I have been offered the chance to fence sit for free at an Annemieke Vincourt dressage clinic. Am almost completely certain that I won’t be able to ask questions. Have never fence sat at a clinic before, what is the best way to get the most benefit from it please? I am being sent a timetable.
Do you mean audit? (Surely you don’t mean “fence sitting” literally?!) 
If you mean audit, the best way I know to get the most benefit is to listen and watch.
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I am a beginner at this sort of thing and wrote to the people hosting and asked how much to fence sit at the clinic. They wrote back that I was welcome to do that and that it would be free. (I do have some history with the hosts.) Because I was already calling it fence sitting, i did it again here. I have always thought that auditing was something that you paid for and that auditors were participants just like the riders but to a lessor degree.
Auditing just means watching instead of riding. Sometimes auditing costs money, sometimes it’s free. Never heard the term fence sitting. Typically auditors do not participate in the clinic, although occasionally they may have the opportunity to ask a question between riders or during down times. I would follow the lead of others in regards to that - some clinicians are open to questions, some are not.
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i confess that I called it fence sitting because it sounded cheaper.
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I believe audit as much as you can. You can always learn something. Go for it! You can take notes if you like. Sometimes I do.
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I think it’s a difference in our geographical location.
I had never heard the term either, but guessed at what you meant without being certain.
I agree to audit as much as you can. There are times riding with a clinician who is a bad match for you can cause trouble with your horse, but watching is always safe to you and your horse. I am a visual learner, so at times I feel that watching is more helpful for me than riding even with someone who is great at zeroing in on the weaknesses of specific pairs.
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Yes! Audit as much as you can. If the clinician does another clinic in your area later you will have a good idea if it would be worth it to ride or not based on level, teaching style, etc. You can learn an awful lot just watching, too.
You can sometimes pick up more auditing a clinic than actually riding (if you have performance nerves as a lot of beginners have). Some people take notes.
I love auditing. I always come away inspired. But I love the term “fence sitting” even more, so thank you!
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Here if one is fence sitting it means they can’t make a decision about something (do I stay or do I go?). 
I take notes. I would never remember any exercises that might be helpful if I didn’t.
One thing I wish I would have done the last time I saw Robert Dover was to quietly set my phone to record the audio, as his lecture on mindset was just extraordinary and I think of it often. If you do this, I would say be extremely subtle and above all do not share or post the audio anywhere, only keep it for your own personal use.
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I’ve audited and filmed lessons on my iPad, with permission, of course.
Thank you all so much!!! It is keenly appreciated.
Went to the clinic yesterday and had an awesome time. Instead of being a group of horses in the indoor arena like I first imagined, it was a series of individual lessons. I wrote notes. One of the people attending realised that I was taking notes and took a photo of my notes so that they would have a copy of them. The hosts were awesome. I was greeted, shown where the toilets where, how to get to the viewing area and told to help myself to tea and coffee. Didn’t take them up on the free tea and coffee because I had brought my own supplies. Fantastic venue. They hold ladies days and I’ll definitely be back when my horse is ready. The clinic is for two days, but today is the only day of the week that I get to spend quality time with SO.
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I have never heard of “Fence Sitting”. I think you are referring to “Audit” though. Jennifer Truett was at my barn this past weekend, I rode in two days and then sat and listened for a few of the rides. I like to sit close to the clinician to hear them the best, then if I have a question I can slip it in, which i did at the end of at least two riders.
It is called fence sitting where I come from too. Most dressage clinics in our area, you can watch/take notes etc at no cost.
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How lovely that the hosts were so gracious! I have been several places where that is the case, and it really helps to build supportive local community when someone is so wonderful to strangers. I am too socially inept and too disorganized to hold a clinic and behave in such a way, and am extremely grateful for those who are better at it than I am.
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