Without naming names, I can think of several big name Canadian riders, trainers or judges who rode and taught that way 20 years ago. Thankfully most of them have evolved with the times.
2 Likes
About 20 years ago Walter Zettle was my trainer now everyone thinks he is God. We had an incident when my horse freaked out. Walter insisted I had a discipline problem. I assured him that this was unusual for this horse as I had owned him since he was a foal, backed and started by me. We ended up yelling at each other, he threw my money at me and walked out. Turned out my horse’s stifle was stuck and was in pain.
Needles to say my days with this trainer were over.
6 Likes
I don’t know him but there’s some videos of his clinics on youtube.
i think clinics can be very difficult for both participants and clinicians.
Clinicians are human and can make errors in judgement but on the other hand participants often have unrealistic expectations and set themselves up for problems…
It falls on the participant to not take a horse with an undisclosed physical problem to a clinic or to sign up for a clinic if either horse or rider is not fit for the normally expected work.
It is not fair to horse rider or clinician to go unprepared and unfit for a clinic with an upper level clinician.
There are definitely people who do this then blame the clinician.
Ah, those were the days. Back then we had regular clinics with a Level 3 coach whose advice to me on a horse who kept bucking explosively in lateral work was to “rip his back teeth out” every time he did it. Turns out he had a serious back issue. My own horse learned to run backwards and at high speed in one of her clinics and rear - a habit it took a long time to overcome. On the advice of that same person I actually put my horse in a month training with a well known QH breeder and trainer who was not known for gentle methods (cough cough). I feel sick thinking about it and wish I had more knowledge back then and less blind faith in people with “big names,” especially those who were big only because the pond they swam in was small.
However my point is that I would not judge Lee or anyone else based on how they taught 20 years ago. Definitely recommend looking for some recent videos online to see how someone teaches and trains now.
2 Likes
Walter Zettle was my regular instructor, not a clinic, before he wrote his book and became famous.
Crockpot my horse did not have any lameness issues prior to that lesson. We were being pushed beyond our limits. We were doing walk, canter transitions on a 6 meter circle and his stifle couldn’t take it. He did get injections and chiropractic care after but I never tried to get him back to that level. His conformation was not suitable for that level of work.
4 Likes
Agree it was a different time and I am sure Lee has evolved since those days. I read he is a higher level judge now. So with that comes experience.
I was never a Zettl fan either. He came to our barn years ago for two students and they seemed to move at a snails pace. I will never forget the day when I noticed him watching me while waiting for his students to come to the outdoor ring. I dismounted and headed to the barn but had to pass him. He looked me up and down and his exact words were “very nice!” I want to believe it was my horse and riding but NADA! lol! Never thought well of him after that. I did attend a few of his clinics as an auditor primarily to see some good upper level rides.
I needed a trainer if the occasion arose that he or she would ride my horse. Zettl wasn’t capable of that as he sustained a very serious injury years ago when he first came to Canada. So his forte became the written word and clinics.
Just saw on Facebook that Lee Tubman is giving a clinic in Port Dover, Ontario this Saturday, June 24.
Just saw this. You know, I like it when lesser known trainers (not former Olympians, etc.) are brought up out there, especially when the posts are generally all very positive. I’m tired of the big names being the only ones anyone wants to ride with since many of them (as we’ve discussed in the back) can only ride but can’t teach. Not all, but often that seems to be the case. So I enjoy hearing about the “lesser-known” coaches. 
Lee is a 4* judge so I would consider him pretty well known in Canadian dressage circles, but agree with you overall. There are lots of amazing coaches and trainers out there who spend all their time and energy on their students, not their own show careers. Because they don’t have the show results, and often the flashy client horses and sponsors that go with them, they can easily be overlooked.
1 Like
OMW, that’s SO Walter! Sexist to the end. :lol:
1 Like
Sexist???
Mae West would have said, “Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
I have never ridden with Lee myself, but remember watching a video of a clinic he gave. The horse would not accept the outside rein, so Lee got on and calmly rode a twenty meter circle pushing the horse from inside leg to outside rein. That horse did everything but turn inside out to avoid it, but lee just calmly sat and asked til the horse settled and by the end of the lesson the horse was going beautifully.
that made a big impression on me, and whenever I find myself letting a horse off the hook so to speak, I remember how Lee rode that mare.
This is a pretty old post, but I’ve only just heard of Lee. Does anyone know where I can find a current clinic calendar for him?
Hes very active on FB and instagram, shoot him a message!@wltubman on insta.
