Spin-off: clinics for cross-discipline appeal?

We have a nice facility available for use in our local horse community that is currently underutilized. We have a small community made up of all kinds of riders with various interests: a few hunter/jumpers, dressage, eventers, and everything in between.

Would love to hear some suggestions for clinics that could have cross-discipline appeal. Off the top of my head the only clinician who comes to mind is someone like Daniel Stewart - everyone could use some sports psychology :slight_smile: I have my own list of amazing jumper clinicians I have ridden with who I would selfishly love to book a clinic with but I can’t afford to put on a poorly attended clinic :laughing:

I think you can’t go wrong with a jumper clinic since they appeal to both the eventers and the jumpers. Equitation riders will also attend depending on who you get. They are usually well attended in our area - which is generally yours I think. We are in Chester County but have traveled to NJ for some of these.

Some clinics we really enjoyed: Mark Leone, Anne Kursinki, Frank Madden. Laura Chapot doesn’t talk much but had some good exercises.

Joe Fargis is popular and we would go to that one. Somehow we keep missing him when he’s in the area. Ken Krome would be good to get if he does clinics. He coaches hunters, jumpers and designs courses so he could speak to that which would be interesting.

How about a desensitization clinic?

I really like Mark Leone too :smiley:

You may be right about jumper clinicians having some cross appeal. I also think that there is more of an independent streak in jumper and event riders who are more game to go to a clinic vs hunter riders who (IMHO) seem to not stray far from their trainers.

Again selfishly, I am not personally a fan of desensitization and/or groundwork type things so I wouldn’t want to spend my time putting on that kind of clinic. I could see the use for that though amongst all kinds of horse owners, even non riders for sure.

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I would think a general horsemanship-type clinic, something like endlessclimb suggests, would appeal to the broadest group. We all have holes…

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A riding biomechanics clinic might have cross-discipline appeal.

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I am impressed by Garn Walker, formerly in Calif but now in the DFW area ( Bartonville)… his approach is the understanding the horse and it overall welfare. He even has done biting clinics

I like the idea of Daniel Stewart.

There are quite a few biomechanics instructors out there, and I think that is a really good suggestion as well.

Kim Gentry does bitting clinics; while she is a dressage instructor, something like that has cross discipline appeal.

Landsafe with Danny Warrington is primarily eventing but also has cross discipline appeal for helping people stay safe when falling. Anything to do with safety would have mass appeal.

The right natural horsemanship clinician has a lot of appeal to all. By “right” I mean someone who isn’t too polarizing.

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I agree that rider biomechanics applies across the board.

Don’t overlook unmounted clinics. Horse physiology, bandaging, lameness and biomechanics.

Safety awareness and disaster planning, quarantine and health management

what about an intro to working equitation clinic - you can do it english or western tack and the obstacles are great fun

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I jump and do dressage and would find a clinic with a cavaletti specialist really valuable. I think that could appeal to many disciplines.

Also ground work techniques (long lining, double lunging, in hand work), or lunging bootcamp (for the rider), or rehab/conditioning techniques (biomech for the horse vs. for the horse/rider partnership)

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I think I am in a similar situation as you, regarding the facility and the surrounding area. We are “semi remote”, and it is basically “cowboy country”, and those people don’t think that they need any “riding lessons”, or input of any kind because they know it all already. I am on old h/j type, and there are only a few interested in h/j. There are a few dressage types, and a few eventers. And some recreational riders, english or western. And some “cowboy sports” types, which are not interested in anything we offer.
I do offer clinics here, and “usually” they will fill enough to “go”. We need a minimum of 10 paying riders and a maximum of 20 or so, and I fit myself in with whatever horses I am riding, from greenies to competitive. I do the promotional stuff, and the scheduling of lessons to suit everyone. There is not a lot of spare money among most people in this area, so I have to look for a clinician with enough h/j to suit me and a few others with setting jumps and policing my equitation, and flexible enough to help recreational riders, some basic dressage (which everyone needs anyway), and relaxed enough to take riders who are green and nervous and give them some help. Since I can’t bring in a h/j specialist, and there are monetary limitations, I look for coaches who are not “famous” or “big name”, but experienced and skilled enough to help a variety of riders, and wanting to get the exposure and extend their contacts in this area… mostly younger coaches who think that they want to work in the industry. I’ve ridden with some great coaches over the decades, some expensive ones. Sometimes it’s been good, and good learning experience… sometimes not. I’d love to bring some of my favourates here, for MY benefit, but can’t because horsemen in our area can’t afford it. In order to find the right clinician, I quiz my old time horse show friends for good “up and comers” in the industry that I am now fairly far removed from. This has worked well, the clinics are affordable, I get what I need, and local riders get some instruction which they otherwise would NOT get at all. Our lessons group 2 or 3 riders who are not too far apart in what they need together, and last an hour. Jumping lessons are grouped by height of jumps, not by age LOL. There is such a huge variation in “dressage” capabilities around here that just the “basics” of the training scale is something new to some of these people. Recreational riders also have often had little coaching, and just basic lessons in “cue and release”, setting goals and attaining them, basic riding position is helpful, staying straight, weight into heels, use of the leg, all this can be done in english or western tack.

I’ve got a new coach lined up for the end of April, a first timer for us. It’s $160 for the two lessons and use of the facility (to cover my insurance costs). Our last clinician (who has been GREAT for several years here) has got too busy to make the trip, had to find a new one. Which is fine, and expected. She comes recommended by a long time successful h/j/e coach who has been around for 50 years who has groomed and produced many top riders and young coaches.

We have a pretty good “core” of half a dozen local riders, who usually show up for these clinics, no matter who I find to bring in to coach. We are a mutually supportive group, it’s a bit of a party atmosphere. None of us are going to the Olympics, and are OK with that, but some of us do compete a bit. When somebody does a nice round in a lesson, there is often applause from the watchers. If a horse poops in the arena, someone (sometimes me, sometimes someone else handy) runs out with the barrow to clean up before it gets stepped in. Saturday night BBQ and yak session with the coach.
IDK if this description is helpful to you, if it is, give it a try.

Thanks, sounds a lot like me. It also sounds like you have developed a nice core group that will come out and give someone without a big name a try. That is where I’m stuck: while the price would be more affordable for a lesser known clinician, I’m afraid I’d have a hard time pulling beyond our local community to make it work financially. I don’t have the budget to front for signficant travel expenses but we are luckily in an area where I think we can find someone to make it a day trip. I am not looking to benefit financially - only to benefit from the clinician myself :smiley: And I don’t want to lose access to the facility due to non-use.

I worry that bringing in a compromise clinician = no one is terribly excited/interested.

I have next to no experience with natural horsemanship types so I guess I just don’t know enough to know who would be useful to bring in for a clinic.

Less than zero understanding about what working equitation is :laughing: I have to read more about that.

I have been seeing more and more about biomechanics recently. I think a clinic I went to last fall was supposed to be something along those lines and I will try to not let that experience taint my opinion of what it may actually be :wink:

Cavaletti clinics are popular in the winter but I never see them the rest of the year - that’s not a bad idea. Maybe long-lining would be useful?

I should add that I can’t really afford to front signficant travel expenses so limited to clinicians in the mid-atlantic area.

In your situation, someone like Tik Maynard might be a good option, who does both horsemanship and eventing/sport horse disciplines. Might be a good way to dip your toes into the concepts without going too far into the deep end. While he doesn’t live in the mid-Atlantic anymore, I believe he has enough ties to the area that travel expenses may not be too bad.

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I find that in a semi remote situation, without a lot of money to spend for a clinician, or show at the most expensive shows, the “name” of the clinician isn’t really that important. Those riders who are local to a semi remote location wouldn’t know who is “famous” or not anyway, let alone would they want to pay the cost of someone “famous”. Good coaching doesn’t have to be “famous” coaching, especially if those riding in the clinic are not hoping to compete at the top level of competition on the continent. It’s not that difficult to instruct those like us, just the basic stuff… "stay straight, push into the corners, leg on, sit up, eyes up, heels down, count the strides. It’s not rocket science, it’s just riding.

Give it a try, ask around the good horse people you know in a larger market, and find a “good” unknown one, a youngster who may one day be famous, Someone who has been well coached themselves, and has been successful in some decent competition. One day, they may well be well known and successful. Everyone has to start somewhere. Where they need to start is an out of the way spot like both of ours. If you choose well, and everyone comes away thinking, “hmmm, that was interesting, I think I understand more than I did before”, the next time you offer a clinic, they will come back and support your efforts regularly.

I see those who are offering “clinics” where the participants don’t ride, just learning how to cue their horses on the ground, lead over tarps, back through an L, walk over a bridge or stand on a pedistal. They even offer “competitions” in this sort of thing now. It appeals to some I guess, those who don’t want to ride a horse, can’t lead a horse, are so green that they haven’t figured out how to manage a horse on the ground… so useful to some I guess. But actually “riding” the horse at some level seems to me to be more useful, after the basics of handling on the ground is mastered… perhaps the next step?? And if I am organizing something that is valuable to ME TOO, it’s going to be a ridden clinic.