Postcard: Day 1, George Morris Horsemastership

The first group of riders finished up by doing free work at all four gaits with changes of direction. He seemed pleased with the progress.

He ended the session by asking all four riders how old they are. As each responded, George told a short anecdote about what he had done at that age, and how at each of those points, he thought he knew it all. But time brings wisdom: "What gets me up every morning is realizing how much more there is still to learn."

(From left) Riders Nikko Ritter, Tina Dilandri, Karl Cook and Maria Schaub line up as George Morris addresses them.

© 2008 by Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore

After a break, the second group of riders--Aurora Griffin, Carolyn Curcio, Kimberly McCormack and Jennifer Waxman--brought out their horses. George had the riders do similar exercises as the first group, but expanded on some of them. Not only did he reinforce the necessity to ride all four gaits, he began discussing the gaits within the gaits. He explained there are three speeds of trot: ordinary (about 8 mph and done in posting), lengthened (9-10 mph) and collected (the rider sits, straightens up and opens the hip angle, and the horse's steps are shorter and a little higher).

The riders went from working on longitudinal suppleness (lengthening and shortening stride) to lateral suppleness. George asked them to perform reverse half-turns--riding an oblique line to the inside of the arena followed by a half-circle toward the rail. He then asked the riders to put their horses in shoulder-in, explaining that it should be done with an angle of 30 degrees to the track. He then had them switch to shoulders-out and then back to shoulder-in while keeping the rhythm intact and their horses active behind.

Carolyn's horse Blast Off was being fussy with his head and stiff in his lower jaw, so George asked her to bring him into the center where he got on the horse. He explained that a rider must resist a stiff horse's mouth. "You have to hold when the horse takes and relax when he yields. Take and give will help the horse soften his lower jaw."

George then started working at the canter, making reverse turns with flying changes (making a figure eight, turning toward the rail). He discussed making the changes clean and from behind by exclusively using your outside heel as the aid. He reminded the riders not to lean forward or jump out of the saddle while asking for the change or using too much inside rein. "We are satisfied with too many mistakes in the changes," he said. "They should be straight and clean."

After a few minutes, Carolyn was allowed to get back on and was sent to the middle of the arena to give Blast Off a rest while the other riders performed the exercise.

He explained that this exercise helps get the horse in front of the rider's leg, and he got after the riders who bent their horses too much with the inside rein. "You lose the horse's shoulders."

As did the first group, the four riders were then asked to work on their own in the four gaits. Immediately, and for the first time during the session, Carolyn's horse came through from back to front into a beautiful, round and soft frame. Mission accomplished.

Closing the riding sessions, George advised, "Take from the clinic what you like. You don't have to take everything or anything. Just take what's appropriate for your system."

After the riding sessions, Olympian Melanie Smith Taylor addressed riders and spectators with an insightful discussion on the importance of being a thinking rider. We're looking forward to bringing you coverage of her thoughts in a future issue of Practical Horseman.

Tomorrow (January 23) is chock-full of exciting events including a riding session on flatwork and gymnastics, a session with U.S. Equestrian Team veterinarian Timothy Ober, a lecture on nutrition from Dr. Kathleen Young of Purina and a much-anticipated slideshow on conformation from Dr. Danny Marks. As George says, there's always so much more to learn.

Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore is the managing editor of Practical Horseman magazine.