The ins and outs of attending a clinic

Ever wondered what a clinician thinks makes the perfect clinic attendant?

With every new clinician comes something new to learn but some things remain the same for every event. There are common themes from one clinic to the next and I have found that all clinicians / coaches / instructors have a pretty similar view on what they do and don’t like about the things people do when attending clinics.

As an equestrian venue owner and host of many clinics over the years, I have had the chance to discuss with clinicians, many do’s and don’ts for participants that make for a great clinic.

Perhaps you might think that the most advanced rider with the well bred horse is going to be top of the list – but not necessarily. It’s the quiet achievers that really get a good clinician or instructor cheering on the inside. The beginner (or even advanced rider) who listened intently and asked lots of questions, went home, practised and improved is really what gets their attention.

Tips from a happy clinician

• Be on time, preferably early. There’s nothing more satisfying than getting into the arena to an eager group of attendees ready and waiting.
• Put your phone away! There’s nothing more disheartening than talking to a group of people and turning around to find someone more engrossed in their phone than their learning experience. If you are with or on your horse, then your horse needs and deserves all of your attention, and so does the clinician.
• Smoking (if you must smoke) is for smoko or lunch break.
• Ride or at the very least work with the horse on ground before a clinic, don’t bring a horse that has just been in the paddock for weeks or months. If you don’t know how to prepare, get some help.
• Make sure your gear is clean, in good working order and fits!! If you’re not sure about saddle, bit or bridle fit, just ask. Taking a little pride in your own appearance and that of your horse goes a long way.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions – a very common theme is that most clinicians want you to truly understand the how and why of the exercises they are teaching, not just to be able to do the moves. Why does my horse brace there, how can I do that better? Be prepared to have a go, show the instructor and improve on it.
• Hiding down the back corner gets you nowhere! Make sure you can see what’s being taught, give everything a go and don’t be scared of mucking up. One of the best examples of this I saw was at Legacy of Legends during the Buck Brannaman clinic. Buck took a horse to help the girl get it moving a little better, which he did and you could see the despair on her face as he handed back the lead rope. What he said to her next has stayed with me ever since. He said that he knew she was going to muck it up a bit, but that it was totally ok because he would help her again and she could practise and he would help out as many times as necessary to bridge the gap between the horse and the human. He stressed to her that the only way to get better at this stuff (the groundwork) was to have a go, practise and not to be scared of making mistakes. Instantly she relaxed and got things happening nicely with her horse.
• Be courteous and thank your host. Most top clinicians have regular hosts that help organise clinics in various venues across the country. Quite often the host is doing a range of jobs behind the scenes from organising travel, accommodation and food on top of riding and trying to get the most out of their own learning experience. Hosts generally have an open line of communication with their clinicians and can answer a range of questions any participant may have. One of the most common frustrations of a busy clinician is getting bogged down in basic enquiries that they know the host can handle. If you’re not sure on something, check with your host first – they will either have the info you need or can get it for you quickly.
• Pay on time. Interestingly this is not something that any of the clinicians mentioned. However, due to their desire to give back to the horse, it’s something they usually don’t focus on when they should! If you must cancel, check the cancellation policy and be prepared to wear the deposit or payments if you can’t find a replacement for your spot.
• Clean up after yourself – take your rubbish home with you, clean the yards or carpark where you’ve been before you leave and pickup horse manure in the arena.
• Social media – while most clinicians are on it, not all have the time to police and monitor it. Every clinician I know is pretty open about what they do but everyone knows how damaging bad pictures or a snippet of video taken at the wrong moment can be. If you want to post video or pictures of the clinician or other participants with their horses, just ask first. It’s NOT ok for others to post learning content online that belongs to the clinician. You pay to be there and learn directly from that person, if others want to see for themselves what goes on at a particular clinic then they should pay and bring a horse or pay to come along as a spectator.
• Horse health and welfare. Make sure your horse is in good condition, pack enough feed to keep your horse’s energy up while at a clinic. Making sure that your horse is healthy and fit for task is crucial. If working on balance and softness for example, there’s not a lot any clinician can do to help you with your horse if its feet are weeks overdue for a trim and it’s tripping over it’s toes. Equally if your horse is injured or unwell, leave it at home! There’s nothing worse than a lame horse at a clinic or one with a snotty nose or a huge fungal skin infection – no one needs to share that stuff around.
• Rider health and welfare. Make sure YOU are fit for task. If a one hour ride usually sees you needing a 3 hour nanna nap in the afternoon, then perhaps a 4 day 9am-5pm clinic is not for you. Perhaps you sign up for a riding holiday or trek – make sure you can mount a horse from the ground and are honest and open about your ability. Turning up to an advanced horsemanship clinic when you are still learning to rise to the trot is probably not in anybody’s best interest.
• Respect the clinician’s space and private time – most clinicians I know will answer as many questions as you can ask… during clinic hours! It’s important to utilise your “work” hours because once the clinician knocks off for a cold drink and a meal, they don’t necessarily want to spend an hour answering questions you could have asked during the day. It’s not even that they don’t “want” to, it’s just that they need down time too. Quite often they have emails to attend to or family to phone – while you may have saved up for 6 months to attend this cool thing with your horse and you want to kick back at the pub on the Saturday night… this isn’t the first rodeo for many clinicians. Their weekends doing clinics are like your Monday – Friday at the office.

Tips for getting the most out of your learning experience

• Prepare – don’t self sabotage by being unorganised or uninformed. Being early / on time, knowing where to go and what time the day starts are all steps in the right direction.
• Have everything you might need – write a list if you must and pack prior to the morning of said clinic. Turning up and forgetting your girth or something equally as important is just a pain. Pack for all weather too, hat, sunscreen, raincoat, chair, drinks and food.
• Be open to learning but don’t give away your own power and ignore your gut feeling. If you don’t truly feel ok with what’s being asked of yourself or your horse, it’s ok to sit out. Just be honest, any good clinician or instructor will respect this.
• Quite often, those riders with less experience have a tendency to put their total trust in the instructor with the misguided theory that they will create miracles for them. Yes, we need to put ourselves in learning situations where we can trust those guiding us, but at the same time, we need to take complete responsibility for ourselves and our horse and take ownership of our own journey. Nothing changes if nothing changes, be prepared to do the homework and the follow up if you wish to continue whatever success the clinician has helped you achieve.
• If you’re heading along to someone new, do a little research and find out the clinic format, get an overview of the kinds of things you’re likely to work on. In most cases your host can help with this.
• Don’t just stand around waiting for help – if you have questions ask, if you are confused about what you’ve been show then ask again. Most clinicians or instructors understand that different people have different learning styles, breaking something down or explaining it in another way is never a nuisance. Standing up the back waiting for the clinician to come and single you out is not likely to get you the help you need. Put yourself out there a little and have a go.

What’s the one thing anyone can practise anytime anywhere that will help them at any clinic?

Breathe!!! Learn to breathe deeply and fully while doing groundwork, breathe when you hop on, just sit on your horse and breathe out. When you do a transition or a manoeuvre, breathe!!! Practise your breathing when riding ALL the time. The most common rider error across all disciplines would absolutely be the inability to breathe properly while riding. When we get nervous, we hold our breathe, when we concentrate too hard we hold our breathe. Become aware of your breathing and become aware of how it affects your horse when you’re not breathing properly.

Still not sure about something clinic related?

Just ask 😊The silliest question is the one you didn’t ask.

I hope this is a helpful resource and I hope that going forward we can all do our bit to be more thoughtful and proactive clinic participants. These skilled and experienced professionals travel far and wide, sometimes without nearly enough rest so the least we can do is be more prepared and informed to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for everyone. Happy horsing!

Written by India Woods – Valmont Farms 2020