{"id":10323,"date":"2018-07-30T12:01:24","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T02:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=10323"},"modified":"2021-03-13T16:28:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T05:28:57","slug":"george-morris-everything-that-is-old-is-new-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2018\/07\/george-morris-everything-that-is-old-is-new-again\/","title":{"rendered":"George Morris – Everything old is new again…"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

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Chris Hector reports & Roz Neave took the photos<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This is the 2013 George Morris Clinic. The timeless truths are the same, but the Master presents them with his usual skill, opening new insights and sharing his wisdom with us.<\/em>\u00a0I\u2019ve been writing about George\u2019s clinics for over 20 years \u2013 is there anything left to write about?
\nThe basic message is always the same, but George Morris has this unique ability to present the old truths in new and exciting ways, and the man does it over and over again.
\nGeorge Morris really is a living treasure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vicki Roycroft has nurtured her GM clinics over the years, building a group of riders who come over and over again, and by now they have well and truly got the message: you turn up on time, with both horse and rider turned out correctly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What I have done is a cut and paste on George\u2019s words of wisdom, adding the comments from the later group to the first, to minimize repetition, although there are some things worth saying over and over and over again\u2026<\/p>\n

Every year, George has a central theme, and this year it is the importance of the inside leg to the outside hand, which is interesting since there was some criticism of the inside leg to outside hand <\/i>concept on the grounds that this was an example of \u2018clashing aids\u2019 \u2013 which just happens to be a term George invented!<\/p>\n

No way says George Morris\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cLegs are so important because of impulsion, which to me is the first lesson you give the horse, not rhythm. You lead a colt, you back a colt, will it go forward? My definition of impulsion is does the horse think forward? The second duty of the inside leg is the basis of collection. People think about the top of the horse when they think collection, but it is the inside hind leg that comes under the body shadow of the horse, that starts the back to front collecting of the horse. Nothing, nothing that I teach did I invent. I put things together maybe in an interesting package, but I didn\u2019t invent any of this.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe inside leg to the outside rein is ancient history. One of my friends is very interested in ballet, and he said to me last year, George, it is opposition in the dance that creates balance. Inside leg to outside rein, puts the horse in balance \u2013 it makes the horse straight, and puts the horse in balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jamie Winning and Alpha Centurion<\/em><\/p>\n

Everybody in Europe teaches inside leg to outside rein, that\u2019s not new. When I was 16, and I rode with W\u00e4tjen, I heard that concept, Bert de Nemethy taught, inside leg to outside rein for at least 55 years, I never thought it might be odd, or clashing aids.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Todd Hinde and Pro Ratina<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI teach the inside leg for the canter depart, the counter canter, half pass, flying change. In\u00a0the half pass \u2013 \u00a0the inside leg is important . I am really stressing it for the flying change.\u201d<\/p>\n

next George talks about the\u00a0importance of hand carriage<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But woe betide any rider who tries to use hand to pull the horse\u2019s head down:<\/p>\n

\u201cCarry your hands. If the horse gets above the bit, do not lower your hand, raise the hand, teach the horse that it cannot get higher than the hand. If the horse pulls \u2013 do not pull back, simply close your hand. It\u2019s an old French idea, if the horse leans, close your fingers \u2013 DO NOT pull. Carry your hand and push the horse\u2019s head down, hands quite high and perfectly symmetrical. \u00a0Keep the contact and don\u2019t freak out when he goes above the bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest myth in riding is the low hand\u2026 You must carry your hand, a great example is McLain Ward, he has beautiful hands. I have a contract with the horse, I carry my hand, and you tell the horse, ‘carry your head’ – Bill Steinkraus taught me that. Problems are easy to fix \u2013 carry your hands and wait for the horse to accept. Contact is straight, steady, definite and supple.\u201d<\/p>\n

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McLain Ward with Antares…<\/em><\/p>\n

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And Sapphire<\/em><\/p>\n

Another of George\u2019s pet hates is the heavy seat: \u201cDon\u2019t go by European Dogma, go by the horse, and the horse\u2019s back likes a light seat. Have your body forward and slightly out of the saddle, lean forward so you are over your feet, and now ten strides posting, ten strides sitting, and ride a four loop serpentine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I love serpentines, they alternate the bend, and get you thinking about your inside leg. We bend the horse to engage the inside hind leg.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hilary Scott and Oaks Miss Scarlet<\/em><\/p>\n

The basis of round is the horse\u2019s \u00a0inside hind leg. To get the bend, make sure your outside leg is at least a hand behind the girth.\u201d<\/p>\n

more follows<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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John Whitaker and Agento<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGet you upper body well forward. Why is John Whitaker special for horses? Because he rides very softly on their back. Heavy seated riding is hard on the vertebrae of the horse. Get out of the saddle and let the horse breathe in his back. The Europeans don\u2019t preach this, but they practice it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Todd and Pro Ratina<\/em><\/p>\n

The work on the big circle is getting a little more complicated: \u201cDo a little shoulder in, haunches in, alternate ten strides shoulder in, haunches in, get your horse dancing behind. As Kyra Kyrklund says, think of the shoulder in as a leg exercise. And after this exercise, make the horse straight and let him lengthen \u2013 you don\u2019t have to push after the shoulder in \/ haunches in exercise, it is great for engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was time to start thinking about obstacles and another of George\u2019s themes \u2013 using the fence to make the horse back off and think and set itself for the jump:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the rail to set the horse back, so the horse doesn\u2019t rush. I want the horse dying as it comes to the rail, I want the horse to have self initiative, I want him to associate the obstacle with slow down and set himself up.”
\nI put cavaletti in the flatwork as a bridge to the jumping. As you approach the cavaletti just freeze a little and the horse dies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then it was time for some more work on the flat, and the emphasis was again on the rider\u2019s inside leg: \u201cWe want the canter, the counter canter and the flying change, all from your inside leg. Teach your horse from walk to canter with your inside leg. When you ride the counter canter, make it super slow and shorten the horse\u2019s base. When you use your legs DON\u2019T raise your heel. Your leg is ineffective if your heels are up, that makes your calf muscle slack. What holds the stirrup in place is your heel. The outside of the stirrup should be slightly in front of the inside and close to your toe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

George has just turned 75 but he still rides most days, and he has selected Jamie Kermond\u2019s Laughton\u2019s Legacy as his ride for this session. The bay gets a rude awakening as George bangs him sharply with his legs, and the gelding shoots forward, for a while I thought he might end up in my lap:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the first lesson, the lesson of the legs, because it is the impulsion that drives the horse\u2019s head down, not pulling. My hands are close together and slightly higher than the horse\u2019s mouth. I\u2019m not worried if his head goes up, I just keep contact in a straight line to his mouth. If the horse resists, don\u2019t drop the hand, if the horse resists, do three things: close your hand, close your fingers and wait. The secret to getting the horse round lies in your calf \u2013 not in draw reins, which I hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere he put his head down. I didn\u2019t ask, he offered, it was the horse\u2019s idea to stretch to my hand. Watch the horse\u2019s mind not just his body. You have to see content with every horse you ride, look at its face \u2013 is it content?\u201d
\nReally this is one of the many uncanny things Mr Morris can do, after he has ridden a horse for a while it starts to look more intelligent\u2026
\nAs always, George really likes horses. \u201cWonderful horse\u201d, he exclaims as he hands the bay back to Jamie. Not that Jamie is going to get it easy from George, for on the first jumping exercise, over a log, circle, over a plank, circle, he doesn\u2019t like Jamie\u2019s release:
\n\u201cAs we approach an obstacle, we soften our arm and our hands go down in the direction of the horse\u2019s mouth. Jamie, I don\u2019t want that crest release, put your hands down along the horses neck. My country overdid the crest release, there is nothing wrong with it in the beginning, but not at this level. People outgrow the crest release, you don\u2019t see that excessive crest release in Europe, but it is endemic in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jamie Kermond demonstrates the release George wants…<\/em><\/p>\n

Jamie is still in trouble: \u201cDon\u2019t sit too deep, that\u2019s some other clinic. What do you feel is different about the horse after I have ridden it?\u201d
\n\u201cHe\u2019s lighter in front.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s because of the work on the hind legs.\u201d
\nJamie is a quick learner: \u201cWatch his hand, he has a super position in the air. It is details that make a super competition rider, details.\u201d<\/p>\n

And those circles?
\n\u201cWe want circles after every jump to collect the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Circles then over the log, circle, over the plank, circle, over the vertical, half circle right, transition to trot, transition to walk, halt, rein back. And woe betide the rider who thinks he or she can jump the last jump, relax and slouch back to the line. \u201cWhen you complete, do something, the horse is always in schooling, or un-schooling.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is the turn of Todd Hinde and Pro Ratina, and once again we see a feature of George\u2019s clinics that has fascinated me, right from the first clinic I saw at the Victorian Equestrian Centre back in 1988, the way in which the courses and the jumps themselves school the horses\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cTodd keep the horse straight and the horse will back up, that\u2019s because I\u2019ve constructed the course like that. Don\u2019t help the horse with your hands, lock in and let her learn self sufficiency. Keep your hand down and invite the horse to hit the fence. Don\u2019t worry if it tips every now and then. See she touched that fence \u2013 that is instructive, that is self poling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jamie Winning is today\u2019s teacher\u2019s pet (lucky she keeps all that amazing blonde hair hidden under her cap\u2026) \u201cLook at Jim, she just keeps it even. She doesn\u2019t chase. Bert de Nemethy used to say, \u2018deep hand in the air\u2019 \u2013 watch her hands they are perfectly even. This is the classic position that my country has forgotten. See how she keeps the horse perfectly straight, that forces the horse to shorten. If you let them drift, they can avoid the problem and they don\u2019t learn to shorten.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hilary was in trouble for staying too deep in the saddle: \u201cYou sit too deep. I want you up and down, not too deep, when you need deep, you\u2019ll be there. I want the fence to initiate the back up, not the rider. In competition you can hold her hand, but you don\u2019t have to be doing it for her whole life\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the first landing stride, half halt, just a little check, the half halt with your voice indicates to the horse, come backwards \u2013 but to go backwards, first you must let the horse go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch the expression of these good horses. They are \u2018conscientious\u2019 \u2013 you have to get into the horse\u2019s mind, his feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith hot horses like this, you must ride with him, not behind him. Try to be not as quick and aggressive with your riding, stay forward and with him. These days they say SIT UP at a fence\u2026 but not Nick Skelton, not Rodrigo Pessoa, not Eric la Maze\u2026 they are forward riders. It is the same with Marco Kutchner and Marcus Ehning, they are very light German riders. They don\u2019t teach it, but they do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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George likes the way Ben Blay is looking to the next fence: \u201cThat was exemplary. Once you see the distance you can think, turn. Light turning in the air. The horse has to listen to us but he has to watch and listen to the fence. For this type of riding, the horse has to be beautifully ridden.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is one of George\u2019s great laments that rustic obstacles have disappeared from today\u2019s showjumping courses but not from his clinics. George incorporates a ditch. Why? To test impulsion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This time the riders are encouraged to sit deep, at least until they are sure of their horse\u2019s reaction to the ditch: \u201cSit deeper, upper body erect, once you trust the ditch, you can ride with the horse. This is a test of impulsion \u2013 impulsion has nothing to do with fast. It is the horse\u2019s brain. Is the horse thinking forward?\u201d<\/p>\n

Next George picks another horse to ride<\/em><\/p>\n

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When he picks his ride in the second group \u2013 Jess Brown\u2019s Casco \u2013 George once again stresses the importance of impulsion: \u201cI like impulsion first. It is not the same order as the German training scale, but without impulsion, you can do nothing. First he answers to my legs. Second he answers to my hands. I teach him that he can\u2019t escape my hand by going higher, that\u2019s easy, I can always go higher, once he realizes he can\u2019t get higher than my hand, then we have contact. The contact must be on the corners of the mouth \u2013 not the bar, the horses hate you to touch the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy inside rein is my flexing rein, I am anxious to give<\/b> not take<\/b>. Oh, this is a canter to die for. Look at his face, he is happy. I\u2019m not forcing for a competition \u2013 not \u00a0force, force, force.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow even when I walk him on the buckle it is with impulsion. This is not recess, even though I am resting him, I am educating him. I preserve the rhythm and the impulsion and the horse is \u2018self-lively\u2019. Horses very quickly learn evasions, they try to escape the seat bones, the legs and the hands, they have to accept these and also accept the voice, the whip and the spur.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cJumping is a reflection of the riding, the jumping can\u2019t be better than the riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the horse cross canters (disunited), don\u2019t jump the next fence, circle and press with the inside leg. Don\u2019t over-bend the horse on the circle or he will escape the aids. You mustn\u2019t bend the horse\u2019s neck in the flying change \u2013 inside leg to outside rein, then the horse will stay straight in the flying change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t care how strong the half halt is but then get off it. I don\u2019t care how strong the flexion is, but then get off it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie Kermond\u2019s Yandoo Laughton\u2019s Legacy, hits a fence, and Jamie is warned not to react:
\n\u201cYou have to be very cold when something like that happens. You are very hot blooded you Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t sit back after a horse lands, horses hate that, it hollows a horse. You don\u2019t have to sit down for three point contact, just sink into the saddle. If you sit down you make them quick and hollow. Keep your body well forward, I want you to just squat in the saddle. Every horse will be rounder if you stay forward, stay forward like Beezie Madden, like John Whitaker and Nick Skelton. My system is big on legs and hands, the seat takes care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Beezie Madden and Simon<\/em><\/p>\n

Suddenly you realize that the two two hour sessions have come to an end \u2013 George\u2019s powers of concentration are really something else\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Breeding jumpers? Look at the to European bloodlines available from IHB – stallions like Diacontinus (Diarado\/Contendro) – plus many more<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0: www.ihb.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Morris, there’s nothing new, but the wisdom from the Master is as fresh as tomorrow…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[71,533,67],"class_list":["post-10323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-show-jumping","tag-george-morris","tag-jumping-training","tag-showjumping"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10323"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57757,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323\/revisions\/57757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}