As someone who has access to Eddo, Walter, and Michael Barisone, I do think they are great.
I have to say the very “bestest” was at Equine Affaire- Steffen Peters backed out, so Pam Goodrich was called in. My Dad, who always is asking what side he should lead the horse on, STILL raves about her. She was really good, really enjoyable and she helped ALL the riders!
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Karen and David O’Connor were the most entertaining I thought, but it was more densitizing and seeing what they can stick vs horse learning a lot.
I’ve audited a bunch - but the ones I really enjoyed auditing were actually natural horsemanship/colt starter types. One was a gasp, Parelli person, but who struck me as an old cowboy instead of the slick schtick parelli crap.Marc Rea was his name. I’ve also audited Jon Ensign a bit and ended up having him work with a mare I had for a couple weeks while he was in town. I definitely learned quite a few useful things from those guys, despite being worlds apart in terms of riding disciplines. I’ve also audited Jan Ebeling, it was a really nice experience and very inspiring.
I’ve ridden with Barbara Koot - on my gaited standardbred. I was so nervous to ride him in that type of setting, even though it was at my home barn. I had visions of being told to leave, or get off my horse, that he’s not worth the time or effort, etc. I actually reached out to her first and explained the horse I had prior to the clinic, asking if she’d be willing to work with us- she was so sweet in both her response and holy crap we got a TON out of 2 days. It was such a positive experience, I was able to do things with that horse that I didn’t think was going to be possible. And i loved her positive attitude and her repeatedly telling me that she thought there was a lot in there that i could bring out, and that she admires people who have the desire to do the work I’m doing with him. All in all it was a huge confidence booster and it set us up for major success in his training down the road.
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Absolute best - Karl Mikolka. Riding with him is like drinking from a firehose, but you get tons and IF you work on the exercises he has you do, during the times between clinics, you will begin to build on truly classical skills (and he will love you). The problem is that you MUST practice and if your regular teacher gives you techniques that conflict, you will be confused and so will your horse, and the next clinic will be a waste.
KM helps me ride and train my horse, and communicate with him. Mary Wanless helps me be a more correct rider.
Kottas - that was a giant waste of time and money. Each session consisted of instructions on which gait or figure he wanted me to do, NEVER why, what the horse and I should get out of it, or how to do it better. No recommendations of things I should practice at home. Nothing about what we did well and what we needed to improve. A big NOTHING.
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My best was the clinic that I went to that lead me to finding my current instructor. I loved every minute of it. Though I did have some frustration at one rider who “didn’t want to play” or really even try the stuff being asked. In fact, that rider spent most of her ride time over exaggerating and being cheeky at the clinician. If you are going to be That Person, just leave.
My worst was taking a dressage lesson from an event rider. I had been going to that clinic for a couple of years and had always done the jump portion. That particular year my horse was finally totally sound from a pasture incident, but I didn’t want to push it so I signed up for a dressage lesson. She wanted my mare to move like a warmblood and act like a Thoroughbred. My mare is neither warmblood, nor Thoroughbred. Moves like a ranch horse, acts half dead. I was frustrated, my horse was frustrated, at one point the clinician got on her and kicked the living daylights out of her several times. Every time I think about it I wish I had stood up for my horse and asked her to dismount. Hindsight is 20/20. Went back the next year though and did a jump lesson and it was a really good experience. Will probably go again and do another jump lesson this year. I just know I won’t ever do another dressage lesson.
By any chance, was this the one at Equine Affaire a few years ago? I remember feeling badly for the 8 riders crammed into a rather small jumping arena. Waaaay too many horses for the time allotted.
Best clinic was hands down Jeremy Steinberg.
Worst was probably the person (I won’t name her) who came to our isolated region on a talent ID trip funded by our national federation, mocked the green TB / QH crosses that we all rode (this was 25 years ago but she’s still teaching) and told us all we had to have warmbloods if we wanted to do dressage (but also told our coach later that none of us had any natural talent anyway so it didn’t matter what we rode.)
I rode my own horse the first day but she asked to see my coach on my horse the second day and me on a different one. So I borrowed a friend’s sainted horse whom I’d never ridden and brought him out. Oh this snotty trainer LOVED him and made all the riders watch us go as she went on and in about why THIS was why we needed warmbloods and THIS was the kind of horse we all needed to have if we wanted to even begin to call ourselves Dressage riders. She asked me to share his bloodlines with everyone and I couldn’t have been happier to tell her he was a registered Quarter Horse :lol:
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I haven’t done very many clinics, but luckily the experiences I’ve had have all been great. Last year I rode in a clinic with Brody Robertson. He instilled confidence while being realistic about issues I was having and I feel that I learned a lot. I still use many of the tips I learned. I would love to ride in more clinics with him. This summer, he designed one of the courses at a CT and I helped with setting them up and volunteered as jump crew for both the CT and for the clinic later that day. I learned quite a lot from that experience as well.
Love the term “Zombie Thread!” --Worst clinic wasn’t mine but daughter’s with Jimmy Wofford --she’d saved for months eating peanut butter sandwiches and really cutting every expense to the bone to save up to drive 6 hours to take a two day clinic with Wofford. Sadly, despite the fact she had a good horse and was a good rider, apparently Wofford decided she wasn’t “good enough” and focused his attention on the great riders and horses present --she got nothing in the way of feedback or instruction. No comments, no nothing. Had it been me, I’d have been demanding. But she’s a quiet, shy girl and this was her first time (and only time) dealing with a famous horseman —what would it have killed him to to say something to her? “I can see you are trying,” or “better than last time.” --but Not. A. Word.
My own best ever clinician is Lucas Novotny who gives clinics in Mounted Archery. Despite the group being larger than expected, (supposed to be 8:1 ratio) Nototny dealt with 15 archers and effectively and efficiently for two days --when you weren’t in his cross hairs --he expected you to be watching the rider/shooter and would frequently ask questions of participants as he worked with the mounted rider. He never wasted time, never got off topic, made sure the lowest ability archers had equal attention as those who shot well. I left the clinic with two horses who were better (exponentially in one case) than when we started, and a fist full of ideas on how to practice to improve my own archery. I honestly felt I got more than my money’s worth.
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He’s a pompous bully
I have attended quite a few clinics and learned so many things from all. Attended a Conrad Schumacher Symposium. Stefan Peters, Robert Dover, David Marcus, Cara Whitham, Stephen Clarke.
Marina Genn’s clinic back in the day was quite a timewaster. Some people can ride but are not born teachers.
Foxglove,
Jimmy Wofford is on my best and my worst list. Attended the first one when I started going to recognized events, and the lecture portion ALONE was worth going for. Great gymnastic day the first day, cross country the second day. And during the ridden portions, he was encouraging without being demanding, and the horses improved dramatically throughout the weekend.
The second one, a year later at the same venue, was a horror show. Partly because of the attendees, partly I think because Jimmy was just having an off weekend. No wonderful lecture explaining the goals of the clinic, not positive, not encouraging. Highlights including him chasing a reluctant horse and rider over a fence with a lunge whip while the rider was in the middle of a stress induced asthma attack. Yeah, I’m not kidding. There was also the rider who wouldn’t stop picking at her horse in front of a fence. So he took her reins away, crossed them, and buckled the bight under the horse’s neck. And had her jump that way. On the cross country course. It was effective in terms of the rider stopped picking and the horse relaxed, but pretty questionable from a safety standpoint.
Another on my personal worst was the dressage clinician who wanted my horse to do a long and low warmup, and when I couldn’t produce it, lunged him for 45 minutes. Without success. For which I paid full price.
Best was with Heather Blitz and the worst was a fellow who worked on piaffe and passage. Great timing with the horses but a pompas jerk who was either drunk and lecherous or hung over and lecherous Terrible experience. The owner of the facility had to ask him to leave
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Best by far - Pierre Cousyn! He is positive, focused on basics and everyone improved! Horse with flat canter wanting to work pirouettes - transitions in canter on the circle, to get the jump back, and voila! Pretty pirouettes. Just awe-inspiring and such a natural rider (he’ll hop on!) and teacher. He’s Cadre Noir graduate but not a Philippe Karl disciple - but so soft and lovely but exact. Cannot praise him enough, and while I’ve not ridden in tons of BNT clinics, I’ve audited many and I see and understand the most watching and riding with him.
Worst - Pamela Goodrich. I read good reviews on here, heard she was classical, but she literally screamed incessantly to “Pull harder!” And when not screaming, she was texting her real clients and not paying attention to the clinic riders. I can handle screaming or a tough attitude, but not demands for aggressive riding - her devoted students all have tendinitis, so nope! But even absent that, it was incredibly rude to be on her phone when she was supposed to be teaching. I was appalled.
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worst: Tina Wommelsdorf. so unbelievably awful, and incredibly tough on the horses (endless circles of sitting trot in the middle of the showground, pouring rain cold wind, while she commanded orders from a horse truck through a megaphone whilst sat in chair)
bill roycroft: “don’t use a martingale”, jump this, go there do this (pointing at fences he wanted us to jump) - and this to a group of riders who had won/placed at Advanced and or Restricted Novice. basically he used what were then called Schools to suss out potential event horses for selling on. Wayne actually understood that coaching wasn’t just yelling abuse at the male riders while ignoring the females.
Wayne Roycroft was a revelation after his father.
clemmens deirks. 7 out of 10. ditto his wife judy - yes people paid and lined up for their drunken abuse, that if was hurled by a stranger in the street would see them arrested for assault. the 80’s were a crazy time for dressage in Sydney. :lol:
out of all the big name european dressage trainers have ridden with, the absolute best Teacher, Coach, and all round Horseman was a certain Sgt Tom Roberts (author Horse Control & the Bit, among others) stands head and shoulders above.
one will learn something from everyone they clinic with - often what one learns isn’t what one expected to learn. :yes:
Worst clinic was Melanie Smirh Taylor.
horrible horrible horrible.
she was very snobbish and talked constantly about just a few people in the clinic and ignored others
total waste of money
best clinic was Rex Peterson.
i went with two horses in two sections. Learned a lot of natural horsemanship techniques as well as tricks he uses in movies. A lot of fun!!
That is a shame about Melanie Taylor.
I knew her when she was a youngster catching rides at shows and doing a great job and then she was a nice, polite and fun person, not at all like that.
Guess some people mature into a different person they were when young.
Oh! I forgot my best dressage clinician! Elizabeth Lewis! First of all, she comes to a clinic with a lesson plan, a concept she wants to discuss in depth, one that can be applied across the levels. In a couple of her two day clinics that I both rode in and audited, she brought her Grand Prix horse, and the beginning of each day of the clinic was her taking him through her usual warm up. She was miked for this, and narrated what she was doing while she did it. That alone was incredible. Then, she would demonstrate whatever the topic of the clinic was on her Gran Prix horse. At the end of the second day of the clinic, she rode through her pre-test warm up, also miked and narrating. Then rode through her complete Freestyle, which brought tears to my eyes. And then she critiques her own freestyle.
This, combined with watching her teach the other sessions in the clinic, was an incredible education. Her clinic fees weren’t cheap (my clients “sponsored” me to ride with her) but so, so worth the money. And the auditing fees were ridiculously cheap.
I have no idea if she’s still teaching, but if she is…go.
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Oh, thank you for having the guts to rescue your horse and having the eye and understanding to realize what a great job Dr Klimke did.
I don’t know if you would call it a clinic but I’ve never seen any horsemanship as impressive as watching Monty Roberts
“join up” with three horses that had never been handled before. He made them work in the round pen (with no pain for them) until they gave him the signals that horses give one another when they want to choose a leader, chewing and lowering their heads. Then the horses approach Monty on their own and touch him with their noses. That’s “joining up.” From then on he bridles them, saddles them and has them ridden with very little fuss. It is beautiful to see and so tremendously kind to the horse. A friend of mine has his horse go through this with Monty. He rode him the next day and the horse is now showing h/j up and down the East Coast.
Here’s a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dx91mH2voo
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Hands down best clinic = Ralph Hill
Worst - a George Morris clinic where in addition to his usual berating of some of the rider’s riding, he took it to a new level by making sexist remarks about some of the auditors and singled out one rider to berate her appearance (she was model thin and pretty) and basically called her a dumb blonde the entire time. Since he spent the entire session making digs and sexist remarks aimed at this one rider and an auditor (they did not come together) no one benefited from that particular session at all - other than having someone set up some gridwork for you
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