AA Focused Clinic Series - Anyone organized one?

[RedmondDressage]

A few fellow AA riders and I have noticed that our GMO(s) are very focused on organizing clinics for Pros and JR/YR’s but have made almost no effort to include the AA’s that make up the bulk of their membership. It’s frustrating for us, as we have all devoted significant time, money, and effort in this sport. So instead of complaining about it we’re looking to fill that void and see if we can organize a series specifically for AA riders with well regarded clinicians. We’ve all been around for many years, have organized events, have connections, and have several top notch facilities who are happy to host, which is a great start!

Myself and my fellow organizers have all competed at FEI and would like to book clinicians who will benefit those of us working at the upper levels, but also be effective and interested in working with riders trying to progress from TL on up. We’ve got a few names in mind but I’d love to hear from other AA riders or those who have organized similar clinics.

Who have you enjoyed riding with in recent years? Who did you feel has been most worthwhile and provided a great learning experience?

[alibi_18]

I like clinics with judges. It could be a « test » clinic.
Stephen Clarke and Peter Storr will be in Ottawa in May.

Some of our Canadians are still in Florida; I’ve always enjoyed my lessons with Diane Creech.

Around September for the WEG, there will be plenty of BNTs. I don’t know if you could schedule some prior or after the games.

[atlatl]

The California Dressage Society hosts 3 AA clinics each year. The same clinician conducts 2 day clinics in Northern, Central and Southern CA. Auditing is free to all.

Clinicians that I would ride with in a heart beat; Hilda Gurney, Sabine Schut-Kery, Lilo Fore spring to mind.

[theresak]

My GMO has done clinics with Janet Foy for years. She does a great job with everything from training level through GP, AAs and pros. I’ve seen some eventers and a jumper rider get great lessons from her as well. I’ve audited lessons with QHx, Arabx, paints, Friesians, TBs, and warmbloods. She has her preferences but will do a good job within each horse’s limitations.

[Manni01]

I cliniced with Janet Foy, Lee Tubman (both Judges) and Kathleen Reine. All of them I would recommend

[netg]

Jeremy Steinberg is my favorite for teaching all levels and skills plus all breeds of horses. He will work with anyone, as long as their interest is in learning and trying to improve.

I think the first thing to figure out is demographics - do you have an area where a lot of people have interest in very classical training, or more competitive training? Do they need it to be a relatively inexpensive trainer, or are they willing to pay the cost for a big name? How much basic education will riders have?

Biomechanics focus can be great, and I absolutely love riding with Julie Leiken for biomechanics. She’s not a big name but does clinics in this area regularly, and she is brilliant at finding the small things within your body which are affecting you and causing specific problems. She also does pilates classes where she can give you exercises for the things she saw in the saddle. She and my trainer worked together to help me re-learn how to use my left side after an injury.

Someone like Charles de Kunffy will love the opportunity to give a classroom lecture as well, so is great for people who want academic learning as well.

I don’t know that he’s teaching anymore, but Alex Gerding is reponsible for the best, most harmonious, rides I’ve ever had. He is a savant or something, he can look at a horse walking toward the arena and know how to fix your problem with your left to right change by having you do lateral work at a walk. When he gets talking about what he sees and why, he is just incredible to listen to.

Those are just some of the people/types of clinics I’ve ridden in/audited. There are so many directions you can go if you come up with an idea. And thank you for making the effort to do it! We’re lucky in my area, but so many places aren’t.

[pluvinel]

The comment about “know your audience” is good. My view is that that the" “re-rider” demographic is more interested in learning rather than showing.

So, I would vote for clinicians whose focus is on how to effectively ride and train a horse…vs clinicians who focus on competitive results, like properly riding test figures etc.

A clinician who uses the test classical movements as gymnastic exercises that enable the horse to become a better athlete. Like a trainer that knows that you can school a pirouette or the piaffe in a “training level” horse if you want to strengthen the abdominals in a long-backed horse and show the horse how to engage the haunches.

My votes are for:
Jeremy Steinberg
Helene Asmis
Francois Lemaire

[digihorse]

Are you talking clinics or sponsored “master classes” as they are now known. USDF did try to do a series of AA focused clinics around the country back in the early 2000s. Several different top coaches were engaged to teach in each region. Walter Zettl was one of those. I think Hilda did a run. Problem was… USDF got the glory… but the local GMO who put it on… got the bills, blood, sweat and tears. USDF only allowed for $1500 for each region. That was including everything. So…the GMO had to hustle to get contributors to give facilities, hotel… you name it or take it out of their operating budget. That got old pretty fast so the program bombed after a couple of years.

If you are in a region where there is enough $ to support the cost, you can put on any kind of clinic. Most clinicians charge $1500 a day plus expenses. You figure out how much you have to charge to make that happen. Or you get a sponsor to cover costs so you can offer the lessons at a discount. It is just too expensive for most areas to pay for.

[pluvinel]

Forget the USDF imprimatur. Go at it alone.

The USDF has a warped view of of AA’s…their abilities and their interests.

I can’t remember the exact title of the series Hilda Gurney put on, but it seemed quite dumbed down and definitely was not a serious teaching of the progression of training and the use advanced theory in the training process.

[MysticOakRanch]

USDF’s clinics were Adult Clinics, not AA clinics. So they were for both open and AA riders.

I’ll tell you what my chapter did a few years ago for lower level riders. We called it “the Journey to 2nd Level”, and we hired Janet Foy and Sue Curry (both are EXCELLENT clinicians), and ran a series of 3 weekends spread out over about 3 months. We had riders and horses at various levels from intro to “almost 2nd level”. The same riders and horses rode all three weekends. The instruction was specific to their level and what they needed to work on and develop to get to the next level (aka the Intro rider and horse worked on canter transitions and steering in the canter, and keeping the canter from gaining too much steam and losing balance, the “almost 2nd level” team worked on better collection and balance, and suppleness for 2nd level work).

We watched the progression over that 3 month period, and every, single rider and horse improved. Ours wasn’t aimed at the AA rider, but more at the “grass roots” rider - we had a few trainers who teach up-down, we had a couple of juniors, and then we had AA riders.

Our goal was to help the rider make that jump to the next level, and to show the auditors the progression to take a horse from intro to 2nd level, and how you build on the basics.

Both Janet and Sue were super with the horses, riders, and auditors. I would recommend either one.

There are a lot of excellent clinicians. I’ve audited or ridden with almost all the recommendations on this thread so far, and several are good. A few are NOT so great with beginners, or less fancy horses, so keep that in mind. And some are better at working directly on rider biomechanics, others are better at using exercises to try to correct rider issues. So it kind of depends on what you are looking for.

CDS has done an AA clinic every year - their list of clinicians have included:

Walter Zettl
Debbie McDonald
Rachel Saavedra
Hilda Gurney
Sabine Schutt Kerry
Melissa Creswick
Volker Bromman

And I’m sure I’ve left out some names. Some of those were better then others. Some were better with advanced riders, some were better with lower level riders, and a few were pretty good with everyone. I’ve ridden in a few of the clinics, and audited a few more over the decades.

[RedmondDressage]

We’re talking clinics. We want to give AA’s opportunities to ride with great clinicians (whether they be BNT or less well known but great nonetheless). We definitely have no interest in dealing with USDF and frankly, with our local GMO. Two of us tried to work with our GMO in the past and “the old guard” has zero interest in new ideas, new ways of doing things, etc.

We’re in a region with a decent number of competitive riders and others who would be interested in more educational opportunities based on our informal polling. We’re in a pretty affluent area so I think we would have the riders to support clinics with BNTs but want to make things accessible as well so we’ll definitely be weighing cost as we get deeper into this project of ours.

[RedmondDressage]

Thank you MysticOak - super helpful information!

[lorilu]

It is unfortunate that your GMO does not meet it’s members’ needs. I assume you have tried to get them to offer clinics to AAs - are the clinics they host CLOSED to AAs? (The Jr/YR ones probably are, but those others - how are they “focused” on pros? )

While you can certainly “go it alone”, remember that The Dressage Foundation offers grants for many activities - including putting on clinics - but most require that it be sponsored by a GMO. Perhaps you could volunteer to organize whatever clinic you want THROUGH the GMO - it has been my experience that GMOs are chronicly short on volunteers and would appreciate your efforts. Those grants are easy to apply for - don’t be afraid to go for it.

As a member of the USDF GMO council representing Region 3, I strongly disagree with pluvinel. There IS a perception that USDF does not offer enough to the AA - and in some ways I agree - but they rely on the local arm - the GMO - to do these programs. The “typical” AA is impossible to pin down… far too varied a group.
Loretta

[lorilu]

Having read more recent posts, I have to say, GO FOR IT. If you plan it well, riders will come.

[mmeqcenter]

I have a friend in Ohio who tried to do something similar, but not dressage-focused. She put together a couple clinics then it kind of fizzled out due to lack of entries. So yeah, definitely know your demographic, and that includes budgets. A lot of the top names are going to charge the same high price for their clinic whether it’s a pro or AA riding in it, and for many AA it may not be a feasible rate. In many areas there’s really great local trainers with a Gold medal that would be well worth doing a clinic with, explore those options.

Make sure it is extremely well organized.

Respond promptly to all inquiries through any method of communication - email, phone, social media. There is nothing more annoying than getting no response from a coordinator when I ask a question about a clinic I’m interested in. If it’s extremely difficult to find the entry form and pricing information, I’m likely to not care enough to bother looking for it, myself.

[right_horse_at_the_right_time]

My recommendation would be to find a clinician you like and continue working with that cliniican.

I’ve ridden with multiple, and my favorite is Heather blitz.

What works best is repeated interaction. When the clinician comes back Time and time again, she or he can make significant changes. I like riding with different people for different perspectives, but I find that Heather is hands-down the best at working on the rider first so that the rider can affect the horse.

So if you were talking about a series, I would find a clinician you like, and bring that clinician back four times a year. It seems to be one of the best ways to manage it and actually make improvements.

[soloudinhere]

@lorilu

It is unfortunate that your GMO does not meet it’s members’ needs. I assume you have tried to get them to offer clinics to AAs - are the clinics they host CLOSED to AAs? (The Jr/YR ones probably are, but those others - how are they “focused” on pros? )

Usually they’re at something like 10am on a Tuesday when the average amateur who doesn’t have two assistant riders and a group of stall muckers is either at the job they use to pay for all this, or doing their own barn chores so they get paid.

I understand that most BNTs don’t have weekends available, but the scheduling, and often the last minute changes to scheduling, are very difficult for the average amateur to accomodate.

[NotAtTheBarn]

I’m in the PNW and would LOVE to attend/ride in a clinic focused on AA riders!

[islandhorsegirl]

There are some in my area but the price per ride is out of most AA’s reach ($250 - $450). And I feel these are the people that would benefit most.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

Agree 100% with right horse. Perhaps a single clinician for four visits/year, then a new clinician for the next year, etc?

Jodi Lees is an “S” judge who lives down the road from me and is a wonderful AA teacher.
Find her info at www.riversedgefarms.com