Am I out of the loop?

Doodle92

Doodle92

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2021
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Mark todd is coming to do a camp in a couple of weeks just down the road. £215 for 2 group lessons, 4 I'm group. Stabling is on top of that. It is 50% full in less than a day. Gulp!
 
I would say thats about right. Venue hire would be £70 mininum without instruction around here.

Add an instuctor (min for a no name would be £50 for the 2 sessions - anyone id use for an hour would be again about £70 min).

So £120 minimum for the same without mark todd...Id say he would command a premium of under £100.
 
It sounds pretty reasonable, given who the name is. I can appreciate it is a lot of money but I think the breadth of knowledge he has would mean it would seem pretty good value for money (I'd hope).

There was a similiar set up with another eventer down here and it was mid three figures from memory.

I pay £75 for my regular non-big name lessons and generally about £50 for a group clinic with a non-big name trainer so it doesn't seem bad in comparison.
 
I'd say it's probably a good price IF you're at a level to really benefit from a group lesson with someone like that. For the likes of me several lessons with someone who's good but not such a name would be more beneficial.
 
carthorse said:
I'd say it's probably a good price IF you're at a level to really benefit from a group lesson with someone like that. For the likes of me several lessons with someone who's good but not such a name would be more beneficial.
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I think it can depend on the rider, quite a bit.

A friend of mine has BE grass root evented for a while and had lessons with a few top name pro's over the years. Some have been brilliant and they've gained a lot from and some seem to really lack the ability to communicate all the instinctive things that make them brilliant at their job to grass root riders who are less instinctively gifted or brave! Or sometimes I think the desire to spend their winters off teaching mere mortals who aspire to a DC at 90.

I've no idea what camp Mark Todd falls into and probably never will!

It's not always who you think, either. I was inititally surprised at who they rated highly but apparently this rider had experience teaching at the start of their career, so did make sense on reflection.

But yeah, I'm with you that I'm super happy with not big name trainers and take so much from my training sessions.
 
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@PePo private lessons yes, but not so much group lessons imo since they can't be as tailored. Like you I've sometimes found the best riders aren't the best teachers, some are so instinctive they actually can't break down what they do to a basic level.
 
I try and 'groom' for people going to things like this as you do gain a lot watching to. I personally dont spend this kinda money, especially for a one off.

Some of them have been great. Some of them its the same thing over and over again. Its like a broken record!

I did go on a stay away for an inhand to ridden work weekend which was £250 with 2 trainers who had both ridden to gp and was 5 lessons over 2.5 days. The groundwork was a hole in my knowledge and it was very useful indeed. I had however gone to a demo before shelling out that kinda money though so i knew what i was getting!
 
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