Thoughts on clinics vs individual instruction . .

[Foxglove]

As the summer draws near, I am seeing more and more clinics offered in the new-to-me discipline of Ranch Horse. As the horse budget is limited, I would need to make choices as to participating in a clinic or taking more frequent individual lessons.

My primary instructor/trainer is $50 for a 90 min individual lesson --she calls it 1 hour, but offers supervision and suggestions when I warm Bob up before the lesson and when I cool him off in-hand after a lesson. It is $50 in gas to haul to her facility (very nice) and back. I can schedule as many classes with her or just go for practice time in her indoor as often as I want to. She works with me in the pattern aspects of Ranch Horse: RH riding, RH trail, RH reining, RH showmanship. She has been successful herself showing at the National level and has coached two riders to the National level (one won her division two years ago). Under her direction, Bob and I have made tremendous progress (or I have, Bob was pretty good to start with).

My “cow coach” is $75 for an hour (again it’s often two hours) for using his herd of cows to practice RH cow stuff: Boxing and Herd Work --he has never competed in RH but has in roping/cutting/sorting. He is willing to coach roping, but I’m not quite ready to go that far. If I can successful Box this year [keep one cow at the end of the arena for 50 seconds], I will have made my goal for the year. Next year, roping, maybe. He is 20 min from my house, but available only Friday afternoon, weather permitting.

My time is my own but as I said, the horse finances must be carefully considered.

There are three clinics I’m thinking about: RH Clinic, 3-Days $350 includes cow work; Reining Clinic 1 day $150; RH Clinic 2 days, $200 includes cow work.

First Concern: “Too many cooks spoil the soup,” --in other words, so many people working with me and Bob will dilute the instruction from my current two instructors --using the clinic money, I could do more lessons more often with both of them. Secondly, even with just two coaches currently, I sometimes get conflicting advice --Cow Coach said to take Bob back to a snaffle bit; Primary Coach said Bob is fine in his mild grazing bit.

Second Concern: Group lesson vs individual lesson. Over the years of doing a few clinics now and then for various horse things, I find I am the little old lady who is often “lost” in a group. The clinician asks one person to demonstrate (the best person) then works with the lowest people the most. Generally I fall either at the top or the middle of the group, and often leave a clinic feeling I did not have the amount of instruction I paid for.

I suspect the RH clinics that include cows will be almost individual instruction as only one rider at a time can work the cows under direction --true, watching can be helpful --but I can watch on YouTube. If there are 15 riders in a clinic and we all spend 15 min working cows —that means I will be spending FOUR HOURS watching 14 other riders work cows while I sit on Bob waiting for my turn. And I’ve paid $$$ for those 15 min. of instruction.

Factors to consider: I am brand new at Ranch Horse Riding. I only started last April and I mean from scratch! Fifty-eight years of English riding (dressage, fox hunting, saddle seat, side saddle) and BOOM I bought a western trained horse and put myself on a western saddle. GOAL is to take Bob to one ranch horse show, show in one pattern class, and one cow class in 2025.

Maybe at the low, low level that I am, I should continue to work as much as time and money permit with the two instructors I have now --then NEXT year if I am still pursuing ranch horse, take a clinic or two.

Or is getting off the farm and working with someone with fresh eyes a good idea?

Thoughts?

Pix of Bob and me last fall —first time working cows --death grip on my saddle horn!

[skydy]

I know nothing about ranch riding, but instruction wise I think you’re on the right track, taking lessons with your trainer for the next year.
Then, when you know more about what you’re doing and can identify what you need to work on, spending money on a clinic could be worth the expense.

[cayuse]

I agree with skydy. Stick with the lessons for awhile longer.
I’m also the little old lady who get lost in groups, glad to know I’m not alone. I’ve never had much luck with clinics or larger group lessons.
Those horns look intimidating !

[Libby2563]

Third vote for continue with your lessons. It sounds like you’re still getting a lot out of them. If you feel like you start to plateau and want an outside perspective, then you can reevaluate.

I also know nothing about RH, but for my disciplines (dressage and eventing) I find I get more out of regular instruction with my two excellent local coaches than I do out of one clinic for the same cost. I really only do clinics if they’re a bucket-list type thing with a really amazing clinician (like Lucinda Green or Janet Foy) and even then I usually end up wondering afterwards if it was worth the money.

[mmeqcenter]

For someone more advanced in their discipline of choice, I think that instruction from multiple different persons can actually be quite beneficial, depending on your goals and where you’re at. I don’t really believe in “too many cooks in the kitchen” for riding instruction most of the time, because there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for any horse, and it’s nice to get different opinions and suggestions. Put what doesn’t work for you and your horse in your back pocket, maybe it’ll work in the future or for a different horse.

Since you’re so new to the discipline, and based on your goals, I’ll fourth the agreement that it’s probably best to stick with your two main instructors this year. Unless you’re finding yourself bored or something.
Also, you could always just audit the clinics, not take a horse and ride in them, to get some more exposure to new information.

[2DogsFarm]

I love 1-on-1 private lessons, but also like a clinic for the chance to see others’ concerns addressed & improved.
Ideally, a clinic with private sessions, where I can audit others before & after I ride.
I’ve done group clinics for Hunters & Driving, only private for Dressage.
It takes a special kind of clinician to work with a group.
Works best if the group.js small - 4-5 riders - & all are riding at the same level.
Of course, 1 horse having a Bad Day can throw a wrench in that.

[jvanrens]

Is there an option to audit the clinic? That might be your best option at this time. You’ll get a chance to see how the clinician works and maybe catch the next one if you like their teaching style. Maybe your regular coach will want to take it in too.

[Scribbler]

I would usually never go ride in a clinic unless I audited first. You learn a lot from focused auditing if you really watch and don’t end up with the Chatterbox audience crowd.

[jvanrens]

@Scribbler

I would usually never go ride in a clinic unless I audited first. You learn a lot from focused auditing if you really watch and don’t end up with the Chatterbox audience crowd.

If I’d followed this kind of advice I would have missed the best two days of instruction that I’ve ever had in my life.

The next time the opportunity came up was years later and I didn’t have the money to attend.

[skydy]

Since @Foxglove (the OP) is a very experienced rider in English disciplines, she’ll be ahead of the game in basic riding balance and ability to apply the aides, even though the aids are new and different to her. An absolute beginner would have a longer timeline before becoming proficient.

@Foxglove, you’ve no doubt attended clinics in the English disciplines so you know that learning from clinics is sometimes very helpful, but no substitute for regular and quality instruction.

Have fun and please keep us updated!

I agree that those cattle horns are quite impressive, and a little daunting.

[rulex]

@Libby2563

Third vote for continue with your lessons. It sounds like you’re still getting a lot out of them. If you feel like you start to plateau and want an outside perspective, then you can reevaluate.

I agree with this. If you feel like you are getting a lot out of your lessons and making good progress, then take advantage and enjoy!

[Paint_Party]

My experience with ranch clinics has varied widely.

The most beneficial were divided into at least two groups according to the skills and experience of horses and riders.

For example, in one clinic we were given a ranch riding pattern to memorize beforehand so we could each ride it, get feedback, and polish it. Great! We could also learn from watching each other! Unfortunately there was such disparity between the levels of horses and riders that we never got around to riding the pattern.

Because of this, unless you know the clinician and hear lots of positive feedback from their clinics, I would opt to audit.

This past year I hauled out for lessons with the pro who trained and showed my mare. He’s also an AQHA and NRHA judge and clinician. There’s usually a couple other riders in the arena with me, but I get a lot of individual attention. It’s $100 a lesson.

[Zevida]

I would skip the clinic because I am too used to 1:1 lessons and can’t take all the standing around and watching that goes with those group clinic sessions. My butt and back get sore from being in the saddle but doing nothing. My typically very chill horse gets antsy.

Keep investing in your 1:1 lessons I say! I like the idea of auditing the clinic to keep increasing your knowledge of a new sport if the cost is low and time commitment reasonable.

[MissusS]

I’m another vote for 1:1 lessons and go audit where you can for clinics. It sounds like you are getting meaningful instruction 1:1, can plan flexibly for it, and appreciate the individual/customized feedback for the duration. (Frankly, that’s what I love myself as well!).

I also have had the misfortune (as I’m sure everyone else has as well) of saving money, preparing for, and getting the nerves about an upcoming clinic… only to have miss mare decide to do something silly right before taking us out of the clinic (usually right after the no-refunds deadline has passed).

By auditing you can get a sense for the instruction, see how they work with a group, take notes and learn, and possibly make some new friends in other auditors who you may bump into at your upcoming show!

If you were planning to do multiple shows this year and were investing in “This is the year I say yes to all the opportunities that come my way” then my answer might change, but I’m solidly in the camp of “in this situation, if it were me, I’d stick to 1:1 coaching and go audit clinics if I can”

Either way… I think you are awesome! I admire you very much!

[sorrelfilly721]

I prefer lessons to clinics. My instructor is familiar with my horse and my riding as he sees me on a regular basis and knows where my weaknesses are and how we are progressing. I just feel like with any instructor/clinician, there is a “getting to know you” phase and if you’re only seeing them one time, you’re not going to reap much benefit.

[findeight]

Since you are new to RH and this sounds like your first full year at it? I vote stay with lessons from the two trainers you have now for the rest of this year.

Next year you will be in a better position to make a more informed decision about where to best spend your money and with whom.

Do recommend watching as much as you can of RH competitions and auditing a clinic or two. Watch and listen.

Cow work is not my discipline but not totally in the dark and wonder if 15 minutes of cow work at a clinic is going to be that helpful. So much of working cows involves being able to read the cattle and that requires lots of patience and watching cattle. Learning which ones to select to cut out, which ones to avoid and how to quickly tell what you got to work with. There is an art to it.

I remember when showing AQHA and APHA in So.Texas years ago, spending the early evening hours sitting outback with the cattle people watching the herd they would be working with the next day. With appropriate beverages. Learned a ton. You can pick out the herd leaders, followers and anti social types and recognize them the next day. Hang around the pens at the RH shows. Its fascinating. Free too.