It appears my trainer will be riding my pony in one of his clinics. Any suggestions on turnout, tack, etc.? Any preferences that I can accomodate I will try to do.
See post #17 for an additional question. Thanks!
Immaculate turnout, very conservative colors, plain Fillis irons, carry a stick and wear spurs, read his book beforehand, be quiet and listen to everything he says, even if its directed at someone else in the group.
I’m doing a GM clinic soon and here is a list of my prep work for the clinic
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had my horse professionally body clipped (he was a bit furry)
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Pulled his mane
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Had my clothes dry-cleaned a week in advance:
a) beige breeches (2 pair)
b) conservative cotton shirt (2 pair) -
Had my boots adjusted so they were tighter against my leg. they had previously been a bit loose after breaking them in and losing some weight.
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went on a diet.
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By 2-3 days out, all my tack will be spotless, including white sheepskin saddle pad. I will use backup bridle and saddle pad in schooling the days before.
You trainer may not need to do 4 or 5. lol.
Other things I would recommend would be understanding why certain tack is used. If your trainer is riding then you probably don’t have much to worry about. However, if you were riding, he might ask you why you use a particular bit, what you are trying to achieve with it, etc.
The main thing is to be presentable. The horse and rider should look professional, but not too dressy. Some people have shown up in show jackets, but he poopoo’s that. Horses don’t need to be braided either, but their manes and tails should look tidy.
There are about 100 threads on this forum addressing GM clinics; what to do before, during and after. A search will give you a treasure trove of info from those who have been there and done that.
Shiny boots!!!
Do NOT use a fly bonnet (even if you have a legit reason)
Nice shirt, no logos, tucked in with conservative belt, that goes for the rider and the pit crew!
Well fitting plain colored breeches that you would show in, khaki, beige, light gray, you might be able to get away with rust. In other words, nothing that will make you stand out
If your horse has retained ANY long hair from the winter, body clip him. Ears, head, whiskers, fetlocks, all trimmed.
Shampoo, rinse, repeat. As many times as it takes to get the horse spotless, then one more time. If you have any inhibitions about shampoo and baths, forget them.
Horses tail: Don’t miss a shaving… It is easy to tell when a tail isn’t regularly taken care of, I don’t know that he would be petty enough to say anything, but, well, remember why he is so famous… Haha. Detangler in the tail, show sheen, cowboy magic, vetrolin, or all three…
Nicely pulled mane goes without saying
Very simple tack. From the bit to the saddle and girth. I have seen a lot of riders in his more jumper-y clinics using running martingales.
The Chronicle has some great photos of his Master Horsemanship clinic at WEF, you can look through those and kind of get a good idea of what goes. Everyone and their horses look similar! Haha.
Everything is basic, respectful clinic-attire, but I think our fear of George makes everyone in his clinics scramble and strive for extra-perfect. Not a bad thing, really. Perhaps he betters us through fear?
The most important thing is to learn as much as you can and hopefully have an enjoyable day.
My trainer rode my horse in a GM clinic when hers pulled up lame right before the clinic. So like you, my trainer rode my horse.
Auditing was fun!
Turn out for the horse - Clean clean clean, I gave him a good bath and had him gleaming. Trimmed fetlocks, bridle path etc just like for a show. Spruced him his mane and tail (his tail was banged and pulled - gasp! He was an eventer, and GM didn’t seem to mind). Even oiled his feet.
White square saddle pad, clean half pad, leather open front boots, and for this horse, polos behind (black). All tack thoroughly cleaned and conditioned - he wore simple stuff, leather girth, plain raised regular cavason bridle with a full cheek bit (with keepers!), and a plain leather breast plate.
In addition to the posts above…
No rubber/plastic bits, and make sure the extra length of stirrup leather doesn’t sick out too far.
no jointed stirrups, make sure you have 2 reins on a gag, if you carry a bat, use a longer one, no ear puffs.
and if you don’t hear very well, get a hearing aid. lol.
Wear a hairnet, or you will never be heard from again.
Thanks guys! I did do quite a few searches, but didn’t find much of anything fairly recent. Not that what he is looking for has changed much, but just wanted to be sure. If it all works out, I am most interested to see the feedback he gives my trainer, and me being selfish, what he thinks of my pony. I did watch the clinic he gave in early January in Florida and really noticed how he always always focused on the basics, which I really liked. I didn’t see a meanie, I saw someone who just doesn’t have a lot of patience with folks who don’t do or try to do what he wants them to. And let’s face it, as you get older, you do have less patience with things of that sort. And to top it off, he does have to deal with a lot of teenagers/young adults, a sometimes very frustrating age group. As any parent can attest to! :winkgrin:
Are you going to audit? If so, be aware that he expects auditors to behave as well. No chatting, no nonsense, and absolutely NO use of the cell phone.
There was a fantastic picture online last year of somebody who was watching one of his clinics, and she ducked down behind the fence of the ring to check her cell phone out of his line of sight. Obviously she was familiar with his views.
I wish I could attend movies with him so he could school all those people on proper audience etiquette. :lol:
[QUOTE=Appsolute;7589293]
My trainer rode my horse in a GM clinic when hers pulled up lame right before the clinic. So like you, my trainer rode my horse.
Auditing was fun!
Turn out for the horse - Clean clean clean, I gave him a good bath and had him gleaming. Trimmed fetlocks, bridle path etc just like for a show. Spruced him his mane and tail (his tail was banged and pulled - gasp! He was an eventer, and GM didn’t seem to mind). Even oiled his feet.
White square saddle pad, clean half pad, leather open front boots, and for this horse, polos behind (black). .[/QUOTE]
I’ve audited plenty of GM clinics where event riders were there and the last few were the bulk of the participants. He did/does help w/ showjumping for US team - of note, however, you said you put polos on hind feet - one of the clinics I went to he admonished someone for wearing them…
Cell phones off, do not talk on them if you are watching… better yet, leave them in car …
Just an auditing tip, 1) no talking or shifting around, no noise. 2) repeat 1 3) if you take notes, use pen and paper. My friend was taking notes on her smartphone and he thought she was texting Nd flipped out. Was rather uncomfortable all around, lol.
[QUOTE=gottagrey;7590640]
I’ve audited plenty of GM clinics where event riders were there and the last few were the bulk of the participants.[/QUOTE]
He’s done several clinics in the last year or so with the upper level event riders. He’s probably thrilled to go teach people who regularly use an auto-release :winkgrin:
As to rust breeches, I think they’d be more than acceptable, as they seem to be GM’s preferred breech color. With good reason, because they hide dirt like nothing else!
Have fun and pay attention, OP. When I audited, I actually took a small notebook and a few pens, and took notes, diagrammed the exercises, etc. I found it very educational. Since your pony is being ridden, perhaps bring a video camera if you’ve got one that’s not also a phone!
[QUOTE=Appsolute;7589293]
Turn out for the horse - Clean clean clean, I gave him a good bath and had him gleaming. Trimmed fetlocks, bridle path etc just like for a show. Spruced him his mane and tail (his tail was banged and pulled - gasp! He was an eventer, and GM didn’t seem to mind). Even oiled his feet.
White square saddle pad, clean half pad, leather open front boots, and for this horse, polos behind (black). .[/QUOTE]
I’ve audited plenty of GM clinics where event riders were there and the last few were the bulk of the participants. He did/does help w/ showjumping for US team - of note, however, you said you put polos on hind feet - one of the clinics I went to he admonished someone for wearing them…
Cell phones off, do not talk on them if you are watching… better yet, leave them in car …
Most of the clinics I’ve audited he’s been pretty decent - no meanie, though he was tough on a few riders. One time however he was, I felt, completely out of line - its one thing to be hard on your riding, quite another to publicly humiliate you, make sexist comments none of which had to do with horses or riding.
huh, good to know! Though this clinic was quite a while ago - probably 1996, when polos were pretty standard fair. Perhaps he was more tolerant of them then.
(and a quick google search of George Morris Clinc - shows other riders with polos:
From the horsemastership clinc
Another GM clinic and another horse with polos at the same clinic.
http://www.myhorsechat.com/2010/01/08/george-morris-clinic-day-4-group-2/
So what did he say about polos at the clinic you went to?
Was talking to my trainer about this just a bit ago. She mainly rides eventing and is unsure if he would be a good fit for her. She does not ride in the classical American forward seat, but of course many seats from Dressage to XC to Stadium. She is unsure if spending that much coin since she is an eventer is money well spent. Your thoughts?
There is going to be a GM clinic just a few hours from me (by a few, I mean 7, but I would do it) but I’m too terrified :lol:
I am a full-fledged GM cult member, and it is on my bucket list to ride for him once, but threads like this scare me!
[QUOTE=WB Mom;7591046]
Was talking to my trainer about this just a bit ago. She mainly rides eventing and is unsure if he would be a good fit for her. She does not ride in the classical American forward seat, but of course many seats from Dressage to XC to Stadium. She is unsure if spending that much coin since she is an eventer is money well spent. Your thoughts?[/QUOTE]
WBMom, see the two links I posted above re: clnics with eventers. The clinics he does in VA are at an eventers’ barn. If he’s good enough for PD and Boyd, I’m sure your trainer will get something out of him as well. I’ve audited, back in my more hunter days, and am hoping to do a clinic with him next year.
If she wants to ride well and be effective on a horse, it’s money well spent. As long as she does not have thin skin.
