On the Line

What would a winter season in Welly World be without a fundraiser to attend? It would be a season lacking – I know that much! And so I attended my first fundraiser of the season last night, a very unique event (that was very conveniently put on by Sidelines) called a Tetrathlon. The Sidelines Tetrathlon Presented by FarmVet at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in Wellington, to be specific.

First of all, what the heck is a tetrathlon?? Just think in fours. . . four disciplines, four teams of four that equaled 24 famous riders, all switching it up and competing together in a discipline not their own. I’m a fan of this form of entertainment (see my recent love affair with polo), and apparently so are some very big riders. Watching Olympians from one discipline try their hand at another will never get old!

Just picture Ashley Holzer and Will Simpson reining. Katherine Bateson-Chandler playing polo. Polo players jumping a course. And Nick Dello Joio and Candice King riding a dressage test.  Myself and over 500 others who were betting on a night of entertainment happily mingled, enjoyed a few cocktails, and then the revelry commenced:

Polo player Whistle Uys jumps a course. . . Photo ©Emily Allongo

. . . Dressage rider Ashley Holzer enjoys every moment of reining! Photo ©Sue Stickle

Show jumper Will Simpson cowboys up. Photo ©Sue Stickle

. . . And polo player Brandon Phillips neck reins his way through a dressage test. Photo ©Emily Allongo

The event benefitted the Equestrian Aid Foundation, and like any fundraiser worth its snuff, a healthy “who’s who” group of horse people gathered. Georgina Bloomberg, Frank Madden, Robert Dover, Mason Phelps, Carlos Gracida, Alison Springer, Mary Phelps, Jane Savoie, Nikki Simpson, etc etc etc. There’s nothing more fun than people watching, especially celebrity horse-people watching! The crowd was just more proof that Wellington really is the center of the horse universe at this time of year.

Ah, silent auctions. I resisted the temptation to empty my wallet - this time! Photo ©Emily Allongo

But back to the riding. It’s fairly common knowledge that Will Simpson enjoys reining, and it was fun to see him ride a reining test. But Will was topped by Ashley Holzer, who stole the show with her very entertaining and very spontainous reining freestyle. By the way, I couldn’t help but notice just whom was wearing their helmet for the traditionally “non-helmet” disiplines of reining and dressage, and who was not. Just saying.

One rider who was wearing her helmet was Candice King. Candice and Ashley Holzer must be very close friends, because Candice was granted the privilege of riding Ashley’s Olympic horse Pop Art in a dressage freestyle. Watching Candice gamely ride piaffe, passage, pirouette and even some two-tempis across the diagonal was my favorite part of the night.

Candice King and Pop Art go for an extended trot . . . Photo ©Emily Allongo

Riding what could be a tempi change, could be a pirouette. Photo ©Emily Allongo

All in all, it was great fun. The silent and live auction, and packed VIP tables raised a healthy sum for the Equestrian Aid Foundation, and the event, which had been on a four year hiatus, proved that it had been missed! There’s now talk about holding a Sidelines Tetrathlon not only annually, but in other regions around the country. Hmmm, who could possibly star in a West Coast Tetrathlon? ? Can anyone picture Richard Spooner in a cowboy hat, or Guenter Seidel playing polo? Anything’s possible!

High sticking, 3 on 1, riding right over the line - It was polo, sans rules! As Robert Dover would (and maybe did) say: Oy Vey! Photo ©Sue Stickle

Special thanks to the talents of photographers Sue Stickle and Emily Allongo for providing Sidelines with photos of the evening’s events. Look for more Tetrathlon coverage in the upcoming March issue of Sidelines.

Photo ©Emily Allongo

- So said Mark Bellissimo this evening as he stood adminst a growing crowd in Lé Club WEF. Immediately following the $40,000 Surpass CSI 2* Grand Prix at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, the music was turned up inside the glass-walled tent officially called The Gallery (but as far as I’m concerned, it’s Lé Club from here on out) that is part of Mark and Equestrian Sport Productions’ grand scheme to draw more spectators to show jumping events. You can read more about Mark and ESP’s reimagining of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in next month’s Sidelines, but for now, let me be the first to assure you that it is, indeed, working.

Lé Club

Lé View.

It’s been a busy week in horse show heaven and in the horse world! So busy that it’s hard to keep up, but I’ll give it a good try:

The first order of business: helmets. During the USEF Convention last week all the decision makers got together and not only discussed and debated, but passed new helmet-use rules in the disciplines of eventing and dressage. I have to be honest, I didn’t expect to see this actually happen less than a year since Courtney King-Dye’s fall. But starting with that accident and culminating earlier this month at the Helmet Safety Symposium, what can justifiably be called “a movement” has brought about real change.

(Just, maybe not this one, unless you're under the age of 10. . .)

Eventers at all levels must now wear an ASTM/SEI-approved helmet at all times while mounted on competition grounds at U.S. nationally-rated events. Good for them. There’s no way I would sit on an event horse without a helmet, just sayin’, and those velvet hunt caps are sooo 1985.

Right?

The dressage rule change specifies that effective March 1, riders 18 and under must wear helmets at FEI competitions. . . hmmm. That’s one step forward with a long way still to go for dressage , as far as I’m concerned.  I interviewed Beezie Madden this week for EquestriSol, and she expressed disappointment that USEF didn’t make helmets mandatory for all dressage riders up to the grand prix level. Agreed, Beezie. But, Beezie and I are both of the opinion that universal helmet wearing is inevitable. Hopefully it won’t take any more high-profile head injuries to get us there.

Beezie, you're the coolest.

Moving on. I remain blissfully unaware of the negative temperatures, blizzards and other unsavory weather in the rest of the country. That is, until I look at the news or The Jurga Report and remember that winter is still out there in full force. Just not here. Lord help me if I’m ever confronted with enough snow to crush a barn roof. And the very best wishes to those that are dealing with just that, and tragic losses to their barns and businesses. I’ll stop complaining about the equivalent of a Wellington deep freeze that settled over South Florida this week. Suddenly a low of 40 degrees is nothing to write home about. . .

A nearly accurate image of my editor's desk. .

This week was deadline week and new issue week for Sidelines, as we put together the March issue, and released the February issue (get it here.) I’m looking forward to any feedback that Sidelines receives in response to Lauren Gianinni’s article “For the Love of Horses”.  Horse slaughter in the U.S. was outlawed more than three years ago, but as the economy tanked and rescues filled, new problems have arisen, and some are starting to think that humane slaughter on U.S. soil is a necessary evil. Lauren’s unique take on the unwanted horse situation in this country is sure to roil some tempers, but whether it inspires or offends, I know it will get people thinking and talking about this issue. And that’s always a good thing.

To give some balance to that article we highlighted three special “Second Chances” stories in Sidelines February, one of which involves a pair of PMU horses that my very good friend Robin Gates worked with. The two Shires were rescued from certain death by a generous owner, who enlisted Robin to save them again – from themselves. Robin is a liberty trainer and one of the most talented horsewomen I’ve ever met. During the time that I worked with them, she and her mentor, Carolyn Resnick, taught me more about the nature of horses than any other trainer I’ve encountered before or since. I’m happy to share the story of two horses that she helped; they are two of many and Robin’s approach to them went way beyond the typical round pen natural horsemanship routine. Pat Parelli she’s not.

Robin and her Shire. Check out their story in the new Sidelines.

That’s all for now; while I’m immersed in the winter circuit, Friday is my Wednesday and that means rest, rest and more rest before another busy weekend. I’m determined to check out Lé Club WEF tomorrow night during the Saturday night lights grand prix. Sunday evening I’ll be attending/covering the Sidelines Tetrathlon Presented by FarmVet at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center, and as always, there are horses to tend to. Stay tuned!

You’d think that after nothing but writing about horses, riding horses and taking care of horses all day long a girl would want to relax and take a break from – horses.

You would be wrong.

Because as I was reminded this past week, the very best way to unwind after working all day is to go find a wide open field, a big stick and a little white ball. And. Let. Loose.

Tell me this doesn't look appealing after you've been circling an arena all day.

It was an “only in Wellington” moment. Late in the afternoon on a Wednesday, temperatures were still in the mid-70s as the sun started to sink below the horizon. I was lucky enough (very, very lucky!) to be invited by 3-goal professional polo player Weston Gracida for an impromptu polo lesson on his private stick and ball field at Gulfstream Polo Club. 23-year-old Weston is an up and coming pro player, and while he pursues his career in polo, he teaches polo lessons on a limited basis.

If you don’t follow polo (and if you read this blog I’m going to assume that you don’t) just know that Weston has polo in his blood. He comes from what Vanity Fair has called “the Mexican Gracida polo dynasty.” His cousins Carlitos and Mariano are also pro players. His father Ruben Gracida played polo for 40 years, and was ranked at 8-goals during his long professional career. His second cousins Carlos and Memo Gracida are each ranked at 10-goals, the highest ranking a polo player can achieve. Between them they’ve won almost every possible tournament in the game, and Carlos often plays with England’s royal family.

There’s more, but polo dynasty sums it up nicely.

But I was thinking of none of this as I was handed a cute little polo pony, an ultra light mallet, and pointed towards that field. That big green field.

Full disclosure: I’m a bit partial to polo. During college I gave it a try to do “something new” – and ended up working as a polo groom during the summer after my freshman year, collecting a string of polo ponies, and being immersed in the polo world for five fun and exciting years. Polo is nothing if not addicting!

Hunter/jumper riders spend a lot of time in arenas, thinking about measured distances, controlled speed, transitions and contact. And it’s not that polo players don’t think about those things. I’m sure they do, from time to time. But with all of the galloping, the spinning, the swinging of the mallet and the satisfying tock of a polo ball knocked 100 yards up the field. . . . it’s a whole different kind of control that they’re concerned about, and accuracy takes on a whole new meaning.

It’s been over a year since I’ve held a polo mallet, and almost five since I’ve seriously played. But some things are like riding a bike: learn how to do it, and it’s with you forever. It was like magic; Weston watched me fumble for a minute, in two minutes he was helping with my grip and swing, and five minutes later I was hitting the ball straight, remembering how to lean out away from the side of the horse, stay up and follow through. And TOCK went the ball down the field.

After a few swings at the trot. . .

. . . it all came back at the canter. . .

And we were off!

Ah polo. For a horse person from any other discipline, the discovery of a galloping horse on a manicured grass field is a revelation. Refreshing. Exciting. And the addiction, oh the addiction. I am so addicted to leaning forward out of my stirrups and listening to the four beat gait below me. I’m addicted to the soreness along my right arm, and the way my hand shook for an hour after the lesson had ended. I’m addicted to the handiness of the pony I rode, who galloped obediently with ears pricked right along the line of the ball, and steadied up as I stretched back and swung.

If there aren’t some high jumps to clear in my near future, I may completely forget about my first love (show jumping) and abandon it for the wild child that stole my heart once before.

If you haven’t galloped anywhere lately, I highly recommend it. If you’re in the Wellington area and want a slice of this heaven, contact Weston and tell him I sent you. wgracida@hotmail.com

Thank you Weston, and thank you Pimienta, the handy, able and quick polo pony I had the joy of riding!!

Over at Ring 7, the Medium Junior Jumpers were stretching on into the late afternoon. The class was already an hour behind, and round after round was stacked up at the ingate. Boredom was setting in, and I couldn’t help but overhear them in the bleachers.

“And now there’s a nightclub here.”

“A what? A nightclub?!? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“It’s up on the hill, next to the ring. New this year. He’s unbelievable, that guy.”

Head shaking commenced all around. “That guy” is Mark Bellissimo, the CEO of Equestrian Sport Productions, which manages the Wellington Equestrian Festival each year. He’s equally, and sometimes not so equally, loved and hated by the equestrians that flock to Wellington every winter. (Try mentioning the parking situation to anyone at WEF this year and you’ll see what I mean.) Horse people just don’t like change. Remember when ESP moved the Sunday afternoon grand prix to Saturday nights? It incited an uproar like no other – more people than not were convinced that show jumping was done for.

Turns out that was just the first step. Over the last three years Mark has directed a major revamping of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, often to the howling complaints of his critics. He is on a mission to transform the industry into a more marketable sport to the general public – and a big part of that is creating a nighttime event that will draw spectators to the horse show.

This week I was lucky enough to interview Mark for a feature article that will run in the next Sidelines. For our March horse show focus issue, the editors and I decided that rather than putting another big rider on the cover, we’d switch it up and find out what makes the top show managers around the country tick. I’m in Florida, so I was assigned the Mark Bellissimo profile.

Which brings us back to the nightclub. The ring birds were correct, there is a nightclub on the showgrounds. It’s called Gallery, and it’s decked out with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the International Ring, posh all white furniture, crystal chandeliers, LED lights on the bar and a light up dance floor. I’m talking South Beach meets tall boots, people.  Gallery officially opened yesterday, but its real life debut will be this Saturday, during the first of 10 ”Saturday Night Lights” feature grand prix classes.

I took these shots on Thursday afternoon. Behind me, Mark was busily directing the finishing touches to WEF's own nighttime hotspot. . .

. . . it looked pretty good in the daylight. And at night?

I feel the need to do some official investigative reporting. . . with drink in hand!

To get people to come to the show, enjoy the show, and stay at the show, Mark’s built a few of these restaurant/bar/nightclub type attractions on the berm that lines the main ring. PBIEC can host 6,000 spectators, he says. They’re out there, we just need to entice them.

So as the season begins it will be interesting to see who is enticed, if spectators will indeed flock to the horse show, and if those blue seats lining the ring fill up on Saturday nights. I know where I’ll be watching from. I just hope there’s no dress code!

So, I’ll be here in Florida all season long, and it’s a pretty safe bet that the Wellington Equestrian Festival will become my second home. In honor of that, and in my continued pursuit to not suck at the art of photography (practice makes perfect), I bring you the WEF Shot of the Week. Look for it – you guessed it – every week for the next ten weeks! There’s a good chance that as you read this you’re stuck in an office somewhere, and as I know all too well, a hardworking office bee never has enough excuses to procrastinate.  Here’s one more.

McLain Ward and Esplanade 7 competing in the WEF Challenge Cup, January 13, 2011

To start us off I give you McLain Ward and Esplanade 7, competing this afternoon in the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 1. They were narrowly beaten in the jumpoff by Yann Candele, who topped McLain’s very fast jumpoff ride by a full second.

Even though he didn’t win, I chose this photo because when Esplanade and McLain entered the ring, I was able to jump up and down and say “I rode that horse! I rode that horse!” Esplanade used to be the ride of Peter Wylde, my old boss. She’s a great mare, instead of  the chilly stable that was our former home in Western Germany. Brrrrrrrrr:

The not-so-good old days. . .

To follow up on the previous post, I want to be clear about one thing: I haven’t always practiced what I (now) preach. There have been plenty of times, even as a professional, that I left my helmet in the barn. During the time I spent working and riding in Europe a few years ago, I don’t think my helmet even left my apartment.

Yours truly, Belgium, circa 2007

But that was then, and this is now. After Europe I become better about wearing my helmet, in part because my most recent employers believed that us trainers should be a good example for our clients by wearing our helmets at all times when mounted. And if my boss, a world-class, Olympic show jumping veteran, could and did faithfully don his helmet every time he threw a leg over a horse, than I had no excuse.

I still “slipped” from time to time – when I was going for a quick trail ride on my own horse, because I know him so well, and I’ve never fallen off of him. Or when I had left my helmet in the car and knew that no students were around to see me. Or, when I was just lazy.

I wasn’t against jumping on bareback for a good photo opportunity ...

Courtney King-Dye’s fall, which happened a month after the above photo was taken, certainly made me think twice about those moments, but helmet-wearing didn’t really hit home for me until Zoe.

Zoe has lived and breathed horses her entire life. Zoe is a much more accomplished rider than I am. I met her in 2008, and didn’t take long to realize that even though she was a working student and I was an assistant trainer, we both knew who was the braver rider between us, and it wasn’t me. Zoe is the kind of rider who is impossible to ruffle; her horses were hot, she jumped the green ones without batting an eye, and she is fiercely competitive in the ring. She’s also my friend.

Zoe competing at the Menlo Charity Horse Show, 2008

Just after 4^th of July last summer, Zoe came off a horse, hit the ground and didn’t wake up. She was at her own farm, schooling a green horse with just the barn manager nearby. She was wearing her helmet, as she always had. No one saw exactly what happened, but when the barn manager found her, she was lying unconscious on the ground, with the horse standing nearby.

Zoe was airlifted to the hospital and remained in a coma, battling a traumatic head injury and severe swelling in her brain for almost three weeks. Back at the barn, word spread quietly, because no one wanted to tell the younger kids what had happened. It was very possible that Zoe was going to die.

That possibility left the entire barn thunderstruck. Zoe, a better rider than me, who I’d ridden with just the last week, might not make it. Unfathomable. I began to look at other trainers at our facility, the ones who jumped helmetless in front of their clients, with open disdain.

I can write this today because Zoe didn’t die. She slowly emerged from the coma, and after spending eight weeks in hospital and rehab, she came back to the barn. At first, she had to have help to walk, but had no problem recognizing and asking about every single horse in the barn. Truth be told, she was a ghost of her old self in those early days, but I have never, ever, been so happy to see someone walking and talking and just living.

Wearing her SEI/ASTM certified helmet when she fell saved Zoe’s life. Unfortunately, it didn’t save her from injury, and it will take more time for her to recover fully.

Will I ever leave my helmet in the barn again? I don’t think I could. Should it take knowing a Zoe, or a Courtney, for a rider to change their ways? Of course not. But the truth is that someone almost dying is a shock to the system – and not just to the person who almost died.

Being too lazy to go grab my helmet is out of the question, now. But there are still plenty of excuses out there for other people. I’m a pro. I never fall. I know this horse. I’m not jumping.

It’s for those people that I support any rule change that makes helmet use mandatory. And it’s because of those people that this is even an issue. As proven by the photos in the previous post, many riders out there still believe in the “it won’t happen to me” theory.

I wonder what Zoe thinks about that one now?

Happily, Zoe is recovering steadily, and began riding again in November. Here she is with trainer Toni McIntosh standing by.

In horse heaven, one can only be in so many places at once. On Saturday I passed on the final day of the George Morris Training Session in order to attend the 2011 Riders4Helmets Helmet Safety Symposium. I suspect that George will forgive me.

This week a friend told me that she found it a little hard to believe that there even needs to be such a symposium. After all, wearing a helmet is common sense, right?

We-ell, yes, to some. But the need for a serious meeting of the minds about this issue was abundantly clear as I walked through the WEF showgrounds on the way to the symposium. For every helmeted head on a horse, another trotted by decorated with some other accessory. Shiny sunglasses, for instance. Long ponytails bouncing in the breeze, or baseball caps.

An anonymous rider on the WEF grounds models the ponytail + baseball cap look. Hot, or not?

Which is all well and good, until that head hits the ground and suffers an injury that no pair of sunglasses will prevent.

As Courtney King-Dye proved last year, accidents can and do happen. (A quick aside, I interviewed Courtney recently for a Sidelines article that will be out in just a few weeks. I wanted to catch up with her almost one year into the recovery from her near fatal-fall. Don’t miss the article – Courtney told me about her plans to return to competition and how her feeling toward helmets has changed.) Courtney’s accident turned out to be the catalyst for a major shift in perception that begun in the dressage world and has spread to other disciplines. Did anyone see the cover of Practical Horseman this month? Two or even one year ago, a rider as high profile as Steffen Peters wouldn’t have been seen in a helmet, much less featured on a national magazine cover wearing one. Also from Courtney’s fall came the organization Riders4Helmets, which was co-founded by two riders in order to raise funds for Courtney’s medical care and spread awareness about helmet use.

The Riders4Helmets Helmets Safety Symposium was presented By SUCCEED and sponsored by USEF, Troxel, Charles Owen, GPA, Samshield and Tipperary. The leadership power in the room was impressive – David O’Connor, USEF CEO John Long, Sally and Sarah Ike. Carol Lavell of the United States Dressage Federation. Dr. Craig Ferrell, M.D of the United States Equestrian Team and Chair of the FEI Medical Council. US Eventing Association and Professional Riders Organization representatives. Dr. Debbie Stanitski, President of the Equine Medical Safety Association (and a brain-trauma survivor.) Trainer Jane Savoie.

Anne Kursinski and Beezie Madden made appearances. Four-star eventer Allison Springer and Pan American dressage rider Lauren Sammis both attended the symposium from start to finish.

Even more impressive than the representatives from the Olympic disciplines, was that they were joined by leaders from the United States Polo Association and The Jockey Club. Racing and polo are not usually involved in USEF events, but their presence showed that this is truly a universal issue.

A lot of ground was covered. Dr. Allen Sills gave two presentations on concussions and their causes, treatments and preventions. We learned about the biomechanics of a fall, presented in detail by Dave Helstead of the Biomechanics Impact Research Lab at the University of Tennessee. Dave does most of his research on football players, and is a technical advisor to the NFL.

Roy Burek of Charles Owen gave a great presentation on helmet design and the importance of helmet use.

SEI and ASTM certifications, innovative helmet materials and designs, the USEF’s history of helmet rules, current helmet rule change proposals and recommendations in the USEA, USEF and FEI. . .  I could go on.

But the bottom line to all of this was that every rider on every horse, everywhere, is safer when wearing a helmet. And to get everyone wearing helmets, each discipline must change their ways and create enforceable helmet rules.

Which takes time, of course. But the brainpower gathered in the room is determined to create and pass helmet use rules.

“I think that if we made a rule where everyone had to wear a helmet all the time, everyone would start to want to wear it all the time,” said Beezie Madden.

Beezie, of course, is right, and told the symposium about how it felt to be one of the first three show jumpers in North America to wear a GPA. At the time, the brushed suede helmet with the “skunk stripe” was an oddity. But even though she said felt like a “martian” at first, and attracted a lot of stares, she pointed out that it wasn’t long before everyone was wearing a GPA.

And why? Because Beezie is an idol, a multiple gold-medal winner and a rider that thousands around the country look up to and emulate. Seeing Beezie and other top riders like her who always wear their helmet while mounted carries almost as much power as a rule change.

If every single top rider began wearing their helmet at all times, I believe that the ripple-down effect would be monumental. If an internationally recognized showgrounds like WEF was subject to a rule from the sport’s governing body requiring all mounted riders to wear a helmet, change would be immediate.

There’s more to say on this subject, but for now I’ll leave you with a few more gems, taken surreptitiously on the WEF showgrounds today. The identities of these riders are unknown. . . but if you know one of them, give them a piece of advice. Your baseball cap and ponytail do not make you look cool. You actually look like a fool up there.

The ponytail look is popular among the young, pretty . . . and dumb. . .

Newsflash, trainers: your groom's head is just as valuable as your own.

This one's my personal favorite. Do they cancel each other out? What made Black T-shirt wear her helmet and White Baseball Cap leave hers in the barn?

No stirrups needed.

The minutes ticked by. Fifteen. Twenty. As the clock moved onward to thirty my legs began to ache in empathy. The poor suckers – I mean fortunate young riders – participating in the George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session gamely rode, and rode, and rode their exercises sans stirrups today. If George emphasized with italics yesterday, he emphasized with repetition today.

“These are constant transitions. The horse is accepting your seat and legs. Lengthen, shorten, turn left, turn left, turn left turn left turn left!

People, I want your aids inside leg to outside rein. Accept my seat, accept my seat. Right rein, right rein, right rein.”

And on it went. For any rider, repetition minus stirrups adds up to very sore legs (and other things!) But to George Morris, repetition equals mastership, and no stirrups are simply proof of balance, skill, and strength.

The movements weren’t revolutionary, they weren’t new, but they made an impression by the repetition and rhythm they were executed with. Not to mention the voice by which they were commanded.

Again, when it comes from the mouth of George Morris, all within earshot strain to listen.

Again, I could only sneak over to Ring 7 for enough time to watch one group of riders. Today I caught Group 2 (Hayley Barnhill, Kelsey Thatcher, Brittany Hurst, Kate Haley, Anna Hallene, Molly Braswell) and the lesson of the day was flatwork. Lots of it.

Counter canter, transition, repeat, repeat, repeat. . .

“Americans have such a misunderstanding of training. American people, of which I’m one. Hunter jumper people are not interested in dressage.”

The message behind that statement was that they damn well should be. Those hunter jumpers should not only be interested in dressage, they should practice it. Over, and over, and over.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one watching and thinking ‘I do these things!” Shoulder in, leg yield, transitions, lengthen shorten lengthen shorten . . . and so on. Naturally, one starts to wonder: why don’t we all ride like George Morris? Repetition, discipline, and repetition. So simple, and yet so often overlooked.

Like a true master, George put himself in the hotseat, jumping on one of the participants’ horses to demonstrate everything he was asking of the riders. Sans stirrups, of course. For a solid 25 minutes he went through the movements:

Leg yield, counter canter, transitions, transitions. As he did a looped turn at the canter, turned down the side of the ring facing the audience, rode another looped turn, and repeated, repeated he never stopped speaking. That in itself was impressive. .  . I’ve tried simultaneously  riding, demonstrating and instructing many a time, but have never managed not to sound out of breath while doing so.

When you’re George Morris, pitch perfect narration and riding demonstrations go hand in hand.

The transformation that came over the horse he was riding from the beginning of those 25 minutes to the end was significant. The hot, tense horse gradually relaxed, stretched, and moved in self carriage.

“Watch how soft he goes. Super soft. First active, then straight. Loose rhythm, relaxation at the end. See the horse reach for the bit. Search for the bit. Eat the dirt. When you see a horse blow out like that, that is the greatest sound on a horse because he is relaxed.”

All in a day's work for the Master

Agreed, George. Agreed. Now let those riders go back to the barn to ice their legs.

(with stirrups)

Day 5 of the clinic is tomorrow, and you can still watch the whole thing live on the USEF Network. For more, read the Chronicle of the Horse‘s reports. They take better photos than I do.