In 1969, when the United States Combined Training Association began in New England, Eventing was already going strong in the Bluegrass. What we know as MSEDA today, is the result of the interest and dedication to the sport, then known as Combined Training, of one man, Kob Ryen. A retired cavalry officer from Norway, Kob Ryen was the riding and horsemanship instructor for the University of Kentucky in beginning in the late 1950s. He created the Blue Grass Riding Club at that time and if not the first, it was certainly one of the first combined training associations in the United States. In 1964, under Mr. Ryen’s coaching, the Blue Grass Riding Club sent a team of four riders to Nashville, TN to compete at what is now the Middle Tennessee Horse Trials. Middle Tennessee was the first horse trials in the U.S., organized first in 1954 by Miss Margaret Lindsley Warden, a reporter for the Nashville Tennessean newspaper and founder of the Middle Tennessee Pony Club. UK students Sherry Steinert from NJ, Eileen Corl from PA (who would go on to win the National Pony Club Rally held at Keeneland Race Course in 1964) and Dorothy Knocke of NJ (now Maxfield), along with Lexingtonian Bill Newkirk rode as team members at what was the first team horse trials in the country. Also at the Middle Tennessee Horse Trials as a competitor that year was Mid-South’s own Helmut Graetz. Upon their return to Kentucky, Kob Ryen began to envision a regional association to unify and promote Combined Training activities in the Mid-South area, the name taken from the Mid-South region of the U.S. Pony Clubs. By 1966 the Mid-South Combined Training Association was born. With Mr. Ryen as its first President, it was managed and guided by his “girls.” Truly an association “for its members, by its members”, over the next several years many of the people that were instrumental in the running of the organization graduated and moved away. During these years, MSCTA floundered and flourished as people came and went but by 1972 it was reborn and has been active ever since. In fact, in 1976, MSCTA hosted the first Blue Grass Horse Trials, at Masterson Station Park. The course was designed by Roger Haller, built by Mid-South members and the famous jumper and Trakehner breeding stallion, Abdullah, competed at the Preliminary level. Interestingly enough, some of those original fences are familiar to those who ride at Masterson Station today. MSEDA has a rich and long history. Many of MSEDA’s familiar faces were involved with the birth of this organization. Dr. Irene Roeckel served as its second President; Jane Atkinson was Newsletter Editor as well as Secretary/Treasurer for six years. Joan Humphrey, Judi Rice and Helmut Graetz were all there in the early years. As time rolled on and the sport has changed in some ways, MSEDA has evolved. It is noteworthy, however, that this association has supported and educated horsemen and horsewomen interested in Dressage and Eventing for more years than almost any other regional organization in the U.S. Always on the leading edge, MSEDA continues to flourish because of the commitment by past leaders and the energy and vision of its leaders and members today.
