At Riding Right, we're very proud of our long tradition of hosting riding clinics with the best outside clinicians, giving our riders the chance to learn and gain new perspectives from the best teachers in the country. Some of our recent clinicians are listed below (in alphabetical order):

Nancy Baker

Nancy Baker has over 30 years of experience as a riding professional, including as a Master of the Berry Hollow Hunt in Pa., the board of the Penn-Jersey Horse Show Association and being a well-recognized Horse Show Manager.

When Nancy started learning about Dressage in the mid 70's there were few trainers or instructors to be found, especially in the mountains of northeast Pennsylvania. She sought out Olympic Rider and Dressage trainer Sidley Payne of Willington, Delaware and has also studied with Karl Mikolka, Kathy Connelly, Michael Poulin, Carol Lavell, Oded Shimoni, Uwe Stiener, and Carole Grant.

Nancy has trained students and horses to Grand Prix and has won many national and regional awards. She has her Bronze, Silver and Gold medals, is an L judge with distinction, and was 1997 Vintage Grand Prix Champion with her beloved horse Lowenprinz.

Beth Beukema

Beth Beukema has been on the faculty at Johnson & Wales University since 1982, and has taught anatomy and physiology, nutrition, farm management, equine diseases, horse show management, and applied courses in horse selection and dressage.

Beukema holds a U.S. Equestrian Federation, Dressage 'R', judging card and at numerous dressage shows and events across the country. Her riding accomplishments include U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF) silver and bronze medals. She has worked with a variety of trainers from the U.S. and abroad to develop her teaching and training methodology.

Beukema serves on the advisory committee for Equestrian Educational Systems and is a graduate core instructor of the Balance in Motion (BALIMO) Equestrian Education program, working extensively with the program's German creator, Eckart Meyners. She also serves as the National President of the Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA), is active in the New England Dressage Association (NEDA), serves on the USDF membership committee, and is also a regular contributor to Dressage Today.

Don Bourque

Don Bourque has been a highly regarded trainer in the hunter/jumper discipline for more than 25 years. He is routinely on the road with his horses and students on the A-rated Hunter/Jumper circuit, with his students often winning the championships at A-rated shows.

Personally he's been competing for many years with the International Hunter Futurity. His background was as a pony clubber before focusing his energies on hunters and jumpers. His personal speciality is working with young horses.

Joy Congdon

Joy's 30 years of training, teaching, and horsemanship experience began in high school when she competed successfully in the Saddleseat Equitation cirucuit in western Massachusetts. She then became a working student for highly respected trainers Michael and Sharon Poulin, who introduced her to many aspects of the dressage industry. Joy's passion for dressage was ignited while observing Michael coach Lendon Gray during the '84 Olympic Selection trials, and by the opportunity to ride well-trained school masters under top tutelage.

Upon graduating from Mount Holyoke College in 1986, Joy went to work for Kathy Connelly, 1989 National Grand Prix Champion, popular USEF 'S' judge, and current trainer to many of the country's top competitors, at Apple Valley Farm in Harvard, Massachusetts. Joy and Kathy formed an extremely successful training partnership that continued at Apple Valley through 2003. This time with Kathy provided a solid foundation for Joy's training and teaching knowledge.

There, Joy had the opportunity to train a wide variety of horses, ranging from international quality Warmbloods to Thoroughbreds off the track to confirmed Grand Prix horses to young horses starting under saddle. Joy also developed a strong teaching foundation. Joy attracted a large clientele of her own and both Kathy and Joy benefited from sharing students and exchanging information.

In 2004, Joy moved to Vermont and started her own successful training and teaching business, Still Point Dressage. She keeps her own education current by continuing to train with Kathy and attending educational symposiums with top quality national and international trainers both as a rider and an auditor.

Dr. Jenny Susser

Dr. Jenny Susser has a doctoral degree in Clinical Health Psychology, is New York State licensed, and specializes in Sport Psychology. Dr. Jenny was a four-year All-American swimmer and then assistant coach at UCLA, swam on two national teams, and at the 1988 Olympic Trials. She also competed nationally and internationally on the National Championship Los Angeles County Lifeguard Surf Racing Team for six years. She has worked with Division I collegiate teams such as UCLA, USC, and Hofstra University; and has worked with athletes of all sports and ages, professional, international, and amateur. In addition to private practice, Dr. Jenny worked at the Women's Sports Medicine Center at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City for six years before moving to eastern Long Island. She has conducted research on athletic injury recovery, investigating the use of mental imagery on recovery.

Dr. Jenny's work with equestrians continues to grow, especially following the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, October, 2010. She was the Team Psychologist for the South African Para Dressage Team and worked individually with some of the American athletes. Her work with Lendon Gray and Dressage4Kids is important and fun, and always a part of her schedule. She works with some of the top Young Riders and Juniors in the country, FEI trainers and competitors, and Adult Amateurs all over the country. She remains active out of the pool these days by running and riding her horses.

Claudia Tarlov

A USDF Silver Medalist and L-Graduate with Distinction, Claudia has worked for decades with top trainers on a regular basis as well as working with top clinicians such as Conrad Schumacher, Anky Van Grunsven, Henk Van Bergen, Volker Brommann, Betsy Steiner, Gunner Ostergaard and Axel Steiner.

Since 2000, in training with Kathy Connelly, Claudia has sought to utilize Kathy's extensive experience with gymnastic exercises geared towards the individual horse and rider.

An active volunteer in the sport, Claudia has organized three USDF L Programs to support quality judge developement, and in the process, she has had an opportunity to continue her own judging education. Also an active clinician, Claudia has continued developing her training methods to apply to a wide variety of breeds and their unique biomechanics, believing that through correct dressage training, all horses can benefit with their confidence, strength and soundness maintained.