{"id":25644,"date":"2016-05-28T16:12:58","date_gmt":"2016-05-28T06:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=25644"},"modified":"2017-02-09T16:31:19","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T05:31:19","slug":"the-george-morris-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/05\/the-george-morris-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"The George Morris Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GeorgeFeature\"Chris Hector looks back\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Photos by Roz Neave and archives<\/h3>\n

Right from the start George Morris was a controversial figure in Australia. He came to teach for the first time in 1987. At his first Olympic squad training school, he asked of one rider (who briefly flashed across the Australian scene and just as quickly disappeared) Is there one thing this boy can do right? Before deciding that whatever it was that he did, George decided it wasn\u2019t going to be at his clinic, and banished him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After that first clinic, Colleen Brook interviewed George for THM, it set the scene for the next 30 years\u2026.<\/p>\n

What are the areas in which we need to work?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem is because the base is not educated – your riders are intuitive horsemen, but they are not always educated and polished. They get it done, and they have to get it done by force! If you don\u2019t know how to do it through two thousand years of knowledge from Xenophon down to our time, then if you are going to get it done, you are going to get it done by force. We all use force to some degree, but the balance here is too much force and not enough knowledge, and when that knowledge becomes deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper, the force is going to become less and less and less.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GeorgeAt the first clinic George rides Chris Chugg’s Sky High, and at the 2010 clinic he watches Chugg’s new star, Vivant<\/em>\"VivantChugg\"<\/p>\n

How does that affect our jumpers at the top level?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think horses pay for it physically, maybe not your horse, but maybe the horses that belong to people just a little down the ladder; they pay for it physically. Leg wise, back wise, brain wise, they pay. At the very least when you use force, they are going to look back at you a little more and jump a little flatter. When a horse is looking back at force that means their heads come up, they contract their jaw, they contract their backs, everything is flatter. Nothing beats a relaxed, rounded horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year later, George was back in Australia, for a second squad clinic and I was lucky enough to have my first live taste of the wit and wisdom of George H Morris.<\/p>\n

There were some (notably unsuccessful) showjumping riders who were unimpressed when George came to Australia for the first time. He had nothing NEW to offer, no magic gimmicks to sure-fire success. And they are at least partly right, for the essence of George Morris\u2019 horsemanship is age old\u2026<\/p>\n

The quote is almost thirty years old, but he might have said it yesterday;<\/p>\n

\u201cThe methods I teach have stood the test of time, not only with me, but with many other trainers. If you try to circumvent a problem with a trick or gadget or a funny technique, the problem will always come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The solution? Well it started then, as it does now, at your feet:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy weight belongs in my heels, not in my knees, What keeps the stirrups in place is not pushing down into the irons \u2013 it\u2019s the weight driving down into your heels. It is better to have reins that are too long rather than too short, and better to have stirrups that are too short than too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I am sure you will hear this one in 2017 when George resumes his clinic circuit:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll people do the wrong thing with a high headed horse because it\u2019s a natural reaction to drop your hands when the horse goes high. DONT. When the horse raises its head, follow him up a little and show the horse the way to lower his head. If you try to pull his head down, then I can come back in twenty years and his head will still be up!\u201d\"GeorgeNightOWL\"<\/p>\n

At Aachen in 1960 with Night Owl<\/em><\/p>\n

Sadly, thirty years down the track, there are still riders trying to drag their horses heads into place, I guess they will still be trying in 2046, although George may not still be running his clinics in Vicki Roycroft\u2019s splendid paddock then to remind them how to get a frame.<\/p>\n

And yes, he upset many with his frank commentary:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been trying in Australia to get rid of hollow horses. There are riders who sit too far back in the saddle and hollow the horse\u2019s loins. Those who sit back in the saddle have to move\u00a0forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never saw a country where less respect is paid to training horses. Your horses go with their heads to the outside and their bodies to the inside. It\u2019s not your jumping down here that is the problem \u2013 it\u2019s your understanding of training and dressage which is so poor. Don\u2019t give me hogwash that the horses are too hot to handle, It\u2019s just that the training is so poor.\u201d\"Georgeteaching\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need jumping in Australia, you need riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a little chastening that while we now have many more stylish and effective jumping riders in our competition ranks, you can still see so many riders who would benefit by thinking about what George had to say all those years ago\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cRide with your thumbs up! There is a funny habit in Australia, where you invert your thumbs. Your hands are not just flat, they are past flat, they are inverted. The thumbs should be up.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the riders had problems at the other end of their bodies:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t kick in riding. It\u2019s wrong. Kicking de-sensitizes your horse to your legs, and every time you take your leg off the horse to kick him, you jeopardize your security. Squeeze the horse, and if he doesn\u2019t go forward, tap him with the whip. When a horse is schooled to legs, you don\u2019t need legs, you just think legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you can understand hands, you have to understand legs. You can\u2019t do much with hands until you have legs that are independent and soft.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever kick a horse, that\u2019s for the birds. In serious training we always carry a whip, not to beat the horse but to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t kick horses. If I want more than leg, but less than a whip, then I\u2019ll cluck to the horse. It\u2019s a nice aid, clucking gives the horse some heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll over the world they teach riders to have a tapping, living leg. It\u2019s a dreadful thing, a deadening thing, to be at the horse with your legs all the\u00a0time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lesson of legs is through your whip \u2013 not through your legs.\u201d\"Dressage2\"<\/p>\n

\u201cEighty percent of your time on the horse should be dressage and only 20 to 30% jumping. In Australia, I object to your education \u2013 not your guts, or experience or athletic ability \u2013 your education. I grossly object to hollow, hollow horses that jump upside down and hit their jumps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDown here you people jump better than you ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk yourself – what originated style? Function! Function gave us form. If you teach good form, you get function. Why do we put the stirrup on the ball of the foot? Because it creates a softer, more effective ankle. We do it NOT to look better but to DO it better.\u201d<\/p>\n

If George\u2019s teaching thirty years ago is still 110% relevant today, the same cannot be said of the refrain heard loud and clear back then \u2013 TOO MUCH DRESSAGE WILL TAKE AWAY THE JUMP. Today, there are only a few aging troglodytes who trot the clich\u00e9 out, but there are still a few who don\u2019t understand that while George always wanted his riders to ride with absolute control on the flat (that\u2019s kind of a definition of dressage) he always wanted, and still wants, the horse to be left alone to make its own mistakes and learn its own lesson over jumps\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a habit here when you are coming to a short distance of starting to hook, instead of waiting and letting your horse find his jump.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like a horse being stupid and green and hitting the jump. There is nothing so nice as a horse that has learnt to help himself. The Canadian showjumper, Ian Millar rides his horses out of balance in training. He does everything wrong to make it hard for them at home \u2013 in the Show Ring, he rides like an artist. He\u2019s the best in the world today.\u201d\"MillarDixson\"<\/p>\n

Ian Millar rides his horses out of balance in training… in the Show Ring, he rides like an artist. He’s the best in the world today.<\/em><\/p>\n

And yes, in 2015, the Canadian was still on song, winning three Grand Prix in the year. Wonder why?<\/p>\n

Sitting there at the VEC watching the clinic, it was the first time I realized the way in which an instructor could create jumping lines that actually taught the horse the lesson\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cGive to your horse. Let the horse study the jump, let him learn to\u00a0bascule.\u201d<\/p>\n

And suddenly it all happens. The rider sits quiet, the horse rounds itself beautifully through the air, clears the jump neatly and cleanly \u2013 and the teacher is delighted:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you saw it. You did it. If you don\u2019t like the first stride you see, sit still and bypass it, and take the short option. If you see a long option, a short one will come up. Relax your hands and arms and you will see it better.\u201d\"Visagegeorge2\"<\/p>\n

George rides Copabella Visage – “I like this Pinto”<\/em><\/p>\n

At the end of the session, George made it clear where his priorities lie:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in rider\u2019s technique because I think it makes life easier for horses. Horses suffer when they are badly ridden \u2013 and the better the rider, the nicer the horse\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The better the instruction, the nicer the writer\u2019s task. George was kind enough to autograph my copy of his Hunt Seat Equitation, with the inscription, To Chris \u2013 a good watcher. <\/em>I\u2019ve lost count of how many hours I\u2019ve spent in the intervening three decades, watching this genius at work, but they were always a riveting experience, it was always easy to be a good watcher.<\/p>\n

Enjoy your year off George, good luck with your Brazilian team in Rio, but we hope to see you back in action next year.<\/p>\n

This article first appeared in the March 2016 issue of THM.<\/em><\/p>\n

Morris, George H<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n