I FINALLY get to take my horse to our first Brad Hall clinic this weekend! I have heard wonderful things about him so I am excited! We can only stay for one day this time so I am hoping to get a good flatwork lesson under my belt. And then hopefully be able to do full weekends for the next few clinics.
Anyone care to chime in on their experiences with Brad? Any tips or advice, do’s or don’ts, pet peeves, etc? I am excited to hear your stories and make some of my own this weekend!
I have been fortunate enough to clinic with him and usually try to audit some of his sessions as well. Even when watching him teach, there are always things I take away and put to good use. What day are you riding?
I am riding Saturday in the morning! 
Are you going to come and audit?
Sal, you will have a lot of fun. Brad is quick to pick up on any problems you or your horse might have and can offer some easy, low key fixes. I can’t think of any pet peeves off the top of my head. He is so easy going, I’ve even had a neighbor bring her barrel horse to him for flat lessons and he was great with them.
As always, try to watch as many other groups as you can, and of course let us know how it goes.
Where is the clinic?
Thanks for the info Brigitte! I am looking forward to it. Been wanting to take my horse to him for awhile now but just can never seem to find the right weekend!
It is at Capitol Farms in Chesterfield. He comes there frequently apparently.
I’m so excited for you! I board at Capitol and have been riding with Brad since June of 2009 - that first lesson was interesting…my horse was pretty fresh off the track and couldn’t canter without adding a buck at the end of every stride and swapping out behind - we fustrated several trainers before that & even challenged Brad that first day but he came back with ways to deal with it the second day and you wouldn’t believe (I don’t believe) how far we’ve come since then. I have video of some of our lessons with him on youtube- let me know if you are interested in watching them to get a feel for him.
I really hope you love it! I am riding tomorrow at 4:00 & Sunday at 10:30 - I can’t come out Saturday until after my husband’s office holiday thing so I hope I don’t completely miss meeting you!
My trainer will be riding her horse Parker in the clinic this weekend. She really likes him and has gone multiple times this year. Have fun!
[QUOTE=Chouteau;6023863]
I’m so excited for you! I board at Capitol and have been riding with Brad since June of 2009 - that first lesson was interesting…my horse was pretty fresh off the track and couldn’t canter without adding a buck at the end of every stride and swapping out behind - we fustrated several trainers before that & even challenged Brad that first day but he came back with ways to deal with it the second day and you wouldn’t believe (I don’t believe) how far we’ve come since then. I have video of some of our lessons with him on youtube- let me know if you are interested in watching them to get a feel for him.
I really hope you love it! I am riding tomorrow at 4:00 & Sunday at 10:30 - I can’t come out Saturday until after my husband’s office holiday thing so I hope I don’t completely miss meeting you![/QUOTE]
I would love to watch your videos! I am really excited. I wanted to go and watch a few rides today after work but I have to work both jobs I found out. So I will be there tomorrow but not sure how long after I can stay! I ride at 10 so it sounds like I may miss you as I am not riding on Sunday!
And let me add that the folks at Capital are a really good group of people. I don’t board there, but do train with Ellen and clinic with Brad when I can. You will have a great time.
Just wanted to update and say that Brad is FANTASTIC! I HIGHLY recommend a lesson/clinic with him if you are in the Area IV vicinity (he is based up near the Wisonsin/Iowa borders of Illinois). The concepts he explains are very simple yet effective. He is extremely personable and funny and not intimidating whatsoever. He got on my trainer’s horse who was having some trouble understanding the concept of roundness, and it was a beautiful thing to watch. So simple and quiet - nothing was a fight even though this horse can be bull headed sometimes.
I highly, highly recommend him and I am excited to go back next month and enjoy a full weekend of training with him!
Oh my gosh, I was an assistant stable managment judge and he was the chief stable management judge at a Pony Club rally way back in the day. Like late 80’s? He was a hoot and a half. How cool to find out he’s still doing the horse thing. He’s a great guy.
Bumping up this old thread. I went to one of his clinics last weekend and was thoroughly impressed. He has a very easy-going, calm yet effective way of presenting things. He was hilarious. I have ridden with a variety of trainers and his “type”…technical, no frills, and to the point…is right up my alley. He was VERY quick to pick up on our issues and just as quick to help me address them. It was a group lesson so he wasn’t able to focus just on me and my problem child (I wasn’t expecting him to), but he addressed that and did say he would like to work with us again. What I appreciated the most was the fact that he took the time at the start to get to know us. It wasn’t a 20 minute heart to heart, but he wanted information and some history so he could better address what we had going on. This was a facility he has been coming to for years, so I was definitely the “new kid on the block”, but I wasn’t made to feel that way. Even though we were all warmed up he had all of us do brief flatwork so he could address issues before jumping.
I absolutely cannot wait to ride with him again. I wish he were closer, as I would haul out to him as much as possible. I am hoping to be able to haul to his facility in between times he is here. I learned a lot in our lesson, which was cut short on XC because my horse pulled a shoe, and he gave me homework and more tools for my box of tricks which I have already been implementing.
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