Participation in a clinic can be an expensive enterprise, especially if the clinician is a higher profile equestrian with a proven competition career at advanced levels. Prospective riders that show interest in securing a slot to partake of the event experience are sometimes baffled by why they are asked to send a recent video of a schooling session with their horse, some folks are even offended.
Just why do clinicians request a video before agreeing to teach a rider?
The answer is it's different for everyone. Each clinician has their own set of reasons based on their professional experience, but here are some common reasons for the request:
Is Your Horse Sound?
It's sad and somewhat amazing to say that sometimes even trainers don't seem to notice, or care to notice, that their student's mount is behaving badly due to a soundness issue.
Unfortunately, the clinician is faced with a difficult situation when this occurs. As horse folks themselves, for clinicians the horse's well-being is always their top priority. When a rider/horse combo enters the arena and the clinician can clearly see that the horse is in discomfort or even pain, the only compassionate thing to do is address the issue, which necessarily sincerely upsets the local trainer and/or the rider. The often anxious, slightly nervous and keen rider has invested financially to participate in the event, and has also expended emotionally with much hard work to prepare for the opportunity to ride in the clinic. No clinician likes to be faced with this issue.
By requesting prospective participating riders that are interested in the clinic submit a recent schooling video, the soundness of the horse can be evaluated. The viewing of the video is not about offering a veterinary opinion, it is about sharing the wealth of knowledge that the clinician probably has on the matter of soundness for task, and giving a 'heads up' to folks that might not be aware of the reason why the horse is not performing to its full potential. This information gives the rider time to have their horse evaluated by a qualified medical professional before the clinic so that issues that may be present can be addressed before the rider commits to a spend on the clinic ride.
It is ultimately the clinician that is responsible for the welfare of the horse and rider in front of them, morally at a minimum and even legally in some States and circumstances. Thus it is understandable that the clinician wishes to see beforehand that the horse and rider are 'good to go.'
What Benefit Will The Clinic Provide To The Auditors?
Many clinicians have guidelines as to the rider's level of training and their horse's age/level of accomplishment that they require for participation in a select event. This is especially common when a large gathering of auditors is anticipated.
The idea being that the horse/rider combinations need to be at a stage in their training where corrections and instruction given can be taken on board and executed, to showcase to not just themselves, but also to the paying audience to educate as to how the correct training can quickly progress the horse to a more advanced level. A learning opportunity for all.
For certain clinicians this can be vanity based, as they do not wish to be presented with a horse and rider they are unable to help improve in front of the public.
What Benefit Will The Clinic Provide To The Entrant?
If a clinician is offering a specified topic at their event as is often the case, then the horse and rider will only benefit from that particular clinic if they are at a stage in their training where they are ready both physically and mentally to advance.
For example, if a jumping clinician is offering a clinic to aid riders deal with jumping a course of spread fences/oxers or water jumps, there is little point in a novice rider/horse combo showing up. Similarly a dressage clinician that is offering a clinic on collection and lateral work will not be able to instruct a rider on this topic if they don't have an independent seat and their horse has not attained the prerequisites of basic dressage.
A first hand view of a video ride will allow the clinician to evaluate whether horse and/or rider will benefit and are ready for what is intended to be taught at the event.
As a rider paying good money for help from an expert in their chosen discipline, this is surely an advantage? If the clinician does not feel that you are ready for the work or if your horse is not at the level of training to address the requests that would be made of it, surely it is better to know before you get in the ring?
Take Home Message
Don't be offended if a clinician requests a video before slotting you into a clinic. It does not mean they are not offering to teach all that want to participate, especially if it is an open clinic with no topic specified. It just means they want to be sure horse and rider are fit for the task.
If the clinic is specifically geared to a certain level of training or if the event is more a symposium than a clinic, then expect that the horse/rider will need to submit a short video of themselves at work, so that their talents can be evaluated as far as readiness for the task they will be addressing training wise.
Everyone, including the barn host, local trainer, riders and clinician should want the best possible experience for the participating riders and their horses.
Unfortunately many trainers make plenty of pre-clinic prep lesson money from their students and can sometimes be blind to the fact they are over-schooling or pushing the horse, even to the point that the sudden increase in work can cause a previously sound horse to become sore and resistant.
This is an inconvenient truth that experienced clinicians see all too often. Hence the requirement for video submission is more commonly requested by the experienced clinicians than those just starting out in their careers.
