Ruth Hogan-Poulsen
Riding in Three-part Harmony, A Musical Clinic
September 13, 2026
East Hill Farm, Plainfield, Vermont
Opening Date: August 1
Secretary: Nancy Grout
Manager: TBA
Download Waiver: Ruth Hogan Poulsen Clinic Waiver
Please read before registering: CVDA Clinic Selection Criteria
Ruth Hogan-Poulsen will lead you through the process of using music to take your riding to a new level. Harness the power of music to make an octave leap in harmony with your horse!
The goal of the clinic is to help both riders and auditors to use music in their riding to create more harmony between the horse and rider. Each participant will ride in a session/lesson with Ruth, working on finding music that works for their horse, either for making everyday rides more harmonious, or for the beginnings of a freestyle.
About Ruth: Ruth Hogan-Poulsen owns and operates Poulsen Dressage and "Freestyles from A to C" at East Hill Farm in Plainfield, Vermont and at Bespoke Farm in Wellington, Florida. Ruth has earned both the USDF Gold Medal and Freestyle Gold Bar. Her freestyles have been recognized in both national and international competitions. Committed to personalizing the dressage experience for each horse and rider, Ruth customizes individual training plans for her clients.
Q&A with Ruth about her clinic:
1. Do I need to be a certain level of rider to ride to music?
No! Every level of rider and horse can benefit from music in some way. Your subconscious hears the beat as well as your conscious mind. Your horse does as well, so if you’re working on trying to improve your rhythm, riding to music is an excellent way to do so. If you’re trying to increase your horse’s energy level and tempo, riding to a faster beat can help draw the energy into you and your horse.
2. I've never ridden to music. What will it add to my riding?
Riding to music has so many benefits, they are hard to list in a short answer! Exercising to music increases your endurance level up to thirty percent. The innate beat, providing it is correct for you and your horse, will help you maintain rhythm. Your brain can also only focus on a number of things at one time, so if the music’s going, you’re less likely to worry about the tractor driving down the road. You’d also be surprised that even though the beat of a certain piece of music might match your horse perfectly it may not be the right kind or style of music for your horse or yourself.
3. I'm not particularly musical. Can I still benefit from my clinic lesson?
Absolutely. Even though you might not be able to move to rhythm you have rhythm all over. You breathe in a certain rhythm and your heartbeat has a rhythm. Likewise for your horse. So even though you might not think you have rhythm, you’re made up of all kinds of it!
4. I'm excited to begin work on a freestyle. Do I need to bring ideas, music, both? If I have one that I'm not happy with, can we tweak it?
If you want to work on your own freestyle and you have ideas and music, yes, you should bring them. As for tweaking an existing freestyle, yes, absolutely. It depends on what format your freestyle is in and whether it’s an editable file. Also, where it came from - if it was from another professional, we would need permission generally to change it.
5. On a more personal note, why do you love riding to music?
I grew up with a lot of music in my household and played a number of instruments. I understand the math of music and I love all kinds of music except for maybe rap. I always loved riding to music so at my first opportunity I built a freestyle for myself. The only thing available to me was a dual cassette player with a stop button. I’ve learned a lot since then! I also have seen how much improvement music can bring to my horses and my students so it’s always fun to play with.
Clinic Secretary: Nancy Grout
Clinic Manager: TBA
Come watch and learn! CVDA members audit for free.
Important Details: To read a CVDA Half Halt article on getting the most out of your auditor experience, please click here (Page Two). While it is optional to provide your email address on the registration form, please add your email address if you would like receive auditor details and updates. We do our best to make the clinic rider schedule available ahead of time via email and CVDA's Facebook page. We look forward to seeing you!
