If you've ever driven home after a clinic and felt like everything you heard the clinician say has promptly exited your brain stage left, you're not alone. It's so easy for those experiences to pass in a blur, leaving you feeling like you didn't have the experience you were hoping for, or that the time and money spent didn't have a true impact on your training trajectory.

So let's address it! In today's episode, host Caroline Culbertson is joined by clinician and 5* eventer Sinead Halpin to discuss how to get the most out of this unique learning format. Students and clinicians can't just treat clinics like a lesson and expect the experience to be excellent. Sinead and Caroline discuss some plays that riders and clinicians can use to ensure they're downloading the skills and knowledge that will serve them well, and leave the rest behind.

The discuss points like:

• Arriving at the clinic wanting a) an audit of you and your horse's skills and what needs to be addressed, or b) a specific area you're having difficulty

• Researching the clinician and their areas of specialty, as well as teaching style

• Giving the clinician your "elevator pitch" on what you're hoping to achieve in your time with them

• Setting "hard goals" and "soft goals"

• Why 50% of the learning responsibility is on the clinician, and 50% is on the student

• How to advocate for your horse in a clinic environment

• Why sometimes you shouldn't be confident in some skills, but you can rely on confidence in other areas

• Handling nerves while riding in front of auditors

• Sinead's thoughts on green horses and riders riding with top level trainers/clinicians

Don't ride in another clinic without listening to this episode! Learn more about Sinead at www.copperlineequestrian.com.

This episode is supported by WeRideTogether.today , a nonprofit organization on a mission to make the youth and amateur sport environment safer for all athletes. Go HERE for helpful resources, including the CARD Diagrams mentioned in this episode's Ringside Chat segment. Ad music: Ikkun.