That vid of the Pas De Trois was cool. What is missing today is relaxation and normal gates with true sit. This olympics the piafe seems to have gotten worse. All leg lifting and no sit. There are some good horses still but few score high. Sad days but still some rays of light amongst the clouds 
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Iāve ridden with him multiple times and this was not my experience at all. Every correction he suggested was focused on improving my communication with the horse. Iād ride with him whenever I had the opportunity.
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I have a friend who speaks very highly of Steffen and Shannon. She worked with both of them many years ago.
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Lol, no way! Never had a rock thrown at me.
But this is why I was so hesitant to add her name or any into the hat. You canāt truly know someone based on limited interactions. Also, we have all changed, progressed, and made mistakes over time. Even pointing the lens inward, Iām a very different horse person than I was 25 years ago.
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Iāve seen this a lot too. It really breaks your heart.
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I agree. During the clinic I audited, she was demeaning to the riders and clinic organizers. I asked a question during the L Program and she just told me to buy her book. Iāll spend my money elsewhere.
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He was one of the great ones. You are so fortunate to have worked with him!
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Ingrid is amazing and is just as she appears to be. Very kind to the horses.
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I can add Bruno Greber to the āgood listā. He and his wife Barbara have a true love for horses and are very kind and classical in their training.
Iāve heard good things about eventers Mark and Mimi Combs from fellow riders as well but havenāt ridden with them.
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Yeah, just no. I have personally witnessed stuff from Steffen in the saddle that makes the Charlotte video tame in comparison. I wasnāt going to mention it on here, so I will not elaborate.
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I would add Debbie McDonald and Kathleen Raine to the list. Iāve ridden with both of them (Kathleen so many times Iāve lost count). Iāve never witnessed any cruelty to horses or riders from either of them.
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Iāve never ridden with him but having stewarded at shows where I have had repeat interactions with him, he was nice to volunteers and was eager to get tests done and get the horses out of the heat/humidity instead of laboring a warm up, so points there.
That sounds like Bruno. Heās very kind to the horses.
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I think something thatās really illuminated here is that clinicing with someone gives a very incomplete picture of ethics and ability to handle situations as they arise. Itās often those in full training, former barn workers, etc who really know what someone is like when they think no one is looking. Keeping calm and positive during a clinic or even ten clinics doesnāt really compel me. A nationally recognized GP trainer and judge I know is fantastic in front of a crowd and says all the right things but what her working students saw and were expected to do was appalling. She isnāt listed here but it wouldnāt be surprising to see her recognized as a ā good oneā.
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I am sorry to hear that
Steffen strikes me as someone who can handle the āhighsā but not the ālowsā. Robert Dover is the same. His behavior at a show that I witnessed was an embarrassment to the people that were there cheering him on.
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Itās funny you should mention that. I told my husband the same thing about Mopsieās behavior. He seemed afraid of a punishment. These horses - and all horses - deserve so much more from humans.
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I have a feeling that I know who you are referring to, and I agree. 
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I think itās very hard to make an accurate assessment of someone until you see how they react in chaos, in an embarrassing situation, under extreme pressure, or when they think they are totally alone.
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I think weāre all setting ourselves up for disappointment when we deify anyone.
In the āhorsemanshipā circles Ray Hunt was the big deal, right? Him, Tom and Bill Dorrance, they were the ODG for those folks. I did a 3 day group clinic with Ray back in the early 2000s. It was really fun and educational. It was also sobering. There was one very, very pretty, very, very sullen, little roan barrel horse whose (relatively new to him) owner was trying to help get more freed up and forward. She didnāt care if he ran barrels anymore, she just wanted a fun and highly trained horse to piddle around on. This horse was SULLEN. Dead to people, angry, done. If you approached him on the ground while he was tied, he was mannerly, but not interested. He wouldnāt hurt you, he just tolerated you.
This horseās solution when asked to do something he didnāt want to do was to plant his front feet and just SULK. He grew roots. He would double-barrel kick out behind if spanked, but the horse made no forward motion. At some point, Ray took us all outside the pen and we (about 20 horses and riders) were on a dirt area by the indoor. Tons of space but there were cars and trucks at the edges. There was a little mud puddle. The roan horse wouldnāt cross it. Ray flagged him from the rear/to the side(not hitting) and with good timing, got the roan across the water. Rather than be happy with that, he had her ask him again. Again, he got him across the water. Yāall, he picked and picked and picked at that horse until he got mad enough to kick himself backward into a nice horse trailer and kick the crap out of the door, almost into a Mercedes to do the same, then when the horse was back in front of the puddle again he kicked out so hard and so quickly and so fast the girl got knocked unconscious and fell off, separating her shoulder, IIRC.
And with that, we went to lunch. @alabama and I had lunch with the host and Ray and his wife, and it was like nothing had happened at all. She may remember more details, that was a long time ago. When we got back from the cafe, the horse was still there, and I think she was gone to the hospital to get checked out. I guess she left that night?
It took all of us, I think, a good long while to process what weād just seen. I think for me itās the āacceptanceā ? maybe the ārealization?ā that when you make your money on horses, they can become an assembly line to be worked. Not that every horse is badly treated on the line, but some will be.
Itās funny, he signed a ballcap for me, one with him on a horse. He wrote āThink!ā along with his signature.
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