Would like to do a clinic again this year, but with someone that emphasizes basic horsemanship and not just barrel work. More so to fix my personal bad/lazy riding habits than anything. I went to a Ron Ralls clinic last summer thinking he would, but that was the biggest waste of $500 I ever spent I think. I'm in central IL so preferably someone that travels. I don't mind going to a neighboring state. I'd like to try some new ones, really doesn't even have to involve barrels necessarily. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I try to video myself a lot at home & fix what I can see but my phone can only do so good of a job sitting on the arena fence. 

I am really bummed to see that - I was hoping to go to his clinic for the same reason.  To better my horsemanship. 

I would contact Liana DeWeese. She focas's alot on horsemanship. That is a very important thing with her. 

I honestly don't know. I'm a clinic junkie and I haven't gone to one recently that I really felt truly focused on horsemanship. I've ben kinda lost since Ed Wright passed away.  I have not been to one of Liana's, so I don't know about her's. If you are really looking for horsemanship and good riding habits, I've gotten a lot out of dressage lessons. They really pay attention to how your body affects your horse's and definitly emphasis the use of more leg and less hand. I knever knew how dang hard it waa to ride a "proper" circle until I rode under an english coach.

Dena Kirkpatrick is great on horsemanship. I have done nutrition talks at a few of them and had a great chance to watch the improvements that the riders made. 

Paul Humphrey is my jam! Love his drills and focus on horsemanship. 

Kristen Weaver Brown also placed a lot of emphasis on horsemanship.

What did you not like about RR? Just curious as I've wanted to go to one of his clinics. 

I vote for Kristin Weaver Brown. Haven't been to a clinic but I know her and know she has a reining horse background. She lived in North LA for awhile and rode some futurity horses for awhile. She is a nice lady. 

I am hosting a Phil Haugen Horsemanship clinic in Denison, IA this year and I am so excited! I have been to plenty of barrel racing clinics: Charmayne James, Martha Josey, Sam Flannery etc. However, I want to be a better horseman myself. I have heard such great things about Ron Ralls and Phil Haugen but I appreciate Phil being $475 for two days instead of $550 for one day.

I only got to ride for 15 minutes in the am and 20 in the pm. Sat in a chair & basically audited the rest. Everyone just does the patter repeatedly, there's no other drills he has you do. Everyone does the same exact thing. And he did the pattern the same way as some others do, he does the squares like Danyelle Campbell or Sharon Camarillo do & I think some others. There was just nothing inividual specific he did, If your 2nd go through the pattern wa satisfasctory he moved on to the next. In the afternoon you got to make a run if you wanted or just go through at a lower speed. I had some issue with my prospect not wanting to lope to the right & she'd just stop & start backing in circles. He told me not to worry about it, she had been doing it for months. Ended up being a physcial issue with her spine anyway. I rode my finished horse in the afternoon & didn't get anythig out of it for him at all. Rons way of doing the pattern is what I've already done with him & he could do it in his sleep. The issue I pointed I was having with him wasn't even addressed at all. If you want someone who's gonna help you get a horse patterned then go, but if you want someone to make you ride correctly or really help figure out an issue then probably not the best option. I had expected drills off pattern or something more helpful I guess, I've been to several clinics & never had one just strictly repetetive pattern. He does make sure you can walk in a circle before starting the pattern, but that was it. I guess given who he is & the horseman he is & the articles I've read of his I just expected more, especially for that price. 

I appreciate everyones suggestions, I'll definitely look into some of these options for sure. Still trying to rehab my mare at this point, but hoping our next vet visit gets the job done. 

I too feel the exact same way about the RR clinic. I took a couple things away from the clinic, but I can't say it was horsemanship related. Super nice guy and his wife is very nice too, but I wouldn't go back.

I'm heading back to my second Paul clinic this spring and can't hardly wait:) His drills will tattle on you where your horse isn't broke enough and needs some work and then he helps you fix it. And my favorite part is that you can walk away from his clinics feeling confident that you know what to do when you get home. I can't tell you how many clinics I've been to where I've walk away feeling defeated and not knowing how to truly fix my horse. Most just put a bandaid on the problem in my opinion. I never felt that way after Paul's clinic.

I’ve been to an Ed Wright, Reinhardt -twice due to local, and Paul Humphrey until this year I added a Sarah Rose, Amberley Snyder and Martha Josey. I figured you can learn something from everyone. I took a year of competition to focus on improving. In the first set of clinics- it took one drill for Paul to find my major flaw. Turns out that horsemanship flaw of mine was causing problems in two of my horses. My entire Reinhardt clinic I had problems getting my mare to move over to turn the second barrel properly. Nothing improved the entire clinic. Paul picked up on it immediately- leads. My mare would come in on correct lead but switch at the last moment to turn second so it always would feel like I couldn’t get her in position. I didn’t even carry my mare to the clinic. He pointed out my problem on my gelding and I realized that was MY flaw. I needed to work on lead pickups in order to improve anything else further. He helped with a ton of other things as well and showed off pattern but still using a barrel drills to work on issues. He showed me how to work on asking for the leads when leaving the barrel so it would become habit for them. As a new mom I didn’t get to ride much the year after my first Paul clinic but I went to a second and found something new to work on since I had improved with the first major problem. I highly recommend him. I had a chance to go to a Ron Ralls but just couldn’t stand that fee for a single day

I went to a RR clinic a couple of years ago and felt the same way.  Both he and his wife are very nice, it isn't anything personal, but I didn't come home with much.  Like was said before given who he has, what he has accomplished I thought we'd do drills, work on horsemanship, etc.   I wanted something I could sink my teeth into and take home to work on.  I rode for maybe 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon.  My horse never got winded.  If your horse has trouble he definitely took time to work with you, but it was strictly pattern work.  If for instance you're horse isn't picking up a shoulder he didn't show you HOW to do that or fix it.  It was more pattern work.  He wasn't rushing anyone out the door but if you didn't have specific issues it was a quick session.  I realize his idea is keep things simple for the horse on the pattern.  I get that and appreciate that aspect.  Was just hoping for more "meat" in the clinic.  

From someone that does clinics and has been to clinics , I think it's important to define what you want out of a clinic first. There are very few clinics that focus on mainly horsemanship, Paul Humphrey is the main one I think of but he still does pattern work. 
Most people want or work on their pattern and are usually there to address a problem. They want one on one attention and ample time to work on the pattern....understandable. 
I've seen some people totally frustrated wirh a clinician because they thought there was too much time spent on horsemanship, not enough on the pattern . Ed Wright was the only I knew that could find a balance between the two and work on it all once. 
I'm having a clinic this summer that will be 90% groundwork and dry work, 10% pattern work and it will be advertised as such. Most of the clinics I do are this way. 

Whatever clinic you go to, I think you're missing out if you don't watch the clinician work wirh other people. Most people I see take their turn and then don't watch everyone one else go through. You have to realize, there's a main set of problems (like shouldering) that everyone has (or will have) at sometime in the process . Watching other people work through other problems can give you valuable insights.

RE: Ron Ralls, his technique is so simple , most people don't even realize what's going on. It's a shame. The square drill does a host of things, like teach your horse to honor the inside rein and improve his steering. Someone said they wanted to work in shouldering and he didn't do that.....the square turn will quickly eliminate shouldering if you'll adopt the method. Very simple for horse and rider. 
His soft rib control circles do many things at once, again , simple and effective. 

Very well said  ^^^^^^^, You can always learn something from each clinic that you go to, they are suppose to be different from one another, the clinic that you plan on going to you need to study this person and see what and how they perform the clinic they are teaching, if its not what you are looking for then skip it and go on to the next person, if you are working on a problem then look for the clinic that will help you with that problem, just because you didnt get something out of a clinic that you went to does not mean that the others didnt.

I haven't been personally, but have heard wonderful things about Joe Wolter's clinics. His clinics are focused mainly on horsemanship, colt starting, etc. I have worked with him several times as he broke my horse and I think he is a wonderful horseman. May be someone to check out if he comes your direction. 

http://www.joewolter.com/schedule.html

Ours is based around cutters and cow horses. Only take 10 students. 

Spend as much time as needed with each one. One on one. 

Clampitt Ranch on FB. 

If you really want horsemanship you could also think about a Buck Branaman type clinic. I did a Greg Eliel one a while ago and it helped me way more than any of the "barrel" trainers and I've been to my share those! Some of it was a little boring, but it really helped me understand when trainers talk about controlling the front quarters, hind quarters, etc., and figuring out why so many horses get bound up and blow out of a turn, especially those young ones. It helped bridge some gaps that I'm convinced some "barrel trainers" don't really know about, or just don't have enough time to really get into.

Cannot get any better than Chris Cox or Craig Cameron

Not sure where you're from or how far you want to travel but I recently found out that Kim Miller Thomas is providing a clinic in Purcell OK including one day with the world famous trainer/exhibitor/author and motivational speaker: Barbra Schulte!  WOW!  What an opportunity!!!  And then the second day with Kim herself.  Can't imagine the educational and motivational impact these two will provide!  I think it will be March 14 & 15 and Kim is taking a limited number of participants.  I can't wait!  

I've been to 3 PH clinics and every single one was amazing!!!!! Hands down the best I've been to! Wish I lived closer I'd go to that clinic to!