88 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
Dressage
By Lauren R. Giannini
Maureen Trundy is the only member of her family with a
passion for horses, and the only thing that stops her is that halt
at X. To pay board for her horse, Sir Lancelot, she cleans stalls;
to earn money for expenses, she rides other boarders’ horses
and sells her artwork. This winter in Florida, during Lendon
Gray’s Dressage4Kids’ Winter Intensive Training Program (WIT),
Maureen will experience three months of total immersion with fve
to six days every week of intensive training in riding, horse care,
training theory and competition skills, ftness, sports psychology
and equestrian business management. It’s a good thing she
completed her senior year courses in advance.
“I’m very exited about WIT,” admitted Maureen. “I got into
dressage about four years ago – I’m 17 now – and my goal is to
be a trainer. I had ridden with Lendon in a few clinics the summer
before I sent in my application on the off chance that I would get
picked and I did. This program means a lot to me. I’m going to be
surrounded by horse people all the time and get to watch these
great horses and riders all winter. It doesn’t matter how hard it is. I
will work as hard as I can to become the best I can be.”
What impressed the young rider about Lendon is how she treats
Maureen Trundy –
Making The Most
of WIT
horses. “It’s all about the horses,” said Maureen. “It isn’t about
looking pretty, it’s about helping the horse.”
Maureen was seven when she started riding. Her parents have
been very supportive. “It came on gradually and we didn’t really
know what we were getting into,” said her mother Francesca
Demetrius. “It started with lessons, then more and more and
more. It was a shock, but Maureen is absolutely hardworking. She
rides fve days a week. Horses are the love of her life. Lancelot is
the love of her life. When your kid fnds something she loves to do,
you have to support her with all of your heart.”
Before Christmas, Francesca and Maureen drove to Florida
to settle into where they would live during the three months of
WIT. Maureen’s brother Ross, 19, is at college; her father Sheldon
Trundy stayed home to work and fulfll his duties as volunteer fre
chief. “My husband is really busy trying to build a new fre house
in Addison,” said Francesca. “He’s wonderful. If he can do for us,
he’s going to do it.”
Three years ago the Trundys helped their daughter buy a horse.
“At the barn where I ride, Leslie Howe doesn’t show but she gave
me a lot of dressage basics,” said Maureen. “She found Lancelot
on the Internet, on Prince Edward Island (Canada) and thought I
should look at him. Mom and I drove up, and I tried him. He was at
Training/lower First Level. He passed the pre-purchase exam and
we brought him home.”
In 2011, Maureen and Lancelot showed First and Second
Level. At schooling shows they pinned frst in every test. They
won the GAIG/New England Dressage Association First Level
Championship Junior/Young Rider at the 2011 NEDA Fall
Festival. They also earned the Region 8 First Level championship
and Second Level reserve honors.
“Lancelot is a Thoroughbred-Warmblood cross, dark bay, no
white. I think he’s an ideal dressage horse,” said Maureen. “He
likes to learn, he’s a big and pretty mover, very athletic. He’s really
great. We get along well. We’ve gone through a lot together. I
think he’s wonderful.”
Sir Lancelot and Maureen Trundy
Photo by Ross Trundy
Sir Lancelot and
Maureen Trundy
during their
successful 2011
show season. The
young rider opted
not to compete in
2012 in order to
focus on training.
Photo by Carole
MacDonald
“When your
kid fnds
something
she loves to
do, you have
to support her
with all of your
heart.”