Erik Herbermann clinic

[star22]

I had the great pleasure and educational experience to ride in an Erik Herbermann clinic for 5 days and it was really an eye opener ! I am wondering if other forum members would like to comment on how their training and horse progressed after doing a clinic assuming they continued to apply what they had learned in the clinic. I just ordered the books and cant wait to dig into them!

[Arizona DQ]

I have been thinking of getting his CD series, which I believe is based on his books? (I love to listen to training cds as I drive back and forth to work).

Can you give me some more insight on what you liked about his clinic? :)

[Truthiness]

I have Herbermann's Dressage Formula and love it very much. Can you tell us how much trot and canter you did in your clinic rides? I have heard that the bulk of of the work in his clinics is done at the walk. I find that hard to believe but have never audited---will you comment on this?

[Lambie Boat]

the happy herbermanns will gush, the unhappy will avoid this thread and not talk about it. :lol: it's been covered at length in the past. grab your popcorn and do a search.

[blackhorse6]

LOL.. Do I hear a "whistle":lol::lol:

[Truthiness]

I was afraid I'd hear crickets in response to my question. :no:
I'm so bloody sick of this eyes wide shut mystique around classical clinicians. Where did this start? KM and his secret soldiers?

[Arizona DQ]

Well, I would like to hear more about this clinic and clinician. I would imagine that those who do not like him can just not read this thread...;)

Those of us who are interested can join in or ask more questions? What is wrong with that? No one is FORCED to read every thread....:no: geesh!

[blackhorse6]

Ok..I'll bite or be bitten:D Who is "KM and his secret soldiers?" Further more, I don't think the OP asked for good or bad opinions of the clinician mentioned? Am I wrong? In my experience of riding and auditing various clincians, I have found there are some I really enjoy, others write better books, others just plain "ride" better. Then there are those that I can't really can't connect with at all.. :( I have also found that there are a few who do not want to hear the bad...they have formed their opinions and really just want them reinforced:eek::eek:

[mbm]

wow. i am always shocked when i read how disrespectful some folks can be for those that deserve respect - wheter or not you "like" their training. (ie KM)

As for Herbemann - what is the problem with remaining in walk if it allows riders to really work on their seat? riding the walk in a manner that allows free flow of the energy back to front is not easy.... we spend time i walk teaching the horse how to do various movements then go up gaits when they get it - why not the rider too?

and finally, even the topriders work on their seat so it shouldn't be "too good" for us rabble.

as for the OP : yes, i have gone to clincs that TOTALLY changed how i rode by opening new doors and closing others. Enjoy the knowledge! :)

[JackSprats Mom]

I have heard that the bulk of of the work in his clinics is done at the walk

I just had a lesson with a new instructor, first lesson with her, and we did a ton of work at the walk that had some great results with my horse...don't knock the walk ;)

[star22]

First of all I am not one of the "secret" soldiers that is mentioned in some of the reply posts. In fact I had never even hear of Erik Herbermann until I was surfing for dressage events in my area and saw that the clinic was next door to the barn where I keep my horse. Once I looked into the clinician and his background I decided to sign up!

My horse is a nice year old Appendix QH and is lovely abeit very nervous and a flighty horse. I found Eric to be very open minded and accepting of both of us and where we were when we came to the clinic. Everything he told me and demonstrated in even how to handle my horse in a more confident way helped me more each day in the clinic.

I am not a green rider by any means having ridden for over 30 years in many discplines and having attended a lot of different clinincs in Ireland in my youth with showjumping and dressage trainers of very high caliber. But you know what despite all of that experience no one had ever explained to me in such details the basic of getting my horse to flow without ever putting an emphasis on getting his "head" in the right place ect. I feel in some ways I have been cheated of this knowledge for so long and am really grateful to have finally discovered it! True most of the clinic was in walk with some brief trotting on the last day but this fact in no way dimishes the quality and depth of instruction and attention I and my horse received. I did hear from other people in my barn that were not happy with Erik and his clinics so I think based on this and some of the posts above, you either will or your won't accept or click with his way of teaching.

[mbm]

I feel in some ways I have been cheated of this knowledge for so long and am really grateful to have finally discovered it!.

i totally understand this feeling! this is how i felt when i first was shown how to ride the horse forward into a giving hand w/o blocking the movement so the energy could flow.... totally awesome!

i also cant believe i spent so many years wasted with folks who do not teach this. lots of time and $$ wasted. :(

anyway, good for you for being open minded ! dressage is so cool because there is never any lack of new cool things to learn!:)

as for the walk: i have never got why some folks think that time spent at walk is a waste or why they try to ridicule it. me thinks they protest too much :)

[Truthiness]

Thanks for the mangled Shakespeare quote, Mary... that made my day. :lol:

I asked if the clinic was conducted mostly in walk and the OP kindly answered. Some riders should spend more time in walk, for sure. But, what--five clinic days, of walk is a sham. The horse has three basic gaits and needs to work in all of them, assuming the horse is sound. And no one shouldn't bring an unsound horse to a clinic. The seat is important in all gaits---why not work in all gaits? I'm sure Tonja will educate me soon enough. ;)

I like KM's training very much and have ridden with him in the past. There was very little walking, for what's it worth. What I cannot stand, however, is the veil of secrecy that's pulled around these clinics. It's pointless and divisive. KM isn't the only clinician of whom I speak but he may be the only one who forbids note-taking.

[slc2]

Who is KM?

[blackhorse6]

SLC2...I have been asking the same thing.. Guess we are left out of the "loop":eek: I do have to say that I believed that everyone is entitled to their opinion on this forum.. I will also say that when you put your self out there on the public arena that you take the good and the bad when it comes to "publicity". Meaning....some people are not going to think Erik H is fantastic and guess what, doesn't mean they are "disrespectful":confused:. It is their opinion and SLC2...lol...you should know all about that one:lol::lol:

OK.. here it goes.. I audited an EH clinic.. Within 30 min, 4 people picked up and left.. Why, he said absolutely "NOTHING" and his whistling drove everyone crazy.. Yes, for the first 5 min it was nice, after that, more like nails on chalk board. Good grief, all this about the free flowing energy at the walk.. Someone asked why not spend more time training at the walk? Yes, the walk is a wonderful gait for learning any and all movements and for relaxing the horse but also the easiest gait to ruin when not ridden correctly.

Everyone has a preference.. I prefer a clinician like Steffen Peters, Lisa Wilcox, Lendon Gray, Conrad S,and Jane Savoy(love Happy Horse:). I enjoy a trainer that is always giving instruction and is totally interactive. Very different than EH. I would never take offense to people voicing their "constructive" opinions about these clinicians/riders/trainers.

[Ginger]

Karl Mikolka

[blackhorse6]

yep, him too:yes:

[slc2]

Karl M has people who adore and despise him as well, as does every public figure.

I really feel that when someone EITHER despises or adores some public figure especially a dressage trainer, they are always wrong.

Always and without exception.

If the feeling is THAT emotional, THAT extreme, THAT black and white, that 'chest-beat-y' (wonderful phrase) about someone who teaches us to ride around circles on livestock, it is inevitable that there is a problem. 'Cult of the personality' can just as easily be negative as positive, but is always damaging.

I like Heberman, and I like Mikolka. They without any doubt have experience and knowledge to share. And for a fact, most people have only very, very basic needs for riding lessons. They may enjoy feeling they are doing something much more sophisticated, but in truth their needs are very, very simple and more frequent coaching on more basic things would progress them more over the long term.

Like all instructors and clinicians and dressage 'personalities', EH and KM have their style, their way of attacking problems, which work well in some situations and not others, and most unfortunately of all, they have....their...following....

To be perfectly honest, at most clinics, you see clinicians doing basically the same things with every rider and horse. It's actually unusual to have different problems to work on and different levels of riders. Most riders are at training level or below and all have the same basic problems. I don't expect this to be particularly varied.

The problem with walking for five days is that in dressage, you do at some point have to walk, trot and canter in order to be able to ride properly. Dressage tests as well as common sense suggest that too much work in one gait is, in fact, limiting.

Walking is a double edge thing.

Walking doesn't scare people as much. It's great for lame or recuperating horses. Riders relax, and think. So it helps beginners. They tend to think, 'oh, I can walk' and listen better to the instructor. It helps intermediate riders to calm down and stop trying so hard to over-engineer things with their reins, and often they listen and absorb things better while walking. They're usually better off trying new stuff at the walk, because they don't feel rushed or intimidated. It helps more advanced riders to supple horses quietly.

What's the down side?

Walking doesn't get horses or riders fit. Fitness is what dressage is about. Having a body full of muscles you can play, as said Reiner Klimke. THat is 99 % of it. 'Resistance', 'evasion' and most training problems fade away when horse and rider simply are fit.

If the person is really trying to engineer the walk, too, they're likely to do nothing more than mess it up, especially if they, as many people do, leave that clinic and go home and for the next 6 or 12 months, repeat endlessly, in an increasingly exaggerated and distorted form, what they did at the clinic or lesson .

It isn't really true that no one can work the walk, and that any efforts to collect it are doomed to send us into the fire pits of hell. It just is not particularly easy to work the walk in collection and people usually go thru a few horses before they figure it out.

Especially if the person is that sort of intensely repeating type and works alone for long periods, too much work in one gait just leads to more and more exaggeration when they go home.

It can also get the person in the habit of simply spending most of his ride walking, stopping, walking, and is sort of like a forwardness-ectomy for the horse.

It can give the rider a hideout, and a way to not increase his feel and reaction time.

Walking does not require the student to maintain his position through anything more than posing. He puts forth very little muscular effort, which is both the advantage and disadvantage of the walk.

He has no impulsion (by definition the walk has no impulsion because of the lack of suspension, swing, etc), and far less movement of the back and hence the saddle to contend with. There is far less momentum to deal with.

Walking is pleasant. Walking is far, far easier than sitting the trot or canter. That is inescapable. There is no argument in that. I can just hear the response, 'Oh you don't know anything, walking does EVERYTHING!' Well no, actually, it doesn't.

The fact is, the saddle does not go up and down when the rider is walking, and it does when one trots and canters, and there is some point where one has to get one's position strong and stable enough to deal with that.

I prefer a clinician who works most students in all 3 gaits. If the person is ill or terrified, or the horse spontaneously combusts every time anyone says 'canter', I can see a day of walking, but I'd prefer the clinician helped the student to broaden his riding, and improve his riding overall at all 3 gaits.

Someone less demure than I once said, 'It's amazing a clinician could turn what is supposed to be a heinous insult into a mystical technique'. In many circles, keeping a student at a walk for five days of lessons would be seen as a devastating criticism of the rider.

Russell Brand said he was criticized in grade school for childish behavior, outlandish clothing and flaunting authority, then added that he had made very lucrative career out of doing exactly that, so I do believe it's possible.

[mbm]

Thanks for the mangled Shakespeare quote, Mary... that made my day. :lol:
.

? i wasn't trying to quote Shakespeare - and if i did it was pure accident :)

as for the walk - hey, i have no problem witht someone taking the time to work on the seat in the walk. and yes, the walk is the easiest gait to ruin - why? because people dont know how to ride it well....

i havent ridden with either gentleman mentioned, i just know that for me anyways - anyone who has the horses best interest at heart and who has a gigantic well of knowledge at the very least gets my respect - even if i choose not to ride with them. <shrug >

and my disrespect comment was directed at the person who said something along the lines of secret police and km.

and yes, while the horse does have 3 gaits - why not take as much time as is needed for the rider to fully "Get" how to properly use the seat to allow full flow of energy etc etc?

what good does it do to work on more "advanced" things if you dont have teh seat to ride it properly?

[egontoast]

wasn't trying to quote Shakespeare - and if i did it was pure accident

Oh please. I guess this was just spontaneous synchronicity from two brilliant minds.:lol:

If people want to pay for a five day clinic to perfect their position at the walk, that's fine. Not everyone wants to do that. Clinicians can't fix everything. What if it were five days on groundwork? Five days on mounting? Many people need that,too, but if you are shelling out for a five day clinic with a dressage trainer, you might not choose that. As long as you know ahead of time what you are paying for, meh.:cool:

As far as KM and his views of auditors notetaking, so what? It's a bit like the surgeon with less than perfect bedside manner. I don't care much about the bedside manner because given a choice I'd rather have the best surgeon than the mediocre or poor surgeon with the stellar people skills.

I'd be more interested in the skill and the quality of instruction and how that is communicated to the rider and the auditors than any eccentricities regarding publication of his loosely paraphrased comments elsewhere

[CatOnLap]

Hamlet:
"Madam, how do you like this play?"
Queen Gertrude:
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

And I was about to post this very same spontaneously synchronous quote!

If people want to pay for a five day clinic to perfect their position at the walk, that's fine. Not everyone wants to do that. Clinicians can't fix everything. What if it were five days on groundwork? Five days on mounting? Many people need that,too, but if you are shelling out for a five day clinic with a dressage trainer, you might not choose that. As long as you know ahead of time what you are paying for, meh

[mbm]

i never know how to take it when certain folks make fun of what i write. i never know if i should get defensive, explain that writing is so not my forte, run for cover, take it as friendly tease - or what....

oh well.....

as for clinicians. i agree that not all trainers are for all people. and not all trainers are for the same person through out their riding career.

[Truthiness]

As long as you know ahead of time what you are paying for, meh.:cool:

This is exactly my point. With all the secrecy around these clinics, it is sometimes impossible to know what you are paying for. Naturally, I advocate auditing a clinician before writing a big fat check for clinic rides. But many AAs in various parts of the country are desperate for instruction and the opportunities are few and far between. Sometimes one must jump at the chance to ride before the train leaves the station. If those who post these gushing clinic reports could also include something of substance, there would be fewer poor and disillusioned riders.

OP answered the question and I am surprised and impressed that she did--my thanks to her. How many times has the same question been asked and EH clinic riders refuse to answer? Many.

Why not share what happens in clinics? Please note that I'm not talking about the clinic reporting of a certain poster on another board who takes pictures and hosts a critique of poor clinic participants of whom she knows nothing. I'm talking about sharing what you yourself experienced in a clinic.

There's a low-level rider (again, other board) who recently spent a bunch of time and money hauling to yet another of these classical gurus only to find that it was a bunch of new age BS, even though his fans on two continents sing his praises to heaven. Many of us who have seen his clinics are not surprised by her disappointment. As a result of her experience, she's in classical crisis and will likely seek fewer rather than more opportunities to clinic in the future. Great! Another insular classical student, working alone with the help of books written by long-dead gentlemen.

Since I have no idea what my point is, I will end this. :lol:

[mbm]

fwiw, i think the "secrecy" aspect is because the trainer doesn't want their methods butchered and misrepresented?

ie: if the clinician has student "A" do exercise "B" for "X" problem, then an auditor goes home and does exercise "B" for a completely different problem , then will come on these boards and say how horrible the clinicians methods was because of what it did to her horse, or conversely , come on these boards and suggest to everyone with any problem to use the exercise and represents it as coming from said clinician.

and personally, i dont get taking notes at a clinic. how can you watch and take notes at the same time?

as for clinics - i agree 100% that far better to audit because even if your best friend sings the praises of said clinician if just may not be your cup o tea :) , and for the (few) clinicians that wont allow auditors, i guess you just have to ask folks you trust or be prepared to learn no matter what.

[ToN Farm]

There's a low-level rider (again, other board) who recently spent a bunch of time and money hauling to yet another of these classical gurus only to find that it was a bunch of new age BS, even though his fans on two continents sing his praises to heaven. Many of us who have seen his clinics are not surprised by her disappointment. As a result of her experience, she's in classical crisis and will likely seek fewer rather than more opportunities to clinic in the future. Great! Another insular classical student, working alone with the help of books written by long-dead gentlemen.
Yeah, but Truthiness, she relied on the opinions of those other great dressage gurus on that board. You know, the ones with all those credentials. Hopefully this low-level rider got an assessment of her horse's hoof angles and a therapeutic massage for this master that possesses physic powers.

[Truthiness]

You're right ToN.... we'll have to go way upstream to address this problem. Slippery little suckers, interweb gurus.

[Lamma70]

I wanted to start out by saying that I am not defending Erik, as I have been somewhat skeptical at times too. I just wanted to clear up the fact that Erik only has people walk in his clinics. I think it depends on where you are at in your riding/training, and where the horse is at.

He starts out his clinics by having the rider warm their horse up and ride like they do normally, then starts giving his input and asking the rider what they need help with, etc. I have seen many riders trot and canter as well as perform leg yields, shoulder in, etc. He even worked a horse in piaffe/passage in hand at this last clinic. I think the talk about him making you walk is when he doesn't believe a horse has been trained correctly, i.e. put into a frame or the horse isn't coming up under itself, etc. So...that's when he takes you back to basics.

I have been a little hesitant to ride with him myself because he can be a little verbally abusive to some riders...but I have been told that if you come in with the attitude of needing his help vs. trying to impress him, he is much more open to that. He certainly isn't for everyone, but no one really is. I think I may actually try to clinic with him this fall because he is supposed to be wonderful with younger, difficult horses...and mine just happens to fall into that category. :D

[Lambie Boat]

pay no attention to the men behind the curtain

[Elegante E]

What the heck, I'll dive into the deep end. I had the chance to clinic with a "classicist" whom I'd never seen train. Went on a board and asked for opinions. Got 4. 2 said they rode with him in the past and thought well of him. 2 said they hadn't ridden with him but didn't like him - one watched him train, one only saw the result of how a friend rode after clinicing with him. I took the leap bc, as someone mentioned earlier, you either get on the train and take a ride or it passes you by permanently. It was a great clinic. Nothing earth shattering but solid improvement for myself and my horse. Couldn't have asked for more.

I don't expect earth shattering improvement at clinics. I just want to learn something useful, or take a small step in the right direction.

Does this have any bearing on the current discussion?

[Tonja]

I agree that not every clinician is for everyone.

I find the art of riding fascinating. I ride with Erik Herbermann because he doesn’t just gloss over the details. He has a genuine interest in helping his students develop an in depth understanding of the nuances of the art.

I ride in clinics with Erik every chance I get. We spent a lot of time in the walk in early lessons in order to help settle my horse’s mind, help me feel the many various nuances that influence energy flow and improve timing of the aids, etc, etc, etc... I have also spent quite a bit of time in the trot and canter at Erik’s clinics. The in depth study of dressage principles in the walk has greatly benefited our trot and canter work and spared my horse undue wear and tear while I worked out the details of the concepts. The time spent in the walk with Erik was never a waste.

[Lamma70]

Well put Tonja!

[CatOnLap]

{disclaimer, I have never ridden with EH or KM and have never watched a clinic with either}

Well, I guess it really depends whether you are going to worship at the guru's feet or trying to get a little help with the stage you are working at. Is the clinician a priest whose word and direction is not to be questioned because it comes directly from OdG or is he a teacher who will meet you where you are at and actually listen to what you aare asking for and address it?

Me? I am long past the stage where some horse back riding teacher is going to show me the road to Mecca. If I meet the Buddha on the Road, I am tempted to kill him, as the book title goes. When I go to a clinic, I have definite questions that I am working on that I wish to be addressed. In fact, that I am paying exhorbitant amounts of cash, to have addressed. The clinician is my employee, not my master.

If someone is verbally abusive to me, I will leave at the point and ask for my money back. Not that I'll get it, but if I don't, you will all read about it. That is simply inexcuseable in this day and age. If he wasn't dead already I could tell you of my clinic with a ceratin very well regarded ODG who did not refund my money after sexually harrasing me in the saddle. But they say you shouldn't speak ill of the dead.

I am well aware there is much useful training that can be done in the walk- there have been literally years that I could not get out of that gait because of various injuries to myself and my horse and we figured out what to do with it. If some clinican made me spend the bulk of my lesson at walk AFTER my warm-up I would have continous questions about why, especially since I am not looking to improve my walks right now.
And while there is some prep work that can be done in the work for my current questions, if we didn't actually get to working those questions in their actual format as a part of the clinic, I would have to say the clinician is not listening to me and is not helping.

[angel]

There are very few clinicians out there to whom I am an ardent follower. In fact, there is only one. However, I have seen several others that each offer different aspects of the sport that are beneificial. Zettl and Mikolka come quickly to mind in that regard. I have never seen Mikolka in person, but had some of the articles he has written, and at least one of the videos that he has produced. I prefer the articles to the video. Zettl has both things available and I find his book to be of good writing. I have never seen his video. I have seen his clinics in person, and he is an effective teacher. I have never had any exposure to Herberman, but can tell you that I begin a horse's warm-up in the walk. If a rider is without a decent seat, this is the only gait in which to properly begin developing the rider's awareness of how her body must move within the motion. Many riders that attend clinics cannot even post the trot correctly, let alone ride the sitting trot or canter, so I give Herbermann credit for having the fortitude to keep these riders in walk rather than pander to the current state of affairs in which clinicians seem to ignore the poor seats that are presented to them.

[blackhorse6]

Catonlap... Well put and my sentiments exactly.. I have audited both EH and KM..sorry.. not my cup of tea "at all." I know people who clinic all the time with EH and they stay at the same level and repeat the exact same thing over and over again..Just how many clinics does it take to move beyond the walk? Yes of course there is alot to be learned at the walk, no one is disputing that but there comes a time when you just have put yourself out there and learn to trot:eek::eek::eek: I don't know, maybe canter? I myself believe there are way to many really good clinicians out there that can teach well enough that it doesn't take a life time to learn to walk.

[slc2]

Many years ago, I rode with a gal who stayed in the walk for years having been introduced to the above philosophy.

I asked her when she would be trotting or cantering and she frowned at me as disdainfully as if I had suggested do a nude buck dance in the House of Lords.

'I have to earn the right to trot', she informed me.

Fact was, she was petrified of going above a walk and it suited her just fine to just walk and walk and walk.

Riding in the walk did not 'prepare' her for trotting or cantering. I think that's where the logic breaks down, ie, that it doesn't work.

[mbm]

question re: K Milkolka clinics only: why would you pass up the opportunity to ride with one of the world's best riders/trainers just for ego? i mean he has knowledge that no one else has... or has only in bits and pieces. he is by all accounts a true "master" of the art of riding.

so, why would you let a little thing like personality or mannerisms get in the way of learning from such a person?

i had the opportunity of riding with him once at very short notice, and sadly i wasn't able to find anyone to haul me the 2 hours to the clinic (even by saying they could audit the clinic as part of the deal) and to this day regret that.

[narcisco]

The Secret Society of Dressage was one of most guarded organizations in the world. I am dismayed that the word is out and I know the other two people on this board who belong could not possibly have leaked the word. We will be changing the secret hand shake, the code and the password, so those in the know, just contact me.

The rain in Spain is never on the plain (if you know what I mean).

[blackhorse6]

MBM..."one of the world's best?"... It is wonderful that you hold KM in such high esteem... I hold other's in that place..Klimke for one.. Now he was and always will be a true master.. :yes::yes:

[narcisco]

so, why would you let a little thing like personality or mannerisms get in the way of learning from such a person?

In a very general sense, and not pointing fingers at any of the people mentioned above, but no one needs to subject themselves to verbal or physical abuse or to join a cult for the sake of any knowledge. That kind of knowledge and power is tainted. It is like selling your soul to the devil. Sometimes the message is the messenger, just ask Adam. Not worth it.

[mbm]

of course KM is one of the best, so is klimke:) i am not a person that sits at the feet of guru's - but hopefully i am smart enough to know a true "master" when i see it. KMs seat is amazing. simply amazing.

as for abuse - i didn't say anything about abuse. i said personality.

i guess i just think that learning is so important and honestly there are very few true "masters" that i would rather put aside personality issues and try to learn as much as i can.

pls note this has nothing to do with fawning all over someone or putting them on a pedestal etc. instead, all i want to do is learn. and if someone has the info i want i am willing to let certain things slide..... i am not in this for the socail aspect. instead i want to learn to ride to the best of my ability.

:)

[Lambie Boat]

Truthiness understands the grave consequences for breaking the code of silence. There are rules for the classical omerta that must be adhered to.

the least of which is Truthiness will be shunned and banned from participation from all classical gatherings hence forth, with or without auditors, and name dragged through non-composted horse manure for all of eternity. Which, in classical land, starts from before Xenophon and ends.....who knows where?

a WAZ/Parelli/Anky triumvirate?

[slc2]

Congratulations for using 'omerta' in a sentence! For the rest of it...vitamins, watching nature films, and rest.

[Truthiness]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:
Must I forfeit my cape, contoured dressage pad, and bamboo pole?

[blackhorse6]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[narcisco]

Must I forfeit my cape, contoured dressage pad, and bamboo pole?

And give the bi-corn back too. In exchange you will receive an autographed pair of L. Parelli breeches, a real neoprene bitless bridle and a carrot stick.

[Tonja]

star22 wrote:
I had the great pleasure and educational experience to ride in an Erik Herbermann clinic for 5 days and it was really an eye opener ! I am wondering if other forum members would like to comment on how their training and horse progressed after doing a clinic assuming they continued to apply what they had learned in the clinic. I just ordered the books and cant wait to dig into them!

Star22, you bought the book after riding in the clinic? You’ll get far more out of it then than you would have if you hadn’t gone to the clinic. I bought Dressage Formula before I started riding with Erik. I thought it was a great book then but I get so much more out of it now, after riding with him. It’s one thing to read it; it’s another after actually putting it into practice! :yes:

I’ve been riding all of my life. I studied dressage seriously for near a decade before I met Erik. Nevertheless, my seat, position and use of the aids have improved a great deal since I’ve started riding with Erik. My mare is moving much more freely and in better balance than she was before I started riding with him. Our contact has improved tremendously. My mare is also now more content and she offers softer gaits and more suspension. Erik’s teaching has improved my understanding of balance, the use of the seat and aids, rhythm, energy flow, relaxation, contact, alignment, impulsion, engagement, collection, the history of the riding art, etc, etc, etc. The classical texts make so much more sense now. I have a much better understanding and appreciation of the riding art then I did before. I have found Erik’s books, lectures and clinics extremely helpful.

[MontanaDun]

I haven't ridden with EH for several years now - my schedule no longer permits it, but I found the work with him extremely beneficial.

I never rode in a session with him where I only walked. Saw the occasional lesson that had lots of walking, but I found that he really focused his attention on getting the trot in really good shape. Or I should say, getting *the riders* position, seat and balance in good shape at the trot.

Personally, I am okay with taking some time periodically to really drill down and focus in on tuning up my position and balance, but EH's approach is certainly not to everyone's taste.

There are lots of other teachers that others love who don't float my boat, so I guess it's good that we can all pick the teacher that suits us!