Todd Flettrich Clinic at Massar Stables October 4-5th By Nancy Brannon Massar Stables near Arlington, Tennessee hosted a dressage clinic with Todd Flettrich on October 4th and 5th, 2008. He was brought to the Memphis area by trainer Allyson Rogers and ALR Dressage. Flettrich is based in Coatesville, PA in the summer and at Cherry Knoll Farm in Wellington, FL in the winter. Flettrich and his horse AMADEUS, an 11-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding made their Grand Prix debut in 2006. In the summer of 2007 he began preparing for the Olympic Selection Trials and as of May 2008, the pair were among the top combinations on the USEF National Grand Prix Dressage and Selection Trial Ranking List. Ally first met Flettrich when she worked for Olympian, Steffen Peters and he was the trainer at Iron Spring Farm in Coatesville. “He used to bring three or four stallions to Steffen’s. I watched him teach and I was very impressed,” Ally said. “He’s one of the most gifted instructors in the U.S., and he’s a very popular clinician. He was 9th at the Olympic Selection Trials, but unfortunately his horse had a minor injury and he was unable to go [to the Olympics]. Now he’s planning for the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky in 2010.” (Continued on page 5) (Continued from page 4) One of things Ally likes about his training style is that “he has a very sensitive way of instructing. He’s very conscious of the horse’s comfort, what the horse is feeling, and their backs. He meshes well with my style” of training. Flettrich mainly teaches Ally’s students at the clinics, but he schedules time to work with riders and “trainers from other stables, too, such as Ila Handy, one of Elizabeth Rice’s trainers,” she said. For information about future clinics and ALR Dressage events, see http://www.alrdressage.com/