Mary Kehoe McCarthy Dressage

Mary Kehoe McCarthy Dressage Mary McCarthy Dressage

Clinics - Training - Instruction - Competition

FEI Trainer & Instructor
USDF Bronze, Silver & Gold Medalist

Through classical training methods, Mary imparts on both her horses and riders a confident, relaxed, and harmonious partnership. These methods encompass the gradual progression of skills, physical and mental development, and continual review of the training scale in both daily and long term work. Mary's own philosophy has evolved from her experiences and education. She has consistently worked with

top level instructors who have drilled home the importance of a correct seat and effective aids, as well as the patient development of the horse. She has found consistency in the training methods shared with her, and has achieved success with the horses she rides and the students she trains by following those methods. In addition to her regular instruction with Steffen Peters, she also takes advantage of clinic opportunities such as working with Conrad Schumacher twice per year, and educational events such as the CDS & USDF symposiums, and is currently enrolled in the L (Learner's Judge) Program. Mary continually works at expanding and honing her own skills, and therefore is able to bring the methods imparted to her by some of our best riders and instructors into her daily lessons and training sessions for her students. She encourages her students to ride in clinics and participate in various events which broaden their personal experiences, and bring home consistent themes in their own work. There is ALWAYS more to learn! For the riders, she emphasizes a correct seat in order to deliver effective aids and communication. Many of her riders spend a great deal of time with lunge / seat lessons, and have made wonderful breakthroughs that their horses immediately let them know about. For the horses, she encourages responsiveness to subtle aids, and daily work through the training scale relative to their level of accomplishment at that time. While working up the levels, the horse and rider should never lose sense of the most basic requirements. A grand prix horse should still be able to perform a stretchy trot and simple trot-canter-trot transitions as easily as he can do the very difficult extended trot-passage-piaffe transitions. Mary also encourages her riders to cross-train. She has found yoga to be extremely complimentary to riding dressage, creating a quiet, relaxed state of mind, and a supple and strong body. As most of her current students are Adult Amateur professional women, Mary understands that riding time can be limited while sitting behind a desk and in the car can dominate their schedules. Yoga is an additional way to achieve harmony with horses. Mary also continually works together with each student to determine and assess short term and long term goals, making the most of their often limited time. Most importantly, the horse's welfare comes first. Skilled veterinarians and farriers are used, in addition to chiropractic/accu-pressure care, and educated saddle-fitters. Mary will question training challenges or sudden changes in a horse by first addressing any possibly physical causes such as dental, feed, soreness or injury. Caution and patience are taken to address these challenges. Feel free to contact Mary Kehoe directly at [email protected] for more information on her training philosophy.

10/16/2025

🎉 Congratulations to Lauren Sprieser and C. Cadeau! 🎉

The Dressage Foundation is thrilled to announce Lauren Sprieser (VA) and nine-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding C. Cadeau, owned by the Elvis Syndicate LLC, as the recipients of the new $15,000 Carol Lavell Developing Dressage Prize! 🐴✨

The Carol Lavell Developing Dressage Prize was established in 2024 to help support a pipeline of international-level riders and horses in the United States. The purpose of this $15,000 grant is to provide financial assistance for the training and competition of horse and rider teams competing at small tour or USEF 7-Year-Old Test.

Lauren Sprieser (VA) and C. Cadeau have had a successful year in the show ring. In August, the pair were reserve champions in the USEF Intermediaire I National Championship at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. Lauren is a USDF gold, silver, and bronze medalist with distinction. With this grant, Lauren will train with Olympian Ali Brock in Florida.

Lauren said, “It is an unreal privilege to ride a horse like Cadeau, and I’m beyond thrilled to have won this Prize. I worked for Carol as a young professional, and I know she’d be proud of what a soft, compassionate rider Cadeau is helping me become. I will put these funds to great use, continuing to work with Ali Brock towards international Grand Prix competition. I am so grateful for the support of The Dressage Foundation, and to Cadeau’s owners, The Elvis Syndicate, for believing in us."

Photo by Susan J Stickle

Learn more about The Dressage Foundation’s $15,000 Carol Lavell Developing Dressage Prize at https://bit.ly/4nUzvLa

Applications are due each year by August 31.

Looking forward to another amazing NEDA Symposium!!
10/16/2025

Looking forward to another amazing NEDA Symposium!!

Thank you all for giving such a warm welcome to our eight Demo Riders over this past week! We are so excited to see them in person with Gareth Hughes this weekend 👏🏼

It's not too late to get tickets. If you register by Thursday, you'll secure your lunch. After Thursday, all tickets will be considered "Walk-In" - you'll still be able to audit but lunch will not be guaranteed. Follow this link for more info 🤍

🔗https://www.neda.org/symposium_auditor_info.php

Very much looking forward to this event!
09/10/2025

Very much looking forward to this event!

Amazing opportunity!!!
08/01/2025

Amazing opportunity!!!

We want to give everyone a chance to get their latest footage in - whether you have a great weekend showing or you are finally feeling brave enough to send in your submission, this is your sign!

Gareth Hughes is an incredible coach; he will help you with whatever part of your journey you are on and we would love to learn from you both 🤍

Please send in your Demo Rider Applications by August 11th.
🔗 https://www.neda.org/symposium_demo_rider_info.php
📷: Meg McGuire Photography

Very common!
07/24/2025

Very common!

Wednesday Wisdom...
So often people say that their horse is anticipating... "insert transition or movement here." This most certainly can be the case, especially when schooling a movement, exercise or test repetitively.

But is it really the horse anticipating? Or is the rider actually riding ahead?

It is really easy to get ahead of ourselves in riding without realizing it. We think about what comes next - the transition, the movement, the turn, whatever it may be. And then, without evening knowing, we begin to position our bodies and our horse responds accordingly. When horse and rider are in sync, that level synchronicity is awe-inspiring. But when the lines of communication are not as clear, it can lead to tension and frustration.

Riding is challenging because it requires the rider to be hyper-aware of their mind and their body. In a fraction of a second, they must analyzing every thought and every movement they and their horse make. Then, they must react to those thoughts and movements and shape them to achieve the desired result. Because so much is happening during the ride, it is very easy for the rider to become distracted or lose focus, which often results in miscommunication.

Did you know... Horses are extremely in-tune with even the slightest change in posture, breath, heart rate, etc. They were born with an innate ability to perceive minute changes. It is a survival instinct that prey animals possess. That is why some believe that their horse has read their mind.

In reality, however, the horse is picking up on the nearly imperceptible changes in the rider's body and reacting to them. Changes that the rider, themself, doesn't even perceive yet. So, the next time that your horse "anticipates," take a closer look and you may see that you actually did ask unintentionally. 😀❤🐴

Address

Marlborough, CT

Telephone

+17142726182

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mary Kehoe McCarthy Dressage posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Our Story

Through classical training methods, Mary imparts on both her horses and riders a confident, relaxed, and harmonious partnership. These methods encompass the gradual progression of skills, physical and mental development, and continual review of the training scale in both daily and long term work. Mary's own philosophy has evolved from her experiences and education. She has consistently worked with top level instructors who have drilled home the importance of a correct seat and effective aids, as well as the patient development of the horse. She has found consistency in the training methods shared with her, and has achieved success with the horses she rides and the students she trains by following those methods. In addition to regular instruction with Steffen Peters over many years, she also has regularly taken advantage of clinic opportunities such as working with Conrad Schumacher, and educational events such as the CDS & USDF symposiums. She also completed the L (Learner's Judge) Program. Mary continually works at expanding and honing her own skills, and therefore is able to bring the methods imparted to her by some of our best riders and instructors into her daily lessons and training sessions for her students. She encourages her students to ride in clinics and participate in various events which broaden their personal experiences, and bring home consistent themes in their own work. There is ALWAYS more to learn! For the riders, she emphasizes a correct seat in order to deliver effective aids and communication. Many of her riders have spent a great deal of time with lunge / seat lessons, and have made wonderful breakthroughs that their horses immediately let them know about. For the horses, she encourages responsiveness to subtle aids, and daily work through the training scale relative to their level of accomplishment at that time. While working up the levels, the horse and rider should never lose sense of the most basic requirements. A grand prix horse should still be able to perform a stretchy trot and simple trot-canter-trot transitions as easily as he can do the very difficult extended trot-passage-piaffe transitions. Mary also encourages her riders to cross-train. She has found yoga to be extremely complimentary to riding dressage, creating a quiet, relaxed state of mind, and a supple and strong body. As most of her students have been Adult Amateur professional women, Mary understands that riding time can be limited while sitting behind a desk and in the car can dominate their schedules. Yoga is an additional way to achieve harmony with horses. Mary also continually works together with each student to determine and assess short term and long term goals, making the most of their often limited time. Most importantly, the horse's welfare comes first. Skilled veterinarians and farriers are used, in addition to chiropractic/accu-pressure care, and educated saddle-fitters. Mary will question training challenges or sudden changes in a horse by first addressing any possibly physical causes such as dental, feed, soreness or injury. Caution and patience are taken to address these challenges. Feel free to contact Mary (Kehoe) McCarthy directly at [email protected] for more information on her training philosophy.