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\nStory by Christopher Hector and\u00a0Photos by Roz Neave<\/h3>\n
By day three, the riders were well and truly into the swing of George\u2019s system, and it was quite extraordinary to witness the transformation of both horse and rider. I guess what happens a lot of the time is that the instructor asks the rider to assume a correct position, asks a couple of times more, then gives up \u2013 the rider leaves the lesson no better off than when he or she started. Mr Morris doesn\u2019t just ask, he DEMANDS, and he keeps on demanding until he gets the desired result. Student leaves clinic having actually learnt something. Amazing.<\/p>\n
With the horses the process is much the same. On one level, George is insisting that they be ridden correctly and tactfully, but on another level, he has this witchy ability to set up exercises and build tracks, that change the horse\u2019s shape in the air. Incredible.<\/p>\n
For all the insistence on classical dressage, at the end of the day, as George emphasizes, this is a jumping clinic not a dressage clinic and looking pretty is not good enough:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look very nice, very pretty, but you have to oil your brains, the clock is ticking, Lamaze and Pessoa, they don\u2019t have time faults because they are used to working at pace. I love dressage, I worship classical dressage, but this is not a dressage clinic, it is a jumping clinic. The \u2018cluck\u2019 is a super aid, when the spur or the stick is too strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHilary, if you take, take, you won\u2019t see a distance, ease off and see a distance\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Once again, George was using his reverse half turn, this time with a vertical to an oxer, 59\u2019 feet, a foot short of four strides, and George wanted the riders to do it in five\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cFour is not an option, it has to be five \u2013 that\u2019s it Danni, that\u2019s the best you have done, you went with the horse to that deep spot. Let the horse go forward, what will set the horse back is the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n
George put the fences up four holes, and this time he wanted the riders to go up in four, back in five, then up in five and back in four.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are lots of reins in riding but the best for jumping is the leading rein \u2013 it goes out and down and doesn\u2019t interfere with the bascule but it keeps the horse straight and it gets the turn to the jump. Now George wanted them jumping the Liverpool with him waving left or right after the jump to get an instant reaction.<\/p>\n
And of course, George wants to put the exercise into practice\u2026 over the vertical, round the corner to the wall, six or seven to the Liverpool, then a compulsory five back to the first vertical.![\"38\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/38.jpg\")
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Then to really test that opening rein, the George added another vertical, with a track that at first took the combination outside the triple bar, but wound tighter, to go inside the triple, in a progressively smaller figure of eight.<\/p>\n
Then in a progressively smaller figure of eight\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis exercise gets the horse straight but also super soft in his mouth. I saw something like this on one of Leopoldo\u2019s (Palacios) courses, and everyone did six in the first round \u2013 do seven and you have a time fault. Come on Amanda this exercise will get your hard headed hussy, soft. Just a little tip is all I can offer, and a light comes on, a feel comes on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a Frank Rothenberger treble: triple bar, 35 to a wide oxer, and 24 to a vertical. Most of them hit the back rail of the oxer when they see the spooky vertical.\u201d Just when you think George must be running out of exercises, another comes along\u2026<\/p>\n George had the riders jump a vertical at right angles to the wide oxer, turn tight left come between the oxer and the vertical, back round and over the triple bar, then the oxer, vertical, curve right seven strides over the wall, hard turn left and stop. George keeps putting up the fences and you are aware once again how clever the teacher is, he has built what is virtually a major European track with just a couple of fences. And a track that really tests the accuracy of the riding:<\/p>\n \u201cBill Steinkraus (below) was the master of this sort of riding, his hands were so delicate and giving in the turns.\u201d Hilary has the first vertical on Pro Ratina: \u201cStop. They are anticipating the turns. Jump straight, stay straight a few strides, then turn.\u201d<\/p>\n This time the mare does it very well, but George doesn\u2019t like the eight strides to the last \u2013 \u201cdo it in seven\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n With Jamie Kermond, George saw that Lincoln was anticipating the left turn on the last element, the wall, once again, the solution is simple, turn right. And once again, Danni Butcher drew praise for her riding: \u201cThat\u2019s it Danni, that is the great principle, give and take, not just take.\u201d<\/p>\n Even the cool down hides a lesson:<\/p>\n \u201cLengthen your stirrups to riding length, and take your feet out of the stirrups. John Whitaker is the icon of 20th<\/sup> century jumping, he is the best of all. Watch him walk to the in-gate, he takes his feet out of the irons to lengthen his legs, so when he picks up the stirrup, it feels shorter for the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet them walk, let the horse stretch, but make sure they are still active behind.\u201d<\/p>\n This article\u00a0first appeared in the April 2011 issue of THM.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"40-41\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/40-41.jpg\")
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