The difference is, in the case of these clinic riders, they are in a setting with the US chef d’equipe and other notables that have the power of selection to US teams. These athletes do not want to jeopardize their relationship with these individuals in power and that is one of the purposes of Safe Sport.
Do Better.
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One of the smartest people I’ve ever encountered had this conversation with me over a decade ago now. He described this propensity for extremes as the ‘pendulum’ and noted that yes, it swings to poles perpetually. But in the past of course, the ‘silent majority’ of common-sense, moderate wisdom prevails while picking-and-choosing the best ideas from the extremes. Steady, stoic progress.
I think what’s disconcerting about the ‘internet’ age is that we know it does two things:
1 > disproportionately rewards the extreme contingent
2 > isolates the moderate middle and creates strong and very real disincentives around failure to comply with extremes (i.e. loss of job, career, reputation)
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I’d say “do better” to the riders. Even I was sitting there gobsmacked at some of the riders just blowing off the clinician’s requests.
Should the clinician have dismissed them instead, since they were incapable of following instruction? Said “oh Suzie, that’s ok, let’s do it again (and again, and again)”?
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Sure - I share your point here that the US Equestrian Team did no favors to anyone involved. I’m not sure if its possible to tag someone in a post but you’ll see my comments to that effect somewhere on the thread.
Do you know for a fact they were “just blowing off” the clinicians request? How do you know they weren’t trying to implement KP’s “requests”. Again, I’ve been with and observed many high level trainers and Olympians and while some may have some questionable methods, if a trainer cannot maintain a professional manner and gets exasperated with a group, then maybe clinics are not for that trainer to conduct.
Do Better.
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Stop excusing unprofessional behavior.
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Do you see solid riding and riders listening to the instruction of the clinician, but getting scolded anyways?
I don’t. I see valid reasons why a clinician would say “you’re either not listening or [dumb].”
Of course this is just a two minute blurb of an entire clinic, but I totally understand the frustration of the instructor in those moments shown.
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I would expect her to tell me what was going wrong and help me fix it.
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I’m confused - you aren’t stopping on the line and instead are turning and continuing. What would you like the instructor to say to you, to help clarify?
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It could be something as simple as repeating “Halt at the end, halt at the end!” as the rider’s going through the exercise, or speaking to the rider and giving her advice on how to remember to halt or to break the habit of turning left. I don’t claim to be a teacher or coach, but even I can come up with a few ideas that would be more helpful than calling the rider a birdbrain. It’s really not confusing, unless you’re easily confused.
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Neither is “stop on the line”, especially if you’re watching other people do the exercise too.
I can see your point, but at some point someone needs to own that they are hard to coach and maybe a clinic just isn’t for them.
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When you’re a kid, and paying top dollar to ride with someone like KMP, you have a right to expect that person to figure out how to help you. Or are people like KMP only interested in people who are easy to coach? Am I incorrect in believing that not just anyone can be accepted to ride in this clinic? Obviously, this rider is capable enough to have been invited to ride.
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I think that would be the reaction of more people if they actually watched the whole clinic session instead of just the snippets that have been popping up.
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Or maybe the person “teaching” isn’t an appropriate teacher for that clinic 
. Maybe it’s a matter of breaking the exercise down. Remember, we a have a rider and a horse. Maybe the horse isn’t suitable for the clinic or maybe the combination of horse and rider isn’t compatible given that some riders were on borrowed horses. There could be many factors, but accusing a rider of not listening or following instructions is not a fair assumption.
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I’ve been riding for a long, long time and have many instructors who coached me through the 1.5 meter jumpers (as a teenager) and upper level dressage. Some were very tough on me, but they all were committed to teaching me. Even the toughest never insulted me, and certainly not in a public setting. This woman is simply not a good teacher or coach, especially for young riders who are probably very nervous in the first place about riding with her.
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So your answer would be that the clinician should have excused them?
Because we’ve all heard and/or seen a clinician having to spend way too much time with a remedial pair, while the rest of the group stands around not getting their money’s worth.
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Any clinic I’ve participated in, I felt prepared for because I’ve studied the training process of other trainers, and the one I’m working with.
If X goes wrong, my experience tells me the fix may be a set number of things, with some variation to each.
So I’m paying attention to what the previous group did, what the other riders in my group are doing, and anticipating what I might be told to do.
Also, I certainly know who I’m clinicing with and how they teach and will opt out or to audit if they’re not to my taste. Maybe these kids didn’t know she would have higher expectations, or maybe they were there to work with BM and the didn’t get to choose to not work with KMP?
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I think if you’re paying to ride with a VERY respected individual, you need to show up ready to listen to basic instruction. Otherwise, it’s a gigantic waste of money, and your & the clinician & the other participant’s time.
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You are intentionally missing the point. Par for the course.
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None of these riders are “remedial” and that is still no excuse for unprofessional behavior.
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