For all my horse riders out there, you should take the time to check out the videos on demand. Last week George Morris taught 13 of the top equitation riders in the country for 5 days. For those who were able to watch throughout the day – the lessons were broadcasted live for free by usefnetwork. I chose to catch up after the fact.
Some of the guest speakers this year were Dr. Deb Bennett, Anne Kursinski, Dr. Tim Ober (Vet), Dean Pearson (farrier). I still haven’t watched all the videos yet, although I think I’ve seen everything up to Day 3. Most of the videos from the last three days were not available until last night.
Photo Cred: Usefnetwork
I watched the clinic last year and I have to say it was nice to see George Morris teaching this year. The thing I remember most about last year was the slight lack of coherence between the clinicians since George was unable to teach last years clinic. One day a clinician would ask the riders to shorten their reins the next clinician would tell them to ride with a little longer rein. Some clinicians wanted their hands low, some wanted their hands high. Some wanted the riders using a crest release, others the automatic release. And while I’m sure it was good practice to be able to ride well in all of these different positions, as a rider I wouldn’t have enjoyed that format.
Photo Cred: Usefnetwork
This year with George teaching all of the mounted sessions – there was a definite way to ride and the riders were reminded of that on the flat with and without stirrups, while doing gymnastics, and over courses. It made more sense to me at least. Another thing I noticed was that the guest speakers all added to what we were already hearing from George in the riding sessions. Dr. Deb really got the heart of straightening, flexion and collection – showing the physical reasoning for riding the way George Morris tells us to. Anne Kursinski showed her own flat exercises with a sensitive mare, expressing the importance of leg to hand and flatwork.
Photo Cred: Usefnetwork
I still haven’t watched Tim Ober and Dean Pearson’s sessions so I cannot comment on how they changed from last year, but I did learn a lot from them in the previous year.
The biggest change that I noticed in my own riding from watching this years clinic was the leg to hand in the straightening exercises. I’ve always used an opening inside rein and inside leg to move Tia onto my outside aids, but I was applying them together, using my inside rein in conjunction with my inside leg. When I practiced the inside leg alone – I immediately got results. As soon as I had her on my outside rein she became round. I’ve never been one to see-saw in order to get Tia’s head down, but I found that through solely applying my inside leg and finding connection with the outside rein, I was able to get roundness, without even touching the inside rein. She was happy to come into the contact. I know they say “less is more” but I had never seen it so clearly.
Photo Cred: Usefnetwork
The other thing that I learned ,that sort of reinforced what I already knew, was Dr. Deb’s bird and thread theory. Tia has been a little nervous about the far end of the ring because she can see through the tree line to the horse farm beyond. She can also hear the horses walking through the leaves and she gets spooky when we approach that end of the ring first thing into our ride. I always used circles as a way to get her attention back on me, but what I found really interesting was Dr. Deb’s idea understanding the horse’s threshold for being O.K. and having awareness to ensure that we aren’t forcing our horses past this comfort zone. I won’t get into what the bird and thread mean in the theory – you’ll just have to watch the video to understand.
The why in this circumstance really interested me and made sense. I know I mentioned this in last week’s post – but the theory or the why behind what we do is just as important as the what. George Morris said that he was being selfish when he got Dr. Deb to come as a guest speaker, because he was the one that wanted to learn from her and get inside her head. Yes, it hopefully helped the students in the clinic and the auditors watching – it for sure helped me – but he was after the knowledge for himself.
I hope that you get a chance to watch some of the clinic. Usefnetwork does a real favor by allowing those of us who would not normally be able to get this kind of training, to audit the clinic. You can find the videos at USEFNETWORK.
Then tell me what your favorite part of the clinic was – surely Morris one-liners will be at the top of your list!
Happy Tuesday!
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