I throughly enjoyed the Conrad Schumacher Symposium!

I recently registered to attend the upcoming Conrad Schumacher Symposium March 28-29 at Bear Creek Farm. Anyone in the Pacific Northwest attending as well?

I am returning to dressage after a bit of a hiatus (cough 15 years) and hope that I can absorb as much as I can toward my new mount Charlie.

I went to his symposium in CA last winter and honestly, I did not get anything from it.

I have a 5yo with riding school background and was really hoping to get something valuable as far as training goes and also because the program stated that he will start the day with “young horses training,” but all the young horses presented were typical “dressagy” huge warmbloods with dressage bloodlines in full professional training, properly started, already shown, etc.

The part I enjoyed was when he worked with hunter/jumper horses and helped riders use lateral work to improve their jumping.

I am not saying it was a waste of time, but I guess I wanted to see more of regular horses and riders making mistakes and him helping them out, but probably I should have went to a clinic vs symposium.

Let us know what you think of it!

He comes to the Seattle area twice a year outside of this symposium as well…

He has LOTS of good exercises for the horses/riders to work through specific problems, he will answer questions (just dont talk while he is teaching)

Have fun- welcome back to dressage :slight_smile:

I have ridden in lots of his clinics and from a rider prospective I think he’s great. I will be riding in the symposium.

[QUOTE=Equus_girl;3935489]
I went to his symposium in CA last winter and honestly, I did not get anything from it.

I have a 5yo with riding school background and was really hoping to get something valuable as far as training goes and also because the program stated that he will start the day with “young horses training,” but all the young horses presented were typical “dressagy” huge warmbloods with dressage bloodlines in full professional training, properly started, already shown, etc.

The part I enjoyed was when he worked with hunter/jumper horses and helped riders use lateral work to improve their jumping.

I am not saying it was a waste of time, but I guess I wanted to see more of regular horses and riders making mistakes and him helping them out, but probably I should have went to a clinic vs symposium.

Let us know what you think of it![/QUOTE]

As the owner of one of those young horses in the symposium this feels a bit like a “slam”. Is it somehow wrong for me to have a super young horse that I want the “best” for - so I have him in full professional training to make sure the basis of his education is a good as possible? So that we will have no “holes” later in the work.

In a symposium it is normal to have the trainer want horses that are proficient and even a little “ahead” of the work they are demonstrating - since it is meant to be a demonstration not a “fixing things”. Conrad was trying to show the progression of what he expects from a 3yo to a 4yo to a 6yo to a PSG horse etc. To see “normal” horses with normal issues a clinic would be a more appropriate forum than a symposium. But typically with Conrad in his clinics you will still get a “fancier” set of horse/rider combinations. Conrad is amazing, has a brilliant technique for training and I never cease to learn something from him.

I guess you can take it personally, I don’t think it was intended to be a slam. Just one person who didn’t get what she expected. She said the young horses displayed, presumably including yours, were warmbloods with good breeding and nicely started by professionals. I’d take it as a compliment.

That said, I wouldn’t expect someone like Shumacher to be starting unbroke colts or anything, and a young horse seminar in dressage makes me think more of the FEI tests for 5 and 6 year olds- which is really quite advanced training.

Is there information on this posted anywhere…?

Conrad Schumacher Symposium, Woodinville, WA. Jana Steffen (206) 920-2902
http://www.equestriansinstitute.org/

and for a clinic a week later:
http://www.tempelfarms.com/lipizzanclinics.html

Honeylips,
I didn’t mean to offend anyone, I merely stated that I personally expected different things from the event (I never went to his symposiums before and was only judging from the clinics I have attended, so again, it was mostly my fault for expecting different things from the event which I confused with clinic.)
There was absolutely nothing wrong with horses presented, and them being in professional training and having great bloodlines, but what I meant is that in that specific event I wanted to see him working on horses’ and riders’ problems and pairs presented seemed not to have any and looked perfect for their age/level combinations :slight_smile: Which is a great thing, of course, but again I guess I was expecting it to be a bit more diverse in terms of horses training levels and riders proficiency.
What we saw was a demonstration of dressage perfection in terms of horses and their development, which is great for someone who came specifically for that reason, and it wasn’t me :frowning:

I honestly wish you the best with your young horse and it’s wonderful you were able to start him properly from the “scratch!” I on the other hand, have to work through lots of holes in my horse’s training combined with “simply not being bred for dressage” and started at jumping and that’s what I was looking for at the event.

CatOnLap, I did not expect him breaking young horses either :slight_smile: but the program mentioned 3, 4 and 5 year olds and that are where I was hoping to get some insight. Well, the level of my almost 6 year old is a far cry from what 4 year olds presented were supposed to be doing :frowning:
Again, I apologize if I offended anyone, it was not intentional, and I was merely sharing my experience with attending the symposium.

No offense taken. I think you just had different expectations from the symposium. This particular one was named as the training system of Conrad Schumacher. A symposium for him to demonstrate what is required for future FEI horses at different ages. So the group was selected based on being “on track” for FEI classes at 9yo or so. Not a typical selection at all of training problems and how to address- but actually where horses should be at various ages in order to be FEI competitors in the near future.
My guy was 3yo in November -but is advanced for his age and very mature so he was actually used as the 4yo demo horse since he was ready to show that work. But I do admit, as a proud mom, that he is advanced for his age. But we are very very careful with him. He had all of December and most of January on “holiday” and is now just ridden 4x week for 20-30 minutes only. He has not been pushed in the slightest - he just is blessed with natural self carriage, is smart, learns quickly and has the physical balance of a 6yo horse even at 3yo. Hilda Gurney told me in November to take extra good care with him as he is very special - and I am making sure we follow that sage advice!

PS - I have had 2FEI dressage horses with “holes” in the training -and that is no fun. I have also had 3 young horses that I made the holes in their training myself. I have learned that lesson the hard way and am determined not to do that again!

Honeylips,

Relax. You have a super horse and a super rider who has worked well with Conrad since she was a teenager. I don’t think anyone is slamming you! Even the naturally talented and well started horses can improve with Conrad’s system…which I am sure is why you wanted your horse in the clinic/symposium!

As for Conrad, I am also a fan. He has an amazing number of tools in his tool box for developing gaits and creating “ah-hah” moments for riders and auditors.

[QUOTE=honeylips;3936874]
As the owner of one of those young horses in the symposium this feels a bit like a “slam”. Is it somehow wrong for me to have a super young horse that I want the “best” for - so I have him in full professional training to make sure the basis of his education is a good as possible? So that we will have no “holes” later in the work.

In a symposium it is normal to have the trainer want horses that are proficient and even a little “ahead” of the work they are demonstrating - since it is meant to be a demonstration not a “fixing things”. Conrad was trying to show the progression of what he expects from a 3yo to a 4yo to a 6yo to a PSG horse etc. To see “normal” horses with normal issues a clinic would be a more appropriate forum than a symposium. But typically with Conrad in his clinics you will still get a “fancier” set of horse/rider combinations. Conrad is amazing, has a brilliant technique for training and I never cease to learn something from him.[/QUOTE]

I agree- symposiums are meant to show what the work should be like- I personally don’t get a lot out of them, but I do enjoy watching the pretty horses going well :slight_smile:

Worth the $75

So I attended the symposium and while most of the horses and riders were well beyond my experience level, it was a delight to see Mr. S take you through the levels from youngsters all the way up through GP. I learned a lot of basics that I’ll be able to apply to my daily riding. I even got to see my old instructor Kim McGuire ride which was a surprise as she was not on the EI list of demo riders.

All in all it was well worth the money and time. I was a bit unprepared for how cold it was Saturday (as were many) and Sunday everyone showed up looking like they were ready for a slumber party with blankets and pillows to keep the cold away.

I’m curious if anyone can shed some insight on how riders are selected for the symposium and whether or not his clinics are open to the public or by invitation only?

You can’t really learn how to fix what’s wrong with your horse by watching a clinic(unless it’s one of those 'miracle in an instant, just buy my magic halter and 120 dvd’s). If you have specific training problems, engage a trainer to train the horse and work with you, guiding you as to how to ride the horse one on one.

I believe that anyone with an open mind can learn from auditing or riding in a clinic- even if what you learn is something you would NOT do.

That being said, my stallion and his trainer clinic as often as possible with Conrad. He is very clear in his communication with the rider and often turns and speaks to the auditors as well.

Conrad will be giving a clinic in Tryon, NC -April 17 through the 21st. Auditors will be welcome. Contact Jenifer Baumert for more info or PM me and I will give you contact info.

Maryanna Haymon
www.marydellfarm.com
2007 USEF Breeder of the Year!

I have had the pleasure of riding with Schumacher several times and must say that he is surely the best instruction I have ever had. I think what I love most about his method of teaching is all the different exercises he uses rather than just drilling over and over. I have never attended a symposium with him, but I would imagine that anyone could benefit from using the exercises he teaches in their daily training routine. My half pass was always lacking before I rode with Conrad. It was very labored and unexpressive. Through his exercises and finally getting it out of my head that our half-pass was never going to be good, we are now scoring 8’s on them!

The Kyra Beth’s show on RFDTV showed Conrad Shumacher teaching at a symposium. It was great fun to watch, which shows that he was doing a really good job!