[QUOTE=wcporter;7105365]
After reading the comments from the blog i think i finally get what CHis trying to say. BUT in the process she is unraveling on stage in a fashon that reminds me of Ms. Amber Hill. And its making me cringe. She needs to stop now and sign off of the blog and stop putting her foot her mouth…mouthing off at the other commenters.
If someone knows her personally please call her and tell she not doing herself any favors. Its NOT professional. :-/[/QUOTE]
yes.
[QUOTE=MaisieMae;7102900]
[QUOTE=eponacelt;7102311]How do you (or Catherine) KNOW that they don’t get it and are clueless? Did you ask them?"[QUOTE=eponacelt;7102311]
I can’t speak for Catherine, but yes, I did ask them. One of the things I like about being an “L” Graduate officiating at a schooling show is that I am allowed and encouraged to talk to the competitors. Many times in the ten years I have officiated at these shows I have asked people after their Training Level ride, which contained NO 20 meter circles, if they know the dimensions of a dressage ring. Their answer is of course no, because if they had understood that the tangent points of a 20m circle in the middle of a dressage ring are B and E, they would have at least made an attempt to touch either side of the dressage court.
Notice that I do not ASSUME that they are clueless. I want to understand what they know so that I can hopefully help them ride a better test next time.
I have also had many people ride for me who not only don’t know and understand the Training Scale, they have never heard of it. How do I know? Because as I am explaining how they can make the score better I might say, “Your rhythm is very erratic and if it were more steady it would improve the quality of your gaits and your score could improve. You understand about the Training Scale right?” This brings an explanation from the rider which clearly shows me that they either don’t understand or have never even heard of the concept!
Catherine Haddad can teach whomever she likes, whenever she likes, wherever she likes. That is her prerogative. I have never seen her teach, ridden with her, or even seen an advertisement for her clinics. But being that it’s her business, she can run it as she feels is best, the same way you have the freedom to either ride or not ride with her. But I don’t really see anything in her article to be offended by. It’s presented as an editorial. That means you will hear her opinion. She gave it. You can choose to take offense to it or you can look at it, see that she has some valid points for your riding, apply them and move on. Or ignore it. That’s your prerogative.:)[/QUOTE]
She may be a good rider, but class is not a word I’d use to describe her…or humble.
(If a beginner rider came to me they wouldn’t be a beginner very long). From the comments in her blog. To the trainers out there- please don’t mimic Her attitude.
Honest question for the Dressage gurus- who has she trained that is an Olympian or international competitor ? Genuinely curious if she had the muscle to back up her mouth, not that it makes her drivel any more palatable .
[QUOTE=Spiritwalker;7104880]
Pretty sure she’s American.[/QUOTE]
USA passport, birthplace etc…Lebanese (?) heritage. We all came from somewhere
wow.
i am always blown away at how fast a mob can form and how fast someone can be burnt at the stake.
this should be a lesson for anyone brave enough to speak up: do NOT be perceived as going against the “mob” or you too shall be burnt.
I honestly find this phenomena quite frightening.
LOL! We move pretty fast for some rabid garden snails.
Paula
[QUOTE=Pennywell Bay;7105399]
She may be a good rider, but class is not a word I’d use to describe her…or humble.
(If a beginner rider came to me they wouldn’t be a beginner very long). From the comments in her blog. To the trainers out there- please don’t mimic Her attitude.
Honest question for the Dressage gurus- who has she trained that is an Olympian or international competitor ? Genuinely curious if she had the muscle to back up her mouth, not that it makes her drivel any more palatable .[/QUOTE]
You are 100% right on. Her responses remind me of the time she did the pregnant southern woman act at some event, when criticism came her way once again she was without tact or class.
mbm, you took the words right out of my mouth … on the witch burning.
It is rather frightening.
This to Greyarabpony on your post #393 - There is a contradiction there - on what she said on the blog and what she said on the on-line comments - good catch.
Despite everything, and good points posted here, I still do get her point and think I understand where she is coming from. . . overall, I’ll be on the supportive side of her comments.
So many riders ride around in a fog, hoping they will luck out and get it right - we do need a Beginning Basics set of instructors, and they don’t have to be BNR’s. The Germans have a whole school of up and coming riders who start these horses right - they should send some over here.
[QUOTE=mbm;7105453]
wow.
i am always blown away at how fast a mob can form and how fast someone can be burnt at the stake.
this should be a lesson for anyone brave enough to speak up: do NOT be perceived as going against the “mob” or you too shall be burnt.
I honestly find this phenomena quite frightening.[/QUOTE]
Do you mean a mob against the blogger or against a poster on this thread?
I only ask because if someone is publishing their blog, they would expect some criticism. Specifically when the blogger asked her editor if she should tone it down prior to publishing.(in the comments under the blog). She knew how this may be perceived. I didn’t think of this as a mob against the blogger but a lot of people who are getting a good look at what a pro is thinking. Thankfully, if a lot of pros think like this, they are keeping their mouth shut, as it can be bad for business.
Just curious. I enjoy MBM’s posts greatly.
Why? So we can ruin them?
Posted by Foxtrot’s:
The Germans have a whole school of up and coming riders who start these horses right - they should send some over here.
Catharine,
I no longer have a COTH mag account or I would post a comment in your support on the BLOG.
[QUOTE=betonbill;7105330]
Perhaps I am not reading this right, but it sounds like the trainer is doing exactly what she should be doing–i.e., learning some new ways to teach these students while at the same time learning how to improve herself. Of course, there would be added benefit if the trainer could join the clinician in the ring and have part of the conversation directed towards what the regular trainer could do to improve said students (this seems to be lacking in the narrative),.[/QUOTE]
The whole point of my quote is that another poster said that CD wrote in the comments that the trainers did NOT stay to watch.
[QUOTE=mbm;7105453]
wow.
i am always blown away at how fast a mob can form and how fast someone can be burnt at the stake.
this should be a lesson for anyone brave enough to speak up: do NOT be perceived as going against the “mob” or you too shall be burnt.
I honestly find this phenomena quite frightening.[/QUOTE]
Why are so many COTH members so melodramatic? No one is being burned at the stake here, and the majority of the world (including the horse world) do not know or care what posters on COTH think or write.
We’re just not that important.
I don’t know how anyone can be surprised by what is going on with the replies on this topic. It is standard COTH form on polarizing topics for those on each side to gang up and try to back up their COTH friends, and for those who are not in a “pack” to either turn and take out the weak (read “annoying”–for always making it personal and attacking rather than staying on topic) ones or just wait for the pack to leave. Thus returning the topic back to a conversation or debate based on the merits of the original post.
The rest just eat popcorn. Sometimes with or without wine. 
I’m definitely eating popcorn on this one. So nice to be on that side for once. It’s less work than fighting off those carrying pitchforks. Or is it brooms? :lol:
Don’t tar everyone with the same brush, Velvet.
I wish she had just written her headline… and then if she had to keep writing, to stay much tighter to the topic about training the trainers.
In the comments, there was the great point made that much of the “trainer” training that we actually do provide… requires that you have 2nd level students.
Well, this is all wrong, isn’t it? You have to bumble around taking people’s money and hoping you can suck some in who can ride before anyone will teach you your profession? Sounds like the perfect recipe for success! I can’t understand why we don’t use the same techniques for brain surgery and engineering.
We do need to train the trainers. And we need to train them before they take their first student. How can we build this program?
The skill of coaching humans in athletic performance is quite different from actually doing that performance. There is a great deal of study and technique on this. We even have some very good equine professionals that I believe have been learning and gathering knowledge in this area - some that come to mind are Jane Bartle-Wilson (from the UK) and eventers David O’Connor and Brian Sabo. I listened to Jane Bartle-Wilson talk at length about how her Olympic committee had sent all the team coaches for this kind of training, and how valuable and eye-opening she found it to be.
(By the way, watching Jane teach relatively low level riders was one of the most educational and interesting experiences I have ever had, and she improved my own riding dramatically in just a few days, really opening some big doors for me.)
I’d point out that the three people I just mentioned aren’t just trainers of riders, but trainers of trainers - meaning that they teach the professionals they mentor not just to ride, but also to teach, and that all of them have students with high level students.
So there was a great essay in that title. I’m sorry that’s not the essay she chose to write.
One other thing. I made it my personal policy many years back that I don’t ride with anyone who does not invest in their own continuing education by working with some other teacher on some regular basis. Any time an exception has set in, I’ve ended up very unhappy.
All professionals benefit from this refreshening. It’s actually critical.
As one of those snail riders I agree with her.
Her clinic cost is $300 for a lesson. Why on earth would anyone who doesn’t know how to put their horse on the bit, or pick up the canter, or sit the trot waste their money on that? More to say you got to ride with someone famous and not for the training.
Even if you have to haul a distance for a weekend of training with a lower level trainer you’d still get more lessons and more worth then a lesson or two with someone famous.
Back in the day I was seriously into martial arts. We would spend money on fighting seminars with people like Sifu Dan Inosanto (still have that picture). I mean those people could wipe the floor with us and not break a sweat. We learned arnis techniques that maybe were at 1/50th the speed he and his assistants would have. I never felt like he lost patience with us. We never felt like we weren’t good enough to be there.
Maybe for some of us our expectations for things like this are different?
Paula
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