18 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
ByAnnS. Reilly, Ph.D. andKatherineNewman
M
ost people don’t know that at age 15, Kathy Doyle
NewmanwasGeorgeMorris’ first student and boarder
when he opened his training stable in Armonk, New
York. Now, at about the agemost people retire, Kathy is a 2013
inductee into the VirginiaHorse Shows AssociationHall of Fame
and has a career in equestrian sports that has spanned over five
decades.
Attractedby aNewPerspective
Kathy’s career took off when her mother, Katherine Doyle,
watched George Morris teach a clinic and realized that he had
a new and different perspective on training riders and horses.
In the 1960s, “only elite riders were getting this new type of
training in riding,” explained George. “What I did was bring it to
themasses in the new era of riding. I was taught by themasters
Gordon Wright, Bert DeNemethy and Gunnar Andersen, and
introduced techniques to thehunter and jumper rings that involved
improvements in equitation training and lead changes for the
horses.”
“RidingwithGeorgewasveryexciting,” saidKathy. “Wewereon
the cutting edge of a new system that only existed at Gladstone.
Every day I rode, I started with a half-hour lunge lesson without
reins or stirrups, sometimes jumping with eyes closed. It taught
me position and feel. I’d never felt more confident in my riding
after this intense training.We didn’t have an indoor ring and rode
inafield. Thiswas toughsometimes, but the learningprocesswas
amazing.Weworked for hours on the basics. Once I established
agreat positionwith independence of handand seat, I felt I could
doanything.”
During her junior years riding with George, Kathy showed
her stallion, Masked, in the Green Jumper Division; her hunter,
Wanning Fast, in the 4” Working Hunter division; and her First
Year Green Hunter, Blue Mint. A native of Boston, Kathy rode
withGeorge inNewYork andattendedSearingSchool, a tutoring
school, inSomers, NewYork.
FindingHerOwnWay
When Kathy was 18 years old, she moved to what was then
Brookmeade Farm (presently Joe Abritton’s Lazy Lane Farm) in
Upperville, Virginia, with her horses. She was based out of the
stunning former Dodge-Sloan Estate for several years, training
show horses there and galloping horses in the morning at the
Middleburg, Virginia, Training Track. Kathy also foxhunted for
GeorgeMorriswithhis first riding student, KathyDoyleNewman.
Photoby JackMancini, ManciniPhotos.com
e
KathyDoyleNewman:
FirstLadyofRiding
Kathy showingWanningFast, trained byGeorgeMorris, in the4’
WorkingHunters as a junior rider.
Kathy onCorveteZ (owned byGerryNewman), Mimi Abel
Smith, andKatherine riding junior jumper Royal D’Or, ownedby
Mimi.
Continued on page 20
