When I was first thinking about a title for this column, it was going to be “Super-clinics’If You Build It, They Will Come.” Then I wondered if a more accurate title might not be, “Super’clinics’If You Build It, Will They Come?”An eventing super-clinic could cover abundant topics and subtopics, because eventing comprises so many pieces. Dozens of questions could be asked, discussed, and possibly even answered.

Here are several examples. Some top riders see their distance to every fence and make adjustments to get to the correct take off point almost every time. Other excellent trainers say that the main thing is to keep up the right impulsion, balance and rhythm, and the distances will basically take care of themselves. One of the winningest event riders of all time says that it’s the rider’s job to come to the fence in a correct gallop or canter, and it’s the horse’s job to figure out when to take off.

Bruce Davidson gallops toward his fences in quite a forward-seat position, while Phillip Dutton appears to be standing upright in his stirrups. Is one right and the other wrong? They’re both multiple gold medalists.

Doesn’t this make you a little confused? Wouldn’t you love to be able to hear varying theories candidly discussed, even argued about, in an open, no-holds-barred forum?

We all know the adage, “There are many roads to Rome.” A super-clinic could allow different ideas, perhaps even contrary theories, to see the light of day.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to hear excellent dressage trainers talk about the similarities or differences between schooling well-balanced, cool-headed warmbloods and fit, emotionally tight Thoroughbreds who are built “downhill”? And what about different warm-up theories, whether to longe or not to longe, whether to hack the day before to work off the energy, or to work toward obedience and discipline instead?

We often get quite a few nice horses through the selection trials before an Olympics or World Championships, but then we seem to gallop them to death in the intervening months. Our country is full of World Championship endurance riders, but what event trainers ever consult double gold medalist Valerie Kanavy to devise less stressful ways to achieve the same levels of fitness?

What if we were able to induce an experienced steeplechase trainer, a leading event trainer, and a World Champion endurance rider to sit down and discuss their conditioning theories? Some topics might include how to incorporate hilly terrain into the work, whether or not to use heart monitors, what feeding schedules to employ, whether to do more or less fast work, how many days a week the horse should work or rest. I would think such a discussion might open everyone’s eyes.

Jumper trainers talk all the time about the “right” canter, but how many of us have actually had the chance to listen to several Olympic-caliber coaches talk about what constitutes “right” while watching Olympic-caliber horses and riders demonstrating it?

What constitutes perfect form over a fence? Is perfect form while dropping into water the same as perfect form while jumping an oxer on a flat field? If not, why not? What about the horse’s jumping technique?

What should riders do if their horse starts to get too flat and too fast, either out of aggression or fatigue, as he gallops toward a cross-country fence?

What does it mean when some dressage expert says, “That horse is a beautiful mover? ” Wouldn’t it be interesting to watch different horses move, while noted judges discuss what they like and don’t like about what we’re watching?

How fast should a rider gallop into a steeplechase fence, and what should the rider do, if anything, to set the horse up in front of the fence? What should the rider do on the roads and tracks phases of a three-day event to give the horse maximum recovery, yet still stay within the required time? When have you heard all these things openly discussed by leading riders and trainers?

Amy Tryon, on apparently a limited budget, has gathered an enviable string of outstanding horses. How interesting it would be to hear her, and other trainers like the O’Connors or Dutton, discuss what they look for on horse-buying expeditions.

A “super-clinic” or perhaps “super-demonstration,” as I envision it, would be modeled somewhat along the lines of the U.S. Dressage Federation’s seminars, but even more far-reaching because eventing comprises so many parts.

But here are some of the problems I foresee. How do you get people like Kim Vinoski, Blyth Tait, Margie Engle, Valerie Ka-navy, Sue Blinks, Jane Savoie, Frank Chapot, Phillip Dutton, Mark Phillips and Todd Minikus all together in one place for several days? How many gazillions of dollars would it cost?

And how do you get 10 or 15 advanced riders to bring their best horses and subject themselves to public scrutiny and possibly public criticism (if ever so gentle) in an educational forum? How long would such a clinic last? Where should it be? When should it be? How much would it cost? And, the big question, especially if it was very expensive, as it would almost have to be, is how many people would come?

Horse people, especially eventers, are notoriously bad about continuing education, and many of us are like hyperactive children, with the attention span of third graders. Go watch any regular one- or two-day clinic, and I guarantee you that few people will watch most of the sessions both of the days. Even fewer will bring notebooks and write down what they hear the way they would have to in a college lecture.

Years ago, when I was USCTA Area I chairman, I had the bright idea of having a Neil Ayer/Rick Newton course-building seminar in conjunction with the Ledyard (Mass.) event that Neil organized. One of the best course designers in the world discussing cross-country courses with one of the best builders in the world. What could be better? (And, it was free!) We sent out hundreds of invitations to every organizer and builder of every course in a several-hundred-mile radius. I think about six people came, and the ones who did were the ones who already ran the best events, not the ones who really needed to discover better ways.

So I think the super-clinic idea would be a potentially fabulous learning opportunity, far better than anything else in existence, but I don’t know if such a concept would fly. Could we find a sponsor? Would people come even then? And what about the chief “influence pedlars,” the trainers, whose students are all vulnerable to only what their teachers know? Or do they already have all the answers they feel they need to know?

I imagine it would require several hundred participants to enable a super-clinic to fly, and I don’t know whether American eventing is a big enough sport to pull off such an ambitious scheme. But I hope it is.