Weekend clinics typically begin with a reception Friday evening and a short educational seminar by Bruce.
 
Lessons on Saturday and Sunday are tailored to individual needs:
 

• Increase your horse's comfort by aiding his natural instinct to round his back.
  

• "Weekend Warrior" or top-level performance horse? Help him reach his full athletic potential.

• Establish a stress-free relationship through tactful ground work.

• Solve specific problems on the ground or under saddle.

• Experience authentic progress toward higher levels of dressage.

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Bruce brings a totally fresh approach to teaching people how to ride and train horses—really. You’ll be amazed at how easily and thoroughly he can simplify and demystify advanced horsemanship with insights you will not hear from anyone else … period.

Here's what one clinic participant wrote:
 
"All year the MOHC schedule has had “Bruce Nock” listed every other month.  You probably skipped right over it because you didn’t know who or what Bruce Nock is all about. After hearing a few MOHC members talk about Bruce and their experiences, I had to go check this guy out. So, on Saturday, Sept. 23, I drove out to see this Bruce Nock in action. 
 
I’m such a skeptic of trainers and how they interact with the horse and rider that I chose to just audit on Saturday. I have Arabians. And if you’ve had Arabs, you already know that if you start a fight, it never ends. You have to work with them in a manner that opens them up to learning versus causing a level of stress that is detrimental to their learning. It was important for me to see just how Bruce handled the horse and rider in a training situation before I would actually take a lesson as neither I nor my horses need any more stress! 
 
The plan was to watch Bruce for a couple of hours on Saturday but I was so impressed with his ability to identify a problem and convey the simple steps to fix it, that I stayed the whole day AND set up a lesson for Sunday. After my uplifting experience with Bruce Nock, I feel compelled to tell people the mystery about what Bruce is all about and what he is not.
 
Bruce Nock is unquestionably the total opposite of my experience with trainers or instructors. 
 
My cynicism of horse trainers stems from personal experiences. We’ve seen the trainers who are just out to make big bucks off of you with all their books, tapes, seminars, and cool little gadgets that you MUST have in order to teach your horse their way. You know, those things like that stick that looks like a whip with a long tail on it but only shorter…that thing you pay an arm and a leg for because it’s the “only” way to teach your horse?  Bruce Nock is NOT this kind of instructor.
 
Sure Bruce may come all the way to Ohio from Missouri, but he’s not like those other trainers. You will work with your horse one-on-one with Bruce and train using every day items…You, horse, tack, ground poles, etc. Basically, all the things you would expect to use from around the barn or found along the trail. 
 
Bruce does have a book, but he didn’t even bring any with him to sell. WOW!  An actual live trainer who isn’t pushing books and gadgets and is only concerned about teaching you to teach your horse…LOVE IT!  By the way, I’m ordering the book on line…he said he would sign it for me.
 
Bruce Nock has the ability to teach you to train your horse. Other encounters with trainers have proven that many just can’t teach someone else. They may know all the tricks of the trade and can accomplish great things with a horse, but cannot translate that into teaching YOU to teach your horse. They are great at jumping up on your horse and teaching the horse to do what they want, but when you get home, you have no idea what to do or how to do it. Bruce Nock is NOT one of these trainers. 
 
Bruce has some special knack where he not only recognizes the level you are at with your horse, but also transforms that into what’s wrong and how to fix it…All this without all those fancy gadgets or without speaking to you in a demeaning manner. 
 
Bruce is someone who will point out the good you are doing and somehow tell you what you are doing wrong without making you feel horrible.  What a refreshing experience! 
 
While auditing, I’m listening to Bruce tell another rider how to do something and realized that he just told him that he was making a mistake, but somehow had turned it into a compliment! Believe me, if you’ve experienced trainers that when you leave you are not only totally confused but also feel really down because they pointed out all your shortcomings in a humiliating manner, Bruce Nock will have you leaving his lesson with a renewed training experience and the ability to continue working towards that perfect horse and rider relationship that we all want.
 
Bruce Nock has a Masters and PhD in Psychobiology from Bucknell University and the Institute of Animal Behavior, Rutgers University. According to his website, “Stress endocrinology has been a focus of his research for many years. He has a deep understanding of the negative impact stress can have on a horse's life.” 
 
Bruce strives for a relaxed horse and rider and will assist you in attaining that goal while instructing. Thank goodness for this! Added stress while training my Arabs is a lose-lose situation and that was the last thing I needed in a lesson. 
 
A relaxed horse and rider will work better as a team and Bruce makes this clear in his lessons. By teaching you to relax the horse, Bruce is able to teach you to open the horse up to learning and responding to your direction." By Stacy L. Sadar