez will also join us for the UDS banquet on the evening of March 1. We hope the day’s learning will continue in informal chats and reflections that evening, and we are pleased to offer each Taste of the L participant and demo rider a coupon for $10 off their banquet registration.

If you have any questions, please contact Katie Lorens at secretary@utahdressagesociety.com