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- Carolyn Curcio in the jumping session | © 2008 by Nancy Jaffer
Postcard: Day 5, George Morris Horsemastership
Day 5: Putting it all together--the young riders at the George Morris Horsemastership clinic get a chance to use the skills they have learned this week, jumping a course they built themselves. Postcard sponsored by Weatherbeeta.
Wellington, Fla., January 26, 2008 -- This was the final day of the George Morris Horsemastership Training Session, the moment when the participants put together everything they had learned this week in order to jump a course--the one they built themselves yesterday afternoon.
And what a course it was. The riders handled much of it in bite-sized pieces; the triple of one-rail verticals set on a broken line, a Swedish oxer next to a palm tree and four strides off a left turn to a plank of verticals, and then around a corner to a triple bar over a liverpool.
To me, the most interesting segment was a line of four jumps, two liverpools four strides apart, three strides to an oxer and then one stride to the final element, another oxer.
Our blogger Maria Schaub, who had been doing a beautiful job all week with a borrowed 6-year-old who is both green and recently imported, came apart there when her horse ran through the bridle and crashed the second jump, sending Maria to the ground.
But she is game and despite having banged her knee, she was back in the saddle quickly. With George's guidance, she negotiated the line, got a round of applause, smiled and, I'm sure, breathed a sigh of relief.
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Some of the riders encountered problems with the planks, so George had them use it as the center of a figure eight, going back and forth over the fence until it was old hat. If he could pick only one exercise for jumpers, George said, it would be the figure eight.
What was equally fascinating, in my view, is the way George warmed everyone up for the jumping.
"You have to gradually put a horse together," he said. "Is your horse thinking forward? That's the definition of impulsion," he advised, suggesting a touch with the spurs if it was lacking. "If you need a lot of leg, the horse hasn't been taught about legs."
He emphasized that impulsion is produced by the legs, not the seat, as some suggest. "That's a ridiculous notion," snorted George.
He always warms up the horse in a posting trot, "not too heavy on the horse's back." He then asked the riders to "change direction, but not the pace." After a few walk/trot transitions, he had the riders go down the long side of the ring in a broken line. A sitting trot led to shoulder-in and haunches-in, then a canter depart and "little voltes," or circles.
"Keep the contact steady," he told the group. "If a horse stiffens, resist with the hand, close the hand."
George pointed out that "there are endless exercises on the flat," but on a day that you're jumping, particularly if it's hot, you shouldn't spend more than 10 to 12 minutes on the flatwork before moving to the fences.
And he warned, yet again, not to overdo the jumping.
"This country produces jump-a-holics from the equitation and hunter divisions," he said. "You have to keep jumpers very fresh."
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- Karl Cook jumping on the final day
- © 2008 by Nancy Jaffer
And then it was over. I felt like I had unwrapped the last present under the tree, realizing that George was giving all of us, riders and spectators alike, the gift of his system.
I hadn't spoken with participant Karl Cook yet, the "wild card" entry in the session, meaning he didn't get chosen on the basis of his position in the Bates Equitation rankings or for winning a major national championship.
"What had made a big difference to him?" I wondered when I finally approached him. He didn't hesitate a second before answering that it was the sessions with clinicians who taught about nutrition, grooming, conformation and other elements necessary to show ring success, "everything outside of the ring," as Karl put it.
"I didn't get that before because all I did was ride," he explained.
Sally Ike, the manager of show jumping for the U.S. Equestrian Federation, emphasized how important this week was to the sport as we were chatting after the jumping.
Listen: Sally Ike on the long-term effects of the week
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- The group says farewell: (from left) Maria Schaub, Karl Cook, Aurora Griffin, George Morris, Kimberly McCormack, Carolyn Curcio, Nikko Ritter, Jennnifer Waxman and Tina Dilandri
- © 2008 by Nancy Jaffer
The U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation wrapped up the week with a luncheon for the riders and others involved in the session. Each participant got a silver-framed photo of the group. I'll bet it is a picture they will look at a lot over the years, as they seemed to have formed firm friendships. Hauling jumps around, facing riding challenges and being the target of George's attention tends to bond people.
Posted in Hunter/Jumper, Nancy Jaffer
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