"Even as I was walking out from the clinic for this photo with George, he said to me 'Get those hands off the wither!" Sam Jeffree
Up and coming young Australian eventing riders Alice Hirst and Sam Jeffree attended their first ever George Morris clinic at Boneo Park in Victoria and we caught up with them to find out their thoughts.
Alice travelled from Tasmania to attend the the clinic with 78 year old George, whose reputation as a brilliant coach but a hard taskmaster precedes him, and she admits to being a ‘bit terrified’ before the three days of training started.
George puts Smash through his paces
On the third day George rode CT Aurenda (Smash), the 11 year old chestnut gelding owned by Carmen ter Rahe and ridden by Alice. Alice and Smash earned some praise from George but he wanted to tackle Smash’s reliance on the ‘fifth leg’
“This horse overflexes and becomes rubber necked. He relies on the hand as a ‘fifth leg’ and needs to develop self-carriage”
“He was much more forceful with him than I would have expected” admitted Alice “But I got back on and Smashy definitely felt better. Maybe he needs that occasionally!”
We talked to Alice afterwards about her experience during the clinic, which was a lovely 21st birthday present from her parents and sponsors, and her competition plans for 2017
Alice Hirst
Sam Jeffree, the Equestrian Victoria Young Eventing Rider of the Year in 2015, can also now tick a George Morris clinic off his bucket list. Riding Jaybee Calypso, Sam scored some good comments from George as a ‘smooth rider’ and Calypso as being ‘well trained and balanced’.
However they needed to work on some areas, with George’s personal crusade against riders that ‘set their hand on the wither’ coming to the fore and the exercise requiring Calypso to jump the Liverpool at a trot causing a bit of trouble. Having jumped a small vertical at a canter they were to come back to a trot and jump the somewhat spooky Liverpool but Calypso came to a halt the first time.
"Your cluck is your best friend" advised George and Calypso worked it out the second time but this is definitely one exercise that Sam will be working on at home with the 14 year warmblood
Coming soon - Some of George's training exercises and pearls of wisdom
