Something happened at a U.S.E.F. Judges’ Clinic a few years ago that I think is worth passing on to women who aspire to be horse show judges.  As you probably know, continuing education is required of all judges, so there is a mix of both current judges and people applying to be judges at the Judges’ Clinics.  At this particular clinic, the organizer asked us to divide into two groups—those with “Big R” licenses and those applying for a license.  As it turned out, I was the only woman with a “Big R.”  As I moved into the line of men, which numbered somewhere around ten, it was apparent that all of us had a “uniform” of sorts—khaki pants, paddock boots, a solid or striped dress shirt, an Irish cap or other style of classic hat, and a jacket, with the majority of the jackets being navy in color.

Across from me was the line of applicants, the majority of which were women.  When I looked at their attire, I saw shoes with toes exposed, flowered sundresses, heavy gold necklaces, and large sunhats. It occurred to me at that moment that a women shouldn’t look like a greeter in the hospitality tent if she wanted to be taken seriously as a judge.  By wearing tailored clothes based on men’s fashion, a woman can fit right in with the other judges and make her knowledge, rather than her sexuality, the highlight of the day.

It’s not as easy to find women’s khaki pants as it used to be, but the brand, “Jones of New York,” did carry them this year.  Also, “Jones of New York” and “Ralph Lauren” have some beautiful no-iron shirts in solid colors and stripes.  I thought I’d pass this information on because I think my judging attire had something to do with fitting in with other judges and not being mistaken for an assistant when I stood beside a male in the show ring.  I hope this advice might be useful to other women seeking licenses and promotions.

Ida and A.O. White, Jr.

The horse-show season is in full swing, and many parents are struggling with how to be helpful to their children involved in competitive sport during their formative years.  Having had a great deal of assistance from my parents and eventually reaching the pinnacle of my ambitions as a junior rider, I believe I have some insight on the do’s and don’ts of parental involvement.  First, my parents always made it clear to me that they were my support system, so that I could have the best chance of reaching the goals I had set for myself.  I saw other parents having ambitions for their children that were unrealistic, including expecting children that did not show an extraordinary ability or work ethic to have ambitions to reach the top of the sport.  Lots of kids just want to ride and show for the sake of being with their horses and enjoying the exciting atmosphere of the show ring.  They enjoy giving their horse a bath more than working thirty minutes each day without stirrups—i.e., their enjoyment comes from love of the animal, rather than competitive ambition.  As a parent, you have to size up the abilities and interests of your child and not expect him or her to have ambition just because you do.  It is the rare child that has a consistent competitive hunger, and even rarer is the child that has both the drive and ability to win.  A person’s physical build, mental acuity, coordination, and ability to “get along with a horse” all come into play.

The goal as a parent should be to see where your child fits in the whole scheme of things and dedicate yourself to the best interests of the child.  This includes being honest with yourself about the resources you can provide.  Buying a horse, tack, and riding clothes; paying for board, shoeing, and vet bills; and paying for lessons and horse shows can be a great expense that drains the family budget.  In my case, my mother was a stay-at-home mom of three, and my father a self-made man, who owned an engineering firm.  When he could see the cost of riding activities climbing as I reached the last few years of my junior career, he learned several languages so that he could work worldwide to afford the horse activities without jeopardizing the overall financial picture for our family.  I was fully dedicated to the sport, so he stepped up in an extraordinary way to help me.  At the same time, a friend of mine had an enthusiastic father who went greatly into debt and probably ended up in bankruptcy.  His emotions outweighed his common sense and, in the end, the entire family paid for it.  Making sure you are reasonable about finances is one of the best ways you can support a competitive child.  As a junior, I braided my horse’s mane and tail, even for the largest indoor shows.  Until I reached age 18, my family usually took the horse in our trailer, rather than paying a shipper; and I did the grooming, bathing, etc.   Doing these things helps a person become an all-around competent horseman and can defray a lot of expenses.  With both parent and child working together to make ends meet to accomplish a goal, a lasting bond can be formed.

Finally, support your children by supporting their coaches.  My parents put me with the best coaches available in the area, then encouraged me to listen to and respect them.  When things went wrong, for instance, my mother might say, “I’m sure if you keep trying to do what he’s saying, things will get better.”  She never took the stance that the coach was wrong and shouldn’t be picking on her little darling.  Parents who are always mad at somebody—the coach, the judge, other riders, etc.—are not helping, but instead are raising the child to be full of excuses.  One of the most important avenues to achieving success is having a realistic view of where you stand in relation to your competition.  If the child is convinced that “the coach is crazy,” “the judge robbed me,” and “I really should have gotten a ribbon instead of her,” there is little incentive for improvement.  One of the best ways to learn is to observe other people who are great in the sport and see what they are doing that makes them better than you.  First, you have to realize that they are better than you!

My parents helped in every way:

• holding horses in the hot sun and freezing cold at horse shows
• driving to feed the horse in the early morning at a show so that I could have a little extra time to get dressed and eat breakfast
• going thousands of miles through unfamiliar towns with a trailer in tow to reach a new showground
• never putting pressure on me to win, but encouraging me to always do the best that I could in any situation

My parents, A.O. and Ida White, passed away many years ago.  I still think about all they did for me and remember them with the greatest love and respect.  It isn’t because they spent a lot of money on me, but because they helped me do what I was trying so hard to do.  That is what your child really wants.

Welcome to the Kentucky Horse Park's "Thoroughbred Exhibit"

The Kentucky Horse Park’s “Thoroughbred Exhibit” just opened and will run through the end of 2013. Here’s location and contact information, in case you’re interested. Address: Kentucky Horse Park, 4089 Iron Works Pkwy Lexington, KY 40511.  Phone: (800) 678-8813.

There is also a nice article about the exhibit at:  http://www.kyforward.com/2013/04/katie-shoultz-a-romp-through-thoroughbred-show-horse-history-with-the-wheeler-museum/

If you want to see lots of interesting photos and check out some amusing and sometimes insightful chatter, go on Facebook and view the open-to-the-pubic “USHJA Wheeler Museum” page:   http://www.facebook.com/groups/122087217929774/?fref=ts

George Morris at Patsy Timmons' farm in Atlanta, GA, in 1968

When I was a teenager, George Morris, then age 28, sat at a table in my parents’ kitchen in Atlanta, GA, and talked about what he would like to accomplish in his lifetime.  ”Someday, I would love to coach the American show jumping team,” he said; and so it was with great pleasure that I saw him reach his goal and become the chef d’equipe for the USEF Show Jumping Team in 2005.  Now, as 2012 draws to a close, George is retiring from this position, although I’m sure he will continue to be a force in shaping horse sports for years to come.  His impact upon hunter seat riding has been greater than any other trainer during the past 50 years, so I think it is important to reflect upon his career and what it has meant to riders in the United States and abroad.

First I should mention George’s extraordinary ability as a rider.  He grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut, and began riding as a child because a medical problem caused his legs to be weak, and it was thought that exercise would strengthen them.  As it turned out, he was a child prodigy in horse sports.  In 1952, at the age of 14, he won the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Finals and AHSA Hunt Seat Equitation Medal Finals on his horse, “Gamecock,” at Madison Square Garden, making him the youngest rider to do so.  After all of these years, that record has still not been broken.

He studied with the late Gordon Wright, a renowned horseman and teacher, who was involved in the formation of the first civilian Olympic Team in show jumping for the United States in 1956.  George was named to the U.S. Show Jumping Team and, in 1959, was part of the gold medal team in the Pan American Games. He was also on the silver medal team at the 1960 Rome Olympics and rode on eight winning Nations Cup teams between 1958 and 1960.  In 1963, he turned professional because he felt that he should financially stand on his own.  There were strict prohibitions against professionals in the Olympic Games at that time, so he had to make a choice.  Remarkably, George had coached seven winners of the ASPCA and AHSA Hunter Seat Finals by the time his now-famous book, “Hunter Seat Equitation,” was published in 1971.  Part of his success was his assemblage of capable riders one year apart in age, allowing him to have immediate winners, as well as a line of up-and-coming riders to fill their places once they had grown out of the junior division.

Early on, George used other people’s barns as his base, including Ann Yohai’s “Old Mill Farm” on Long Island and Amory Ripley’s beautiful estate in Millbrook, N.Y., but finally settled into his own operation, “Hunterdon,” in Pittstown, N.J. Throughout the 1970′s, his coaching concentrated on hunters and hunter seat equitation; but in the 1980′s, he turned to the jumper division, where he had success as both a coach and rider.  In 1988, he won the richest purse in show jumping, the Grand Prix of Calvary, Canada, on “Rio,” which he considers one of the greatest highlights of his equestrian career.  As for his stellar teaching record, his former students include top Grand Prix riders Leslie Burr Howard, Norman Dello Joio, the Leone brothers, Chris Kappler, Katie Prudent, Conrad Homfeld, Melanie Smith-Taylor, Lisa Jacquin, and Anne Kursinski, to name a few.  Since 1984, over ten Olympic medal-winning riders were his former students.

George was the first to assemble a team of highly-trained support personnel, including top vets, blacksmiths, stable managers, and grooms, to be a part of his operation.  He didn’t just concentrate on lessons, but knew the importance of everything being in place in order to achieve a winning result.  First and foremost, was the wellbeing of the horse:

“Love means attention, which means looking after the things we love. We call this stable management.” GEORGE H. MORRIS

In a July 10, 2010 article, “Four Showjumping Masters: Part 1 — George Morris,”  in the Australian online magazine, The Horse, George’s observations on what sets the American style of riding apart from all the rest is succinctly described:

“We learned to ride with neither too long nor too short a stirrup, the basic length being the stirrup’s tread touching the ankle bone. We learned to place the stirrup on the ball of the foot in order to more easily drive the heel down and to turn the toes out slightly, consequently flexing the ankles. Our contact with the horse is with the calf of the leg and the inner knee bone, not just with the knee. As a result, this constant, quiet, and very secure lower leg contact is effective yet less disturbing to the horse than a swinging or pivoting leg. We allow the seat to be deep, yet by the forward inclination of the upper body, light in the saddle, we provide flexibility of the upper body by positioning it differently for different gaits and speeds. We learned to keep our heads up and use our eyes positively. Last but not least, we maintained a line from the rider’s elbow to the horse’s mouth, thus establishing the most direct and elastic contact possible.” http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2010/07/four-showjumping-masters-%E2%80%93-part-1-george-morris/

Since 1978, George has been a USET director, the USET Vice President for Show Jumping, a member of the USET Executive and Show Jumping Committees, a member of the USEF National Jumper Committee and Planning Committee, the USEF chef d’ equipe at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and the President of the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame.  He has acted as chef d’equipe for numerous winning teams, including the 2005 champions of the Samsung Super League.  He coached United States teams to individual and team Silver metals at the 2006 Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) World Equestrian Games; and in 2008, he was the coach of the Gold Medal Team at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong, as well as of the team member who won the Individual Bronze Metal.

He has held a “Big R” judging license for many years and judged some of the most prestigious horse competitions in the United States.  A major advocate for the creation of the Hunter Derby—which harks back to earlier days when horses competed in open fields that simulated the foxhunting experience—he was chosen in 2010 to be one of the four judges for the $25,000 Franktown Meadows Hunter Derby.  The following is an excerpt from the announcement in The Chronicle of the Horse:

“One of the original supporters of high performance hunter classes, Morris is passionate about the evolving hunter derby program. Having hunter derbies allows the discipline to be in touch with its roots as it encourages riders to pick up a gallop and navigate an open field of natural, solid obstacles resembling those once found in fox hunting fields. As one of the Franktown Meadows Hunter Derby judges, Morris will be looking for the horse that best portrays the ideal hunter; a forward moving horse that moves well, jumps well, and wears a good expression around the course.”  https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/george-h-morris-announced-one-four-judges-25000-franktown-meadows-hunter-derby

For many years, George has educated the general public through his column, “Jumping Clinic,” in the monthly equestrian magazine, Practical Horseman, with critiques of the jumping position of riders in photos that were submitted by readers.  He also has had an impact on Olympic teams throughout the world.   At the invitation of various countries, he has taught around the globe and spread his methodology .  One of the most direct impacts was the training of the highly-successful rider, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, who was his pupil before moving to Germany and competing on the German team.

In 2010, George helped launch the USHJA Trainer Certification Program, which offers clinics and symposiums aimed at educating trainers and certifying them so that their clients will know they are qualified to teach riding and take care of horses at their facilities. This is a huge step in raising the level of expertise nationwide.  Through this comprehensive approach, George and other knowledgable professionals are working to pass the baton of excellence to future generations.

From personal experience, I can say these things of George Morris:

• He is the most disciplined man I’ve ever met
• He loves horses and always puts their wellbeing first
• He constantly seeks to improve the sport of hunter-seat riding, with an emphasis on education and ethics
• He will stick with you through thick and thin, as long as you’re really trying

For all of his famous technical advice, his ultimate goal is to elevate the sport of hunter seat riding to an art:

“Think of riding as a science, but love it as an art.” GEORGE MORRIS

Whatever he chooses to do next, I wish him all the best!

George Morris with Teddi Ismond

Sarah Appel, publisher of Horse & Style magazine (http://horseandstylemag.com) and Molly Knott, publisher of DappledGrey.com, are launching their first annual online publication, Holiday Guide to Equestrian Style, on November 14th.

While earning her MFA in Fashion Merchandising in California, Sarah Appel was showing and working as an assistant trainer at an A-circuit barn nearby.  Looking to combine her love and knowledge of fashion and horses into one career, she chose Northern California as her target market and launched Horse & Style magazine in October, 2011.

Molly Knott, formerly a Stanford-educated education policy researcher, swapped research and writing about schools and teachers for stories about saddles and tack.  In 2009, she developed an online guide to the English equestrian lifestyle.   Here’s some additional information from the Dappled Grey website:

Dappled Grey is an online guide dedicated to bringing you the best of the English equestrian lifestyle. We scour the Internet, work directly with brands and retailers, and seek out independent designers to bring our readers all the latest, fabulous must-have’s and must do’s for the English equestrian.  The current equestrian trends? Check. The inside deals? Check. Style and decor inspiration? Check. Our international audience is heavy on the horsey-set, but Dappled Grey is definitely not your typical horse blog. We’re all about curating our finds so you only get the good stuff. (“Edit!” as Tim Gunn would say).  And if you’re not an equestrian, Dappled Grey welcomes you, too. We know plenty of our readers don’t ride or own horses, but still appreciate and enjoy equestrian style. In addition to our blog, Dappled Grey offers the free Weekly Guide to the English Equestrian Lifestyle, a once-per-week email that delivers a collection of our exclusive equestrian content directly to your inbox. Readers don’t have to subscribe, but our emails include specially curated content that you won’t otherwise see.

I wish Sarah and Molly the best with their new venture!

I thought you might enjoy the opening shot in the my second article in “Horse Illustrated” magazine, which comes out in June, 2012.  I got an advance copy and decided to go ahead and post it. This picture is interesting to me because it shows something that is rarely seen in riders today—eyes focused between the ears of the horse.  (When I began to look for cover shots for my most recent book, The Complete Guide to Hunter Seat Training, Showing, and Judging, I sorted through thousands of photographs and only found a few in which the riders were looking forward as their horses jumped the fences.  If you look at the post just below this one, you’ll see the shot that made the cover, showing Maria Schaub looking forward and slightly to the left as she scopes out a fence on an upcoming turn. The shot that you see pictured above is the opening shot on the title page of the book.  I don’t know who this rider is.  She was one of many in the files of photographer Bill Johnson and was chosen simply by the merit of her technique.)  The importance of the rider’s eyes cannot be stressed enough.  If you’re looking forward through the ears of the horse, your weight will be centered, making it easier for both you and the horse to keep your balance.  When your face is forward, instead of down, your spine is straighter, allowing you to make subtle adjustments with your back, which is particularly important as you land and balance your horse for the upcoming turn at the end of a line.  Most importantly, your mind is where your eyes are! If you’re looking down in the air, you’re thinking about the horse’s feet, the jump rails, the ground, etc.; but if you’re looking forward, you’re thinking about the straightness of your line, how much room you have to collect your horse before the turn, how fast you’re going as you land, etc.  Whatever is happening in the air has already been decided several strides before the fence, so you won’t help yourself or your horse by watching the result of your previous decisions.  The only way you can improve your performance is to think ahead so that your setup to the next line of fences will be  a good one.  So make sure that when you jump a fence, you’re looking between the ears of your horse. Who knows…maybe you’ll be the next person on a book cover!

I wanted to let you know that I have two articles coming out soon in “Horse Illustrated” magazine. The first comes out in May and is entitled, “Perfect Position.” It’s about the how and why of hunter seat equitation, both on the flat and over fences. The second article comes out in June and is entitled, “A Winning Trip over Fences.” It lays out the basics of riding a course, with the elements applying to every course, whether it be an equitation, hunter, or jumper class. As most of you have probably heard by now, the U.S. Equestrian Team’s coach, George Morris, is having some health problems and will undergo surgery in May. As I write to you today, I’m reminded of how many things in my articles for “Horse Illustrated” are based on George’s teachings. He became my riding instructor when I was 11 years old and took me from virtual obscurity in the southeastern United States to success at top-flight hunter and equitation competitions along the eastern seaboard. I can’t say enough about everything he did for me as I was growing up—not only the influence he had upon my riding, but also upon my way of thinking and dealing with challenges. Whatever I have to offer to you today is a direct result of what he offered me. May these two articles serve as a testament to the knowledge he has imparted to so many riders throughout the world. More than anything, I wish for George a complete and speedy recovery.

To be an excellent rider, you must combine an academic and athletic approach to the sport.  It is one thing to know the distance between two fences, but it is quite another to feel whether the horse is covering that distance in even strides.

The most beautiful rounds are the ones in which the horse seems to naturally meet each take-off spot, with the strides between the fences appearing to be even.  To accomplish this, you must feel whether your horse is covering the ground in normal 12-foot strides, or is covering the ground in shorter or longer strides than the norm.  The ability to feel the length of the horse’s stride comes with practice, although some people pick up this concept easily, while others struggle all their lives to attain a “feel for the horse.”   (This ability is related to the ability to see the proper take-off spot—that is, to know what adjustment must be made on the approach to the fence to place the horse’s front feet at the correct place for take-off.)

For each horse that you ride, you need to find the pace and frame that results in a 12-foot stride on course, for this is the standard upon which all courses are constructed.  A short-strided horse will need greater pace and/or a longer frame to meet the norm, while a long-strided horse will need less pace and/or a shorter frame.  You can determine the adjustment you’ll need by negotiating a line of fences set 60 feet apart, which should be ridden in four strides for a horse. (Pony strides vary according to the size of the pony.)

Approach the fences at the pace that you believe puts the horse on a 12-foot stride, then see how the distance works out between the fences.  Of course, you’ll need a decent take-off spot to the first fence to be able to gauge the length of the horse’s stride between the fences, for if you’re too deep to the first fence, you’ll have to hustle down the line to make up for the impulsion lost at the beginning of the line.  If you concentrate on feeling the length of the horse’s stride and knowing where you are in the line—that is, knowing if you’re going between the fences in the correct four, even strides, or are adding, deleting, or travelling down the line in strides of varying lengths—then you’ll soon know what a 12-foot strides feels like on that particular horse.  Knowing this, try to replicate the feel of an even 12-foot stride every time during the beginning circle on course.

From the beginning of the course until the end, the horse’s strides should look even, with the rider making only small adjustments to compensate for any changes in the lengths of the lines (for instance in equitation or jumper courses, where the lines are sometimes set on shorter or longer distances than the 12-foot norm) or for changes in the terrain that affect the horse’s length of stride (for example, sloping terrain that makes it harder for the horse to travel uphill or easier for the horse to travel downhill, deep footing that makes it harder to make the distances, or slippery footing that throws a “wild card” into the mix!)

As with everything you do on a horse, once you get a feel for what is correct, make an effort to memorize that feel.  It is the ability to replicate your feel of a particular horse that will enable you to have round after round of beautiful trips on that horse.

A horse usually “jigs” at the walk when it does not fully accept the rider’s leg. You need to do a lot of relaxing work at the walk, such as riding on trails or in a field, making sure that you don’t take your legs off the horse’s sides for even a moment. If you will concentrate on keeping a light, but steady, feel with your legs, then your horse will learn to expect the constancy of the legs and will even crave it, much like a child craves the comfort of its “security blanket.”

When you are working in the ring, try to keep your horse moving from one bending movement to the next, rather than just going around and around the arena. When working on a bend, you have more control of the horse’s hind legs, particularly the inside hind leg, which is controlled by your inside leg—that is, your leg that is toward the inside of the bend. Movements such as circles, serpentines, half-turns, etc. will slow the horse down a little and tend to make it stay in the four-beat rhythm of the walk, rather than break to the two-beat trot. In addition, using suppling movements, such as the shoulder-in, will help slow your horse and make its footfalls more precise. To learn of additional lateral movements that can be useful in solving this problem, view the sample chapter of my book, The Complete Guide to Hunter Seat Training, Showing, and Judging, at http://annamullin.com/lateral-exercises-at-the-walk-and-trot.

Finally, half-halts can be beneficial, as long as you keep your legs on all the time, rather than taking them off if the horse breaks gait from the walk to the trot. To learn how to do the half-halt properly, read “How to Perform at Half-halt” in the Horse Articles section of this site.  You can go directly there by clicking on http://annamullin.com/how-to-perform-a-half-halt.