George Morris clinic means instant inspiration

Yep two of our horses/riders participated in a 3-day George Morris clinic last week in The Plains and it was pretty much the most amazing thing ever.

Notes are in the photo below, and more in depth discussion is in my 2014 GHM Horsemastership Session post.  The man is brilliant in that he doesn't say or do anything earth-shattering or new, but rather he sticks to the strict basics of horsemanship and riding that horses respond to.  The discipline and focus on the fundamentals of riding is what makes him and all his students so successful.  The discussion of the French seat vs the German seat was very interesting as well, partially because there were riders that exemplified each school and GM was able to illustrate why the French/forward seat (what our American Forward Seat system is based on) is so effective for staying with the horse.

George even hopped on one of our Thoroughbreds in the third session and just raved about the horse.  "What a horse!" he said.  Scotty made us proud.  I have always loved that GHM is a Thoroughbred man, and isn't shy about praising or promoting the breed and its great qualities as a sport horse.

The man.  The myth.  The LEGEND.

It is just impossible to watch a GM clinic and not walk away inspired and wanting to work hard on not just your riding, but your horsemanship skills in general.  It's also impossible to be at a farm this gorgeous and not think you landed somewhere in heaven and maybe you could just live in one of the stalls....

I MEAN REALLY

(Do note the stone floor veranda completely with cush patio furniture that I couldn't afford for my house and the super nice grill that probably costs more than my horse)


Also...I went home and Soon and I did the thing and here is some proof:

Soonie learned a trick

...and it's pretty great.  He does it now whenever he wants treats.  Guilt level:  EXPERT.

Go big or go home

So sometimes when you're all "I should really start taking my riding more seriously," you skip a few logical steps and go straight to "Imma ride with Linda Zang and Anne Kursinski for funsies."

Still not entirely sure how that happened

Yep you heard that right...I made good on my intentions to start clinicing with the top class folks we have in this general area, and booked a lesson with Linda Zang.  Which I had already talked about, but it's one thing to blog about "Yep this is something I want to do" and then actually book the lesson.  Mainly it's the mild panic that sets in as soon as you finalize payment and you realize you're committed and haven't taken a real lesson in probably a year or so.

But it's all good...I had my first lesson with local event trainer last weekend and Soonie and I did very well, we like her.  Bubba hauled over to her place and was a complete professional about the whole experience.  Just in one lesson we were able to break out of our current plateau and make some noticeable progress on the flat.  Got a ton of compliments on him, the job I've done on him thus far, as well as my riding, so that's always nice.  We'll try to snag another lesson before the Linda Zang lesson because we need it...if not we'll still be ok.  I'm confident Soon will handle the experience well and I know we'll get a lot out of the opportunity to ride with a master like Linda Zang!

So then I went clinic crazy and decided why not ride with Anne Kursinski for three days up at Market Street in November.  Because...YOLO?

Clearly there will be a lot of jumping lessons between now and November.

In all seriousness, it'll be a great time.  Check is in the mail so I should be locked in.  Looks like three of us from the barn are taking horses, and we'll all do the 3' session all three days.  Also sounds like one or two people may come along to audit and help, which will be huge so that we can all pitch in to take care of the horses and then try to maximize the auditing opportunities for the other two sessions.  I am SO SO SO excited that I don't even know where to begin!  Riding with Anne Kursinski.  At Market Street.  For three days.

CAN'T EVEN