Edith Master

Edith Louise Master (August 25, 1932 – August 18, 2013) was a Jewish-American equestrian who specialized in dressage.

Early life She was born in New York, New York, on August 25, 1932, daughter of Dr. Arthur M. Master and Hilda Altschul Master.

The favorites for the team dressage competition in Montreal in 1976 were Germany, Switzerland, and the Soviet Union to medal, but the US managed to clinch the bronze ahead of the USSR for their first dressage medal since the 1948 Games. Edith may have benefited considerably in competing against the dominant German dressage team by receiving training from Heinz Lammers, one of the greatest German dressage coaches of the era and by the skills of her Olympic dressage coach, Colonel Bengt Ljunquist.

Dressage exercises Dressage consists of a series of 39 exercises demonstrating how well the rider communicates with the horse. Included exercises are the walk, trot, and canter, as well as having the horse walk backwards, and weave through a pre-determined serpentine course. Four judges score the maneuvers on a ten-point scale. Edith and her two teammates at Montreal, Hilda Gurney and Dorothy Morkis received a combined score of 4,647 points.

Training

While living in Germany for a number of years, she studied dressage under the exceptional trainer Heinz Lammers. Lammers taught in the riding schools in Saerbeck and Greven, Germany, before going independent in 1967. He had a training stable in Olfen and was a heavily sought after coach. In addition to Edith Master, his students included Olympians Eva Maria Pracht, and Pia Laus. Lammers was considered one of the defining personalities in Westphalian (Westphalia region, Germany) equestrian sport, which he helped shape and supervise as state trainer for dressage for almost a quarter of a century. Receiving around 100 medals as a trainer, the Equestrian Association of Westphalia honored Lammers' work with the Golden Plaque of Merit in 2002. He died on February 8, 1922.

Successful Dressage riders must master the art of getting their horse to move at a relaxed pace, at an even rhythm, on the right track, and yet remain alert with a vertical profile to the ground and a properly bent head. Edith collected exotic birds, raised German shepherds, and grew orchids as hobbies. Funeral arrangements were made by Zion Memorial Chapel in Rye, New York.