Tips from the top – George Morris on riding light…

George’s quote for the day: Riding is very simple, it’s just not easy…

George Morris hates the style of riding where the rider sits in the back of the saddle driving the horse forwards.

Tom McDermott shows how it is done…

“Lean forward with your back slightly hollow, slightly out of the saddle with your weight in your heels, then sink back, don’t plop back, sink – the horse’s back is very fragile.”

“What I am teaching is the light school of riding, the school exemplified by Bill Steinkraus. If you look at the jump off in Rio, then five of the six riders in the jump off – Peder Fredricson, Nick Skelton, Steve Guerdat, Kent Farrington, and the most forward of them all, Eric Lamaze – are from that light school.”

Bill Steinkraus – pioneer of the school of light riding

“The modern horse with lots of Thoroughbred doesn’t tolerate a backwards seat – that’s why race jockeys are so forward. The importance of a forward seat is not how far out of the saddle you are, but the forward inclination of your body to lighten the horse’s back. You can sink and sit deeper, but don’t sit back. Watch how light Nick Skelton rides, he always did, all of Ted Edgar’s students did.”

“Replace the word ‘sit’ with the word ‘sink’ – don’t sit back. Worry about heels down, not sit down.”

“If you think your heels are down – I want them further down. When the heel is down it engages the bicep muscle of your calf and you have a powerful grip.”
“Fix the stirrup iron, the outside bar should be closer to the toe. That stirrup has a life of its own. What keeps the stirrup in place? Weight in the heel. The stirrup slips and slides because the rider is not spending enough time out of the saddle.”

Want to read the story in full? Go to https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2017/12/new-and-exclusive-george-morris-its-simple-its-just-not-easy/