This is something I wrote about my recent (and first) auditing of a George Morris Clinic. If your interested:
George Morris; Truly a life inspiration!
Okay, most equestrians know who George Morris is. For years I have read his books, his articles in magazines, surfed the web and Youtube searched to watch any videos I could find of him. I had a fascination of a man so well known in his sport, asking myself why? Why is he at the top of his game? Why do so many top riders follow his methods? Why do some feel he’s mean? What is this all about and why am I so curious of him? For many years I never had that answer until December 10, 2010 when I audited his clinic.
Oh I am a lucky gal to live in such a beautiful State. It has its drawbacks but the weather is just amazing here in sunny Southern California. Waking up early to attempt to beat the LA traffic, a good friend and I head out to Shelburne Farms Hidden Valley in Thousand Oaks for our day watching a legend in action. I had no idea what to expect. As we drove along sipping our Starbucks and chit-chatting, we soon began to wonder where we were. Are we in horse heaven? This was Southern California after all, a concrete jungle! Where did all these beautiful white fences and rolling hills of open green space come from? I start thinking about real estate and wonder how much one of these homes would cost me. I too wanted to live in horse heaven.
On our approach up a long fence lined driveway, we thought, what a facility this was. I cannot even describe it. So imagine yourself in the most beautiful place with green manicured hills sprinkled with oxers and liverpools. As we sign in and start looking for a place to park ourselves for the day; I saw a man wearing brick colored breeches setting up the jump course. Was that spry looking guy George? It had to be. No one else wears brick colored breeches but Mr. Morris! I was impressed at how young he looked and he was in great shape. And let me add, I was pleased to see they “too” use a jump measuring tape to set the distances. I try to walk them at home and often set them too short. Works okay for my shorter moving horse however.
The management team did everything they could for the comfort of the auditors, horses and riders. Monogrammed blankets neatly lay over the metal bleachers, huge white tents filled with coffee, doughnuts, bagels, and fruit.
The clinic began with the Grand Prix group. George was quite thorough in his explanation of the details. He had a horse and rider turn sideways to the group and explained equipment, leg position, hand position. He used a word I tell my kids it’s not nice to say, but interestingly when it came out of George’s mouth it simply made his point just that much stronger. He “hated” dirty horses, trash lying around, and dirty riders. Why? I didn’t need to ask he made it quite clear; “It’s being lazy!” He explained. Boy was I listening – this man really had my ear. Not only in how to better my riding and my horse care, but my life. Are their dishes in my sink? Is there laundry to be done? Are the bathrooms clean? I know my barn and horses sparkle and I am a pretty hard worker – but am I being lazy? Are my kids being lazy? How about my husband? My mind began to spin with thoughts and ideas. Now I began to get it, here are some of the kernels of knowledge this amazing man had to share.
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He is saying it’s not about being rich or having unlimited amounts of money, it’s about how serious about working hard you are. Of course I would love to have unlimited amounts of money but thought, if I work harder and don’t make excuses, maybe I could have more, do more, be more. That’s why he demands of the horse and demands of his students, saying don’t think you are a GOOD rider! George, pointing his finger out to the auditors saying, “You’re not good, you’re not good, then saying – I’m not good – because we can ALWAYS be better.” Oh I had to write that one down! He said Beezie Madden is what she is today because she always says “I can always be better!”
Kernels of life lessons continued from George. He talked about what is taking place today in our world and how it is affecting our up and coming young riders and trainers. The sweat on your brow as in the old days is just not happening. “People are lazy.” He exclaimed. There are problems in our Government and problems with the way things are. He says our culture we have lost! People are sloppy off shoots and lazy. They do not pay attention to details! I wanted to jump up and applaud, but knew everyone would look at me like I was a nut. (so secretly I was shouting – go George go! Run for President of the United States and fix this mess.) Do I think George is rude? Absolutely NOT! I think he is a realist and says it like it is. And he did comment no one will change that. We actually need more people like him in this world.
George really took the time not only for the riders but for the auditors as well. He went on to say a lot of what you see today is NOT correct! A horse must be worked in balance. If you do not, you will have a crippled horse. “All that weight on the front of the horse, it will be crippled for sure.” Your “LEGS” engage the hind and the front of the horse must come up and the poll of the horse should be the highest point. To be successful in jumping you must have a good understanding of Dressage.
George talked a lot about having a “system” explaining we all have systems and they may be different, but when you are riding in a clinic with him, you may not agree with Georges system but at least try it. You are there to learn so don’t waste his time or your money by not at least trying it. This system has worked for him for many years and he is sharing his knowledge of it. And I for one want to thank him for that.
Before the flat work began, George talked about stirrup length. You should ride one to two holes longer on the flat than your jumping length. The stirrups should hit the bottom of your ankle bones with your feet out of the irons. George was quite clear about “kooky” irons. He likes the standard metal irons. He says you need that weighted iron for support of your foot. George was clear about many things as he told the riders to adjust their irons keeping their foot in the stirrup as they make their adjustments.
I took a few years of Dressage lessons so I understood what came next and George repeated it – Inside leg to outside hand. Ride from your leg “into” your soft hand. Speaking of hands, he repeated DON’T seesaw your horse’s mouth. DON’T drop your hand down – this is wrong! You must hold your hand in position using your leg to bring the horse into the feel of your hand. Give and take, don’t always hold and give softly. Take, count one two, then get off the horse’s mouth. The horse must “always” accept your legs and hands. Close your thumbs at the top.
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He had the riders change direction across the diagonal paying close attention to inside leg to outside hand, then across the diagonal stay very “straight”, think about the new leg and hand. Bending comes from the INSIDE LEG NOT the HAND! Too many riders bend the neck and that’s wrong he says! “It’s not neck bending people”. (you can just hear him saying this right).
The riders then were asked to do transitions from trot to halt. Keep the horse up hill in the halt doing three to four trot steps then halt, three to four trot steps and then halt. During the transition keep the legs ON and elevate the head. Keep the contact and DON’T pull down! George was clear about repeating a particular exercise; don’t stop doing it until he says stop doing it.
Oh the Dressage work; shoulder in for ten steps, then ten steps of shoulder out. Repeat until you were asked to do a new exercise. Canter depart exercises walk two three strides then canter, keeping the inside leg at the girth holding the outside hand, drop the outside leg behind the girth; again repeating if you allow your horse to be on the forehand you will cripple him. Dressage is an important part of jumping he stated. You must train! Train your horse, or your husband he joked as he tucked his chin to his chest and put himself in frame.
Now we get to see him do a bit of riding. I am an adult, more than likely a bit younger than Mr. Morris but he makes no excuses about it. He rides like a 20 year old with the 70 some years of experience under his belt. It’s pretty awesome to watch, but saying this, I know my limitations based on my experience and amount of daily riding I do. We do have to be fair to ourselves but simply strive to be better. In better shape, in a better mindset, a better rider! I have always been hard on myself but this George kernel has helped me understand a better way to reach goals. Don’t say you’re bad; just say you can be better! I love it.
He mounted up on a beautiful little gray horse saying this horse is built downhill and will always have problems engaging behind but with proper riding you can help the horse. He wanted the horse to be responsive to the leg and it wasn’t. He would tap with the spur getting the horse more responsive to the aids. A horse must go “forward” off the legs. George continued to call the horse a mare, which it was a gelding. George, saying - “well, it acts like a mare” got a laugh from the spectators.
After reading his articles for years, when I ride I say to myself “leg into hand, leg into hand”. So you know how thrilled I was when I heard him say “riders, LEG INTO HAND, LEG INTO HAND!” It was another learning kernel as he pointed out the riders that were “great talents” jumping comes extremely natural to them and then promptly pointed out those same riders needed more understanding of Dressage. I could see what he meant. The riders with a better understanding of Dressage really did ride with more balance and precision. So as I sat there, hoping I wasn’t saying it out loud, “boy am I glad I invested those years in Dressage training.” George said this kind of riding you cannot buy, you must work for it.
He began the jumping portion and I know if those riders are anything like me, they thought, well enough of this flat, lets jump! I know the flat/Dressage is critical to the jumping but you have to admit how much more fun jumping is.
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George set a really tight gymnastic. It was set up – (jump) 19 feet (jump) 29 feet (jump) 22 feet and two strides and you’re out of the arena if you didn’t either turn or stop. When asked to stop the horse, it is done using your full seat. He stated this gymnastic was a “hand” exercise to teach the horse to jump better and for the rider to adjust between the fences. He did not have ground lines on the jumps saying it teaches a horse to concentrate on the top rail and their jumping technique.
He was quite adamant about position and use of leg. There were a few riders that kept their rear ends in the saddle a lot. George made no bones about telling them it was wrong. “Get up out of the saddle and off your horses backs”. There was a tight turn jump to a long gallop to a wide Liverpool and that is where he wanted them to make it happen – move that horse out and get off their backs. After the Liverpool he had a tight turn around to another wide Liverpool where it required the horse and rider to balance and use that outside leg. In a tight or short turn, George explained you must first use your eyes, then opening rein, use a bit of neck rein, outside leg. After a jump was a very tight turn. He had the riders stay in a circle, saying they were doing some more Dressage and making the circle tighter and tighter. I whispered to my friend, it’s like a canter pirouette. He would have the riders do patterns and tell them to “copy”. COPY he yelled…… if they didn’t pay attention to the pattern. He said to watch other riders and simply copy them.
George talked about not sitting up too quickly after the jump. When correcting a horse that ducks out of the jump turn the horse in the opposite direction they ducked and go right back to it, don’t wait or take your time because the horse will think about it again. He repeated not to drop your hands and don’t sit too deep. At the take off of the jump do not hold. There were so many kernels it made my head spin. I think the riders dealt with the tasks at hand quite well. These were amazingly talented horses and riders and it was an honor to watch them.
George then questioned the riders to see what they had taken from the day of training. One rider said “you must keep your horse in like a box”. George thought that was a great analogy. Doing so by not being stiff and leg comes first with engagement. And let’s not forget a part of Georges system that I will be adding to mine; that is not only before you begin you check your tack and stirrup length but “before” exiting the arena, put your irons “back” to your flat length.
George began to lecture about talents of training – saying there are several things:
- Money
- Talent for picking a horse
- Beautiful horse care
- Dressage
- A system – in gymnastics, bending lines etc.
This is a LEG system, NOT a seat system says George!
We watched two sessions of great rides and had a lot to talk about over a wonderful lunch. Again the management team considering all attendees even had vegetarian sandwiches. That made my day since I don’t eat meat. We had the opportunity to eat with a few of the riders and it was quite pleasant to talk with the young kids – yes they were my own children’s ages. And they were polite and respectful. I really think that’s what George Morris type systems create in our youth. See, it’s not always about riding; it’s also about a life system.
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After lunch they began the Equitation group. George started with discussion of tack and its use and body position. He covered many things pointing out to the ladies that the horse’s poll is to be up, not to cross their hands, be light in the saddle and don’t pinch with their knees. He corrected one riders habit to pinch with her knees, (I was familiar with this one) and he stated with repetition this will give one the habit. The horses have to be honest to the leg. No bulging or swishing of the tail. He had the riders do flat exercises. He also had his assistant Megan ride a big gray horse for a demonstration of turns using a form of neck rein. Megan rode beautifully and it was easy to see why he has her helping him share his system.
During the jumping, George had the riders work on automatic releases versus a crest release and worked on giving to the horse in the turns. There were a few horses that were not happy to jump the liverpools so we got to see firsthand how to use your stick at the proper time. One rider with a horse that needed convincing did not have a stick. And I have heard this before from reading George’s articles, “don’t come to battle without a gun!” He stated. It began to get dark and George was happy to work no matter what. This brought back memories of when I was a kid riding in the dark, riding in the rain, riding when I was sick, riding when I was injured. I must really like riding and I am still doing it.
There were times during the clinic George would raise his voice to be heard, once saying “teaching you have to have patients, but not too much!” Of course this brought on laughter, but I knew what he meant. I thought what a wonderful and honest man that demands respect and hard work. How wonderful it is that he has chosen to share his life lessons with us. Not just the riding part, but the living part. Take it, respect it and apply it!
Putting my jacket on as it began to cool down, sitting up rubbing my toosh, thinking I was so glad to have brought a pillow to sit on, stretched and headed for my car and the long drive home. I wanted to say hello to George and Megan but they were surrounded by people. As I saw the crowd around him I wondered if these people felt at all what I felt like. Did they get so much out of this day as I did? Were any of their questions answered?
I really never met George, just a smile and a brief hello in passing to the lunch tables… but I feel I know him now. I feel he has a purpose in my life and has changed it forever.
Not only do I feel inspired by such a man, but feel I have gained direction and understanding in my own life. Having grown up with horses as a young girl I had a system and I didn’t think about it or truly understand it. I always felt angry when I see horses, or children not being taken care of. My home and family are important to me and I show it by keeping our home nice and clean. I do the same for my horses. That’s how I show them I care about them and about myself. I have one of George’s quotes on my office wall that says – “Love means attention, which means looking after the things we love.”
The day with George not only gave me direction with my horses and my riding, but with my business, my home and my family. I have a better understanding of myself. A piece of my puzzle has been put in place by George Morris.
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Would I ever want to clinic with George? I had to answer that question to myself in a realistic way. The stage of my life I am in I would say if I were in better shape and had more hours of riding going on in my life, yes. At this time, no. I would not want to disrespect Mr. Morris by not being prepared to ride with him. I am a decent rider with some very nice horses in my barn but in no way are we prepared for what George has to offer.
Those that get the opportunity to ride with George, all he wants from you is respect for him, respect for yourself and respect for your horse. Work hard, pay attention, concentrate and focus. Carry a bat, wear spurs, a basic bit, metal irons, a clean horse, clean tack, polished boots, and neat and tidy riding clothes.
If you keep your eyes and ears open you just never know how someone will help you in your life.
THANK YOU GEORGE MORRIS!
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