I’m looking for auditors and riders who have attended or participated in clinics worldwide for reviews. I believe in reality reviews positive or negative of the value of ones experience. This is to highlight what went well and was found of value, as well as what might have been negative or invaluable with trainers, judges, and clinicians. With this shared knowledge and experience can be found and reviewed in an effort to help others determine where they may want to spend their equestrian time, and learning efforts.
What are your plans for the collection of reviews? Are you doing a website?
[QUOTE=cpeck15;8586422]
I’m looking for auditors and riders who have attended or participated in clinics worldwide for reviews. … With this shared knowledge and experience can be found and reviewed in an effort to help others determine where they may want to spend their equestrian time, and learning efforts.[/QUOTE]
I don’t agree.
Using information about clinics and instructors gleaned from an online BB, to determine where to spend your money, is a big mistake.
That’s an example off taking social media way too seriously.
These threads about various clinicians always provide good gossip and stories about pros and cons of top teachers. Some are told as personal experience. Some are hearsay. “My cousin’s neighbor knew someone whose horse was almost ruined by Johann Reinfergrabben. I’d never hire him.”
Some are wildly exaggerated. And some are pure fiction. There are several very creative writers on dressage BBs who haven’t been near a dressage horse or dressage lesson in years.
You’ll collect lots of info on threads like these. But you are much better off to rely on the reports from riders and trainers you know in real life to guide your plans. And especially your budgeting.
[QUOTE=cpeck15;8586422]
This is to highlight what went well and was found of value, as well as what might have been negative or invaluable with trainers, judges, and clinicians. With this shared knowledge and experience can be found and reviewed in an effort to help others determine where they may want to spend their equestrian time, and learning efforts.[/QUOTE]
Silverbridge, I see your point, but I think that if the reviews include specific exercises that clinicians used with good explanations of how and when to use them and why they worked, as well as direct observation of the improvement in the horse or rider, that there is value. I don’t like it when reviews get too personal unless it’s something along the lines of "this clinician really knows his/her stuff but is a bit, for example, sarcastic, only appropriate for a student with rhino hide, and so on, which can be helpful. Some people can laugh at themselves when a trainer delivers a sarcastic comment, and other people fall to pieces. So, it’s good to know the trainer’s overall style.
Oh I see that point, too. And I’ve read good stuff from others online and written up clinic reports myself.
It’s just that the language in the OP made it seem like he/she was looking to compile the definitive treatise. With shared knowledge we know where to spend our money and all that. I think, not so much.
There’s the mistake. Never trust your horse’s wellbeing to someone named Reinfergrabben.
(But seriously, good name and example!)
I think when someone asks about specific names and has been on this forum and “knows” personalities it can be useful to ask, but a collection especially if anonymous becomes meaningless due to context. I know of one person who is actively badmouthing a trainer, for example. Whose lessons I saw, and who was guilty of what the individual accuses the trainer of despite best attempts by that trainer to stop the behavior - leading to said trainer refusing to work with that individual. Anonymously posted online, that would give an untrue impression, but anyone who knows the individual would know what the real problem is. (Actually, I typed this thinking of one situation, but there are others to which it applies that I can think of without much effort.)
Factual types of reviews can be helpful, though - Jeremy Steinberg likes to discuss theory from his broad base of intellectual and riding study, and is almost professorial in his lectures while someone is riding. Knowing that, riders can choose if he is someone with whom they would want to ride. Several biomechanics instructors I know get into identification of muscle groups and descriptions of what to articulate, others get more abstract in their descriptions. This can all help if reviews are descriptive rather than opinion, as we each have styles of our own.
[QUOTE=Silverbridge;8586556]
You’ll collect lots of info on threads like these. But you are much better off to rely on the reports from riders and trainers you know in real life to guide your plans. And especially your budgeting.[/QUOTE]
The problem with relying on reports from riders and trainers you know is if the clinician is new to your area or if you don’t know anyone that has ridden with them.
Having a vague idea of teaching style can help made a decision. When I get a range of responses I tend to throw out any of the friend of friend and any outliers. Most of the time you can begin to see a trend to the comments. Read the threads in H/J about George Morris. His personality in clinics is pretty well known. I have seen a few threads about some other well known H/J clinicians and yes there are a few people that say Oh I got nothing out of the clinic, a few with he is the second coming of Christ and most somewhere in between. When you see a large number of comments that “He likes to hear himself talk, we stood around a lot, I got nothing out of it” Then I tend to think Hmmm maybe I will audit him before I shell out bucks to ride in a clinic with him.
Local feedback can only work if there are locals that can give that feedback.
[QUOTE=cpeck15;8586422]
I’m looking for auditors and riders who have attended or participated in clinics worldwide for reviews. I believe in reality reviews positive or negative of the value of ones experience. This is to highlight what went well and was found of value, as well as what might have been negative or invaluable with trainers, judges, and clinicians. With this shared knowledge and experience can be found and reviewed in an effort to help others determine where they may want to spend their equestrian time, and learning efforts.[/QUOTE]
This is your first post?
[QUOTE=cpeck15;8586422]
I’m looking for auditors and riders who have attended or participated in clinics worldwide for reviews. I believe in reality reviews positive or negative of the value of ones experience. This is to highlight what went well and was found of value, as well as what might have been negative or invaluable with trainers, judges, and clinicians. With this shared knowledge and experience can be found and reviewed in an effort to help others determine where they may want to spend their equestrian time, and learning efforts.[/QUOTE]
Uhh, this is a bad idea. You’re going to get a lot of trainers with negative reviews asking for take-downs, or claiming libel.
Edit: Swore the OP said something about building a website… hmm
[QUOTE=Jim R;8587588]
This is your first post?[/QUOTE]
Likely an alter.
As for me, I like clinic reviews but… I prefer to audit myself and form my own opinion.
I think there is usually a lot of information about a lot of clinician already on the internet. I feel this could easily become a ‘‘bash on a trainer’’ type of website.
I agree with Alibi,
Clinics are pricey so I am very picky about who I clinic with. There is a clinician who come to my area often, I have friends that adore this clinician and speak very highly of them.
I audited a clinic, the clinician was entertaining and very knowledgeable. They got amazing things from the horses. However, they did not teach in the way I learn best. I do better with the more professorial teachers that explain the whys and theories, so I choose not to spend my money on that clinician.
Nothing replaces your own experience, however I would probably enjoy browsing a clinician list (sort of rate my professor for horses) but it would not be my deciding factor.
[QUOTE=alibi_18;8587649]
I feel this could easily become a ‘‘bash on a trainer’’ type of website.[/QUOTE]
That is probably why no one has really done it. It is real hard to stop people from bashing each other on the internet.
I know there is Rate My Horse Pro, that may be similar to what the OP is talking about. You have to have a subscription to see what is on it, and I don’t have one. I tried to make an account once, but the registration didn’t work right. Naturally, I was in a fit of rage and trying to give someone a bad review at the time. I cooled down and decided that maybe I should let it go instead of try to get to the bottom of whatever bug was happening with the website.
The only way I can think where it wouldn’t turn into people bashing each other is if the website asked questions that could be answered with a yes or a no, or on a scale of 1-10. You could ask people to place the clinician on a scale from theoretical to instructional (or not theoretical? I don’t know what word I am looking for here. Do you all get the jist?) I would set it up by trying to ask people as many highly detailed questions as possible, without having an open ended section.
These clinic reviews will be posted to DressageTrainingOnline.com. These reviews are not intended to bash anyone, it is simply meant to help inform other people. It should come from the riders personal experience on that particular day. What exercises you did, did you go into the clinic trying to work on something particular? Did you leave the clinic feeling like you and your horse had a better understanding? Some clinicians are better with trainers, some clinicians can teach anyone. Some clinicians are theory based, others use cones, and trot poles. Again this is simply to inform others, from another riders perspective. It may give them the opportunity to audit before they pay a large amount of money.
[QUOTE=mvspencer;8587730]
The only way I can think where it wouldn’t turn into people bashing each other is if the website asked questions that could be answered with a yes or a no, or on a scale of 1-10. You could ask people to place the clinician on a scale from theoretical to instructional (or not theoretical? I don’t know what word I am looking for here. Do you all get the jist?) I would set it up by trying to ask people as many highly detailed questions as possible, without having an open ended section.[/QUOTE]
I think that would work well, especially if there were lots of questions that don’t have right or wrong answers.
Questions like:
“Did the clinician play more to the riders or more to the auditors?”
“Did the clinician ride your horse?”
Probably also a question or two about being pushed outside the rider’s comfort zone. Some people like it, and some don’t.
This is to highlight what went well and was found of value, as well as what might have been negative or invaluable …
Just an aside: You might want to look up the word ‘invaluable’ otherwise you may misunderstand some replies.
Are you planning to make these clinic reviews publicly accessible or available only to subscribers?
I would suggest some way of validating attendance rather than random people writing in.
I think it’s a nice idea, but we know how reliable anonymous sources can be!
I always audit to make up my own mind, so this isn’t really of personal value.
Might wrk f every review used the same format, l.e. Answered a few core questions rather than being completely subjective
