George Morris - Showjumping Dumbed Down-- Response to Katie Preudent

[ladyj79]

@Jumphigh83

Deny has made it abundantly clear his dislike of GM. He’s openly mocked H/J riders (weak, soft, coddled from not running xc) in his many (mostly excellent) editorials. While he’s very articulate, he’s not without his own set of prejudices. Just setting the record straight.

Denny Emerson…

Denny has a problem with giving rich kids more money to help them succeed. This week he AGAIN wrote about giving grants to people who don’t need them instead of actively pursuing talented riders who do need support. He doesn’t blame the riders, he blames USE(F) for that one.

Denny thinks that kids not doing anything makes them useless toads. Not bad riders, bad people :lol::lol::lol:

Somehow, Denny never makes the leap to claim that the sport is in shambles because these darn kids! Those talentless amateurs!

And you know what? Denny complains WAY more about the state of eventing than HJs, because Denny isn’t concerned with dummied down courses, Denny is concerned with courses that KILL horses and riders. And–to set the record straight–he doesn’t blame the riders.

I have never, ever seen Denny talk about how the COMPETITIVE SPORT is being destroyed by the riders.

And, if you read his writing from just this past week, you’ll see that Denny’s response was to literally try to compel USEF to talent search and award need-based grants. He didn’t take to social media and talk about how garbagey today’s riders are, while simultaneously taking their money.

Denny is also one who is ALWAYS taking working students. He is ALWAYS giving back to the sport and helping to develop the next generation. For free.

I have never seen or heard or read Denny saying anything even remotely like this sport needs to be more exclusive.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Denny actually knows George Morris and speaks very highly of George in his book How Good Riders Get Good: Daily Choices That Lead to Success in Any Equestrian Sport.

It’s a great book on the subject of this thread–how and why certain professionals in the industry become successful. He profiles a number of riders throughout the book, not just eventers. I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject; even I found some of its ideas very helpful professionally–not for working in the horse world, but just for my working life in general.