Jeff Cook clinic

[awaywego]

From looking at old threads, it seems he’s generally well-liked as a clinician.

I’m just starting back to riding after January-February completely off. (No indoor!) I will really need the weather to be on my side now if I want to have a prayer of staying in the tack for 2 days of clinic riding!

How is he with adult weenies? I rode in 2 clinics shortly before the winter off, one with Mark Leone & another with Kevin Babington, and did not humiliate myself in the 2’6-2’9" group in either on my inexperienced but generally saintly horse, although I was having a mild heart attack with what Babington had me doing. Will it be ok for me at any point with Cook to say “we’ve been out of work, I think we’re not quite there” - or will he see that for himself? Or should I just wait for another opportunity when I’ll be better prepared?

[BITSA]

I am an adult weenie and did a clinic with him in November. First, make sure your boots are polished and you are dressed appropriately. next–listen. He’s very positive and encouraging; he didn’t say one thing in a harsh way (I was in a 2’6" group with some kids and two other adult weenies). He may ask you how long you’ve had your horse, at which point you could say X years, but haven’t been working since the winter.

You will be fine; I really liked him and thought he was a good confidence builder.

[fourfAlter]

I am not a fan of his (I know I am in the minority on this board).

I rode in 2 clinics with him. The first was fine, but I was not super impressed.
Second was awful. We flatted for 30 mins the second day (I have no issue with this part) but then he spent the next hour (yes, HOUR!) ‘playing’ with the two pros in our group- jacking the jumps up to over 4’ (this was a 3’3 section).

The other 4 of us (all juniors) were told to stand in the corner.

We waited the hour. He finally finished up with the pros, and then looked over at us and said “Oh right, I have to work with you all now” He walked over and told us to go right to a gymnastic. I asked if we could w/t/c for a minute ( you know, cause our horses had been standing for an hour?) and he just said “I don’t need a bad attitude in my clinic, you’re welcome to leave”

Everyone was appalled. His yearly clinics were held at a beautiful private facility, and not advertised to the public. The owner of the stable, who had been riding earlier, never invited him back and apologized to me after the fact. She also apologized to the other 3 who were made to stand the hour as well.

[222orchids]

I would not start with any sort of disclaimer. It gives the impression that you are hedging just in case you need an excuse for not riding well. He should easily ascertain your limits. Listen, ride with as much confidence as you can generate and push yourself a bit. If there is no challenge to it, there is not likely going to be any fun in it, either. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[awaywego]

[QUOTE=222orchids;8050951]
I would not start with any sort of disclaimer. It gives the impression that you are hedging just in case you need an excuse for not riding well. He should easily ascertain your limits. Listen, ride with as much confidence as you can generate and push yourself a bit. If there is no challenge to it, there is not likely going to be any fun in it, either. Good luck and let us know how it goes.[/QUOTE]

Lol. Well that is exactly what I would be doing: hedging! Of course, the challenge in early April still coming back to work is a lot different than the challenges presented in clinics last November/December, when we’d be in regular work for months

[awaywego]

[QUOTE=fourfAlter;8050931]
I am not a fan of his (I know I am in the minority on this board).

I rode in 2 clinics with him. The first was fine, but I was not super impressed.
Second was awful. We flatted for 30 mins the second day (I have no issue with this part) but then he spent the next hour (yes, HOUR!) ‘playing’ with the two pros in our group- jacking the jumps up to over 4’ (this was a 3’3 section).

The other 4 of us (all juniors) were told to stand in the corner.

We waited the hour. He finally finished up with the pros, and then looked over at us and said “Oh right, I have to work with you all now” He walked over and told us to go right to a gymnastic. I asked if we could w/t/c for a minute ( you know, cause our horses had been standing for an hour?) and he just said “I don’t need a bad attitude in my clinic, you’re welcome to leave”

Everyone was appalled. His yearly clinics were held at a beautiful private facility, and not advertised to the public. The owner of the stable, who had been riding earlier, never invited him back and apologized to me after the fact. She also apologized to the other 3 who were made to stand the hour as well.[/QUOTE]

OMG. I would not have been happy with that at all. I have done a few clinics, although none with Jeff Cook, and have never had someone be that awful. EEEK.

[awaywego]

[QUOTE=BITSA;8050905]
I am an adult weenie and did a clinic with him in November. First, make sure your boots are polished and you are dressed appropriately. next–listen. He’s very positive and encouraging; he didn’t say one thing in a harsh way (I was in a 2’6" group with some kids and two other adult weenies). He may ask you how long you’ve had your horse, at which point you could say X years, but haven’t been working since the winter.

You will be fine; I really liked him and thought he was a good confidence builder. :)[/QUOTE]

Confidence builder is what I need. After watching Mark Leone rip another rider in my group over her dirty boots, I would not count on the luck I had that day that my boots looked pretty nice The turn-out, of course, is the easy part!

[Zoey101]

There are always two sides to every story. I’ve cliniced with Jeff three times and audited once and as long as you try, he will be patient and work with you. He is wonderful. Have fun!

[fourfAlter]

[QUOTE=awaywego;8050972]
OMG. I would not have been happy with that at all. I have done a few clinics, although none with Jeff Cook, and have never had someone be that awful. EEEK.[/QUOTE]

Never had someone be that awful since either! It may have been an off-day for him or whatever, but the fact that the woman who owned the property never invited him back says a lot (to me, anyway) especially as he had been coming there for years.

[lcw579]

If it makes you feel any better, OP, my daughter signed up for his clinic in PA in April. She’ll be taking her green OTTO in the 2’6" group. She doesn’t have access to an indoor either so they have had a light winter.

[awaywego]

[QUOTE=lcw579;8050999]
If it makes you feel any better, OP, my daughter signed up for his clinic in PA in April. She’ll be taking her green OTTO in the 2’6" group. She doesn’t have access to an indoor either so they have had a light winter.[/QUOTE]

That’s the one I am thinking about doing I thought about it more last night and started thinking maybe I should pass because I don’t know how much I will get out of it when I’ve had so much time off. It was a struggle for me to get to the 2’6" last year as it was - I may be overreaching thinking I’ll get back there in a month without the help of my trainer (in Florida til April).

[SonnysMom]

[QUOTE=lcw579;8050999]
If it makes you feel any better, OP, my daughter signed up for his clinic in PA in April. She’ll be taking her green OTTO in the 2’6" group. She doesn’t have access to an indoor either so they have had a light winter.[/QUOTE]

Where in PA is the clinic? I would like to go audit. I am pretty sure you are fairly local to me.

[2foals]

Why not just audit if you are feeling uncertain? I did not feel like Jeff Cook pushed the limits with anyone at all in the clinic that I rode in with him, however, I’m not sure how much you will get out of a clinic if you haven’t really had a chance to “get going” yet. I think you would be fine, it just might not be the most effective way to spend your money. Also, in a clinic situation it can be difficult for a clinician to tailor things to one person/horse if they are having problems.

OTOH, I can appreciate the thought that it might be a good way to get some quality instruction under your belt while your trainer is out of town.

[lcw579]

[QUOTE=SonnysMom;8051808]
Where in PA is the clinic? I would like to go audit. I am pretty sure you are fairly local to me.[/QUOTE]

The clinic is at Ardara in West Grove:

http://www.ardarasporthorses.com/index.php/upcoming-events

I’ll be there watching my daughter ride.

[findeight]

Everybody worries about jumping…forgets the 30-40 minutes of flatwork without much of a break. If you can trot 30 min without a break? And you can post, sit, extend, collect, circle, serpentine, lateral, whatever but no walking or halting? You and your horse are ready to clinic. If not, auditing woukd be a better choice.

You take turns jumping so can catch your breath. If you cant keep up with the group on the rail often doing small circles and reversing across the center? You are pretty much in the way.

Clinics are always dependent on the group. Took about 12 with Jeff, one was a disappointment as my horse was really too green and nether of us were in proper shape to keep up with the flatwork. Another he got wrapped up in a real green horse with a Pro for way too long. All the rest were rewarding and on point.

I still audit every year, never seen him overface anybody and somebody really needs to work at getting a coarse word out of him, but if they push it, they will get a few.

[awaywego]

[QUOTE=findeight;8052058]
Everybody worries about jumping…forgets the 30-40 minutes of flatwork without much of a break. If you can trot 30 min without a break? And you can post, sit, extend, collect, circle, serpentine, lateral, whatever but no walking or halting? You and your horse are ready to clinic. If not, auditing woukd be a better choice.[/QUOTE]

Truth! Me and horse were in pretty great shape in November for the Leone clinic and I still found myself thinking “OMG how long are we going to keep trotting?” - particularly because my horse is lazy, which makes it truly work to just keep him going…even at the walk :o

[findeight]

I’ve cliniced with several others, if some think he was awful as described above? You should have seen these guys (and one gal), they were mean at best , closer to nasty and berated riders after overfacing them or just could not care less and it showed.

[BITSA]

When he clinic-ed at my barn there were 3 groups and at 2’6 I was the low level. He was extremely patient and never rude, but wanted you to try and to listen (understandable). I’m not even sure we jumped 2’6" it was a lot of flat work, and correct form, including cavaletti work. We did a little course at the end, where he scored us on eq. It was really fun. The big fence group pushed pretty high, but there were 2 pros and a couple of meter++ jumpers in it.