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New England Dressage Association logo /NEDA Symposium with Jan Brink.

Equestic Brings a First to the 2026 NEDA Symposium: Eyes on the Arena, Not the Notebook

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Written by:

Evgenia

Published on:

November 6, 2026

Riders and spectators learned from a legend. EQ Coach-Copilot took care of the notes.

Indoor dressage arena with spectators watching a horse-and-rider demonstration at the 2026 NEDA Symposium.

Imagine spending two days watching and learning from Jan Brink, a three-time dressage Olympian for Sweden and a legend of the sport, along with eight horse and rider combinations training at different levels. Now imagine leaving with the key teaching points from every session, already written down for you.

That is what Equestic did for the New England Dressage Association (NEDA) at its 2026 Absorbine/NEDA Symposium with Jan Brink, held October 17-18 at the Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

EQ Coach-Copilot app displaying Jan Brink's dressage training sessions alongside a rider and coach at the 2026 NEDA Symposium.

Embracing Technology Alongside Horsemanship

For the first time in the symposium’s history, the organizers integrated technology with the EQ Coach-Copilot app, which was used throughout the two-day event to capture Jan’s teaching.

The symposium featured eight sessions per day, ranging from Young Horse to Grand Prix. The EQ Coach-Copilot captured the audio of Jan’s teaching and transformed it into written summaries, complete with quotes and milestone moments. Jan reviewed and approved the content. Riders and 200 spectators then got access via the app, free of charge, as a bonus for their participation.

“We were delighted to have Equestic join us this year, and they brought something new and exciting,” said Beth Beukema, longtime organizer of the NEDA Symposium.

“The EQ Coach-Copilot app cleverly turned Jan Brink’s sessions into detailed training summaries, with the key teaching points and highlights, and the accuracy was incredible. Riders and spectators could focus on watching and learning, not notetaking. The summaries gave our riders and audience something they could really learn from afterwards.”

Trainer Katie Robicheaux, one of the demo riders, rode Otello de Massa, known as “Tater Tot,” to train with Jan. The pair are working from Fourth Level toward Prix St. Georges.

“These summaries were great!” said Katie. “It was especially nice to read about the rides I missed because I was warming up myself. I’ve gone back to them several times, for clarification as well as inspiration! Thank you so much for giving us access to these.”

The symposium gave riders plenty to think about: new exercises to try, familiar ideas explained in a different way, and exact moments they wanted to remember once back home. Beyond Jan’s teaching, riders could also capture their own thoughts with the Rider Reflections feature in the EQ Coach-Copilot app. After their rides, they could audio record ‘self memos,’ which were automatically turned into written summaries to reference later.

Dressage Olympian Jan Brink and Equestic CMO Nicole Graf with symposium participants holding EQ Coach-Copilot bags at the 2026 NEDA Symposium.

Embracing Technology Alongside Horsemanship

For the first time in the symposium’s history, the organizers integrated technology with the EQ Coach-Copilot app, which was used throughout the two-day event to capture Jan’s teaching.

The symposium featured eight sessions per day, ranging from Young Horse to Grand Prix. The EQ Coach-Copilot captured the audio of Jan’s teaching and transformed it into written summaries, complete with quotes and milestone moments. Jan reviewed and approved the content. Riders and 200 spectators then got access via the app, free of charge, as a bonus for their participation.

“We were delighted to have Equestic join us this year, and they brought something new and exciting,” said Beth Beukema, longtime organizer of the NEDA Symposium.

“The EQ Coach-Copilot app cleverly turned Jan Brink’s sessions into detailed training summaries, with the key teaching points and highlights, and the accuracy was incredible. Riders and spectators could focus on watching and learning, not notetaking. The summaries gave our riders and audience something they could really learn from afterwards.”

Nicole Graf, Lendon Gray and Kamila Wilson at NEDA Symposium 2026

Utilizing Technology to Improve Everyday Coaching and Training

On day one, Nicole Graf, CMO at Equestic, was joined by Olympian Lendon Gray for two demonstrations about how technology can improve coaching, rider learning and training, for better horse welfare.

Mount Holyoke student Kamila Wilson and her horse joined the demo, where Lendon gave a short lesson showing how easy EQ Coach-Copilot is for coaches and riders to use, and how the EQ Saddle-Clip tracks a horse’s motion to help improve symmetry during training.

“I see EQ Coach-Copilot as an incredibly valuable tool for my riders and myself,” said Lendon Gray, Olympian and founder of Dressage4Kids. “I don’t teach the same people all the time, so it’s wonderful for riders to have the notes so they know what to work on when they get home, and they can share them with their regular coach. And although I hate to admit it, it actually makes me teach better. I can see whether I really did explain things well enough.”

Equestic CMO Nicole Graf and Swedish dressage Olympian Jan Brink standing together at the 2026 NEDA Symposium, with autumn trees in the background.

“It was wonderful to bring something new to the NEDA Symposium and do something no one had ever done before. Everyone there was very excited about the experience,” said Nicole Graf, CMO at Equestic.

“True horsemanship and the connection with our horse will never be replaced by technology, but we should embrace it to be better riders and coaches, for the sake of our horses.”

A great lesson gives riders plenty to think about. EQ Coach-Copilot helps them remember what mattered.