With whom have you had the opportunity to clinic/train? Or even audit? Who are your favorites and why?

And, what do you hear about Morgans from clincians/trainers outside the Morgan world?

For the last 2-3 years Luan-i has ridden in a regular clinic (~every other month) with Eddo Hoekstra. Eddo is a protege of Walter Zetl and is probably the best TEACHER I've seen in a clinician.

Eddo loves Hot Shot (LPV Hot Shot)...thinks he's very much like a "little warmblood" and is very suited to dressage. All the other people we've met at the clinic think he is wonderful.

Actually met a couple other Morgan people at one clinic...Gene & Sonya Brown, who live only a few miles away from where the clinic is held, outside Gainseville, TX.

Western NY Morgan had a clinic with Michelle LaBarre ( http://www.labarredressage.com/Site/_Michelle.html ) in May, my first real opportunity for a two-day clinic experience.

Michelle was amazing! Her knowledge, her experience, and her tireless ability to teach them both were an absolute delight to experience. (I’m a former teacher…and teachers make the worst students because we think we know so much…she just blew me away!) Everyone who rode both days came back the second day looking like a completely different pair-- much more balanced and correct in their riding, and much more committed to getting good work from their mounts. It was a dynamic and exciting transformation just to witness, much less actually experience.

I came home just swimming in things to think about and anxious to get back to work…correct work…the very next day.

I followed up the clinic with an email to her to ask about her suggested reading list, and I'm working my way through it this summer. (Straightening the Crooked Horse and Balance in Movement are on it!)

In addition to all the fine work, I enjoyed being part of a group of folks sharing our Morgans with her. She has had a few students with Morgans through the years, but this was her first full MorganFest experience, and I think she enjoyed them. She was honest and realistic in addressing some of the inherent conformational challenges, but she was clearly won over by their feisty, opinionated personalities!

Michelle is pretty wonderful; we're hoping to have her back this fall, and I can hardly wait to get there again!

I just checked out his website-- nice! What a wonderful opportunity!

(And of course he likes Hot Shot-- who wouldn't?!)

I also rode in the Western NY Morgan's clinic with Michelle, a great learning experience both as a rider and an auditor. I ride on a regular basis with her mentor, Carel Eijkenaar who has "fine tuned" my riding and training skills considerably. That's the great thing about dressage, and horses in general. No matter how much experience one has, there's always more to learn, and improvements to be made. As a very wise horseman once told me, "If you ever think you know everything about horses and riding, please find another occupation." Decades later, I'm still learning...