Friday, Feb. 7, 2025

Tina DiLandri Took Advantage Of An Experience Of A Lifetime

Eight young riders participated in the 2008 George Morris Horsemastership Clinic, held Jan. 21-26 in Wellington, Fla. Tina DiLandri, Maria Schaub, Nikko Ritter, Karl Cook, Aurora Griffin, Carolyn Curcio, Kimberly McCormack and Jennifer Waxman soaked up knowledge from Morris—and other experts—not only about riding, but also about all-around horsemanship. DiLandri kept a diary of the experience, which she shares here.

Monday, January 21
PUBLISHED

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Eight young riders participated in the 2008 George Morris Horsemastership Clinic, held Jan. 21-26 in Wellington, Fla. Tina DiLandri, Maria Schaub, Nikko Ritter, Karl Cook, Aurora Griffin, Carolyn Curcio, Kimberly McCormack and Jennifer Waxman soaked up knowledge from Morris—and other experts—not only about riding, but also about all-around horsemanship. DiLandri kept a diary of the experience, which she shares here.

Monday, January 21

On the first day of the clinic, which started at 3 p.m., we were allowed to set up our grooming stall, as well as our horse’s stall. Laurie Pitts, the barn manager, informed us that the barn was to be kept in mint condition and everything in tip-top shape. There was to be no garbage lying around and there should always be something to do.

We got assigned our night-watch days, which would take place at 9 p.m. every night. Kim McCormack and Maria Schaub took the first night-watch shift.

At 6:30 p.m., we attended a welcome party, where George Morris spoke about the clinic and the importance of horsemanship. He stated that grooming is one of the most important aspects—“You can always learn how to ride a horse, but you also need to learn to care for your horse,” he said.

Tuesday, January 22

Today was the first real day of work. Our day started at 7 a.m. and ended at 5:30 p.m.

The first group to mount up consisted of Karl, Nikko, Maria and myself. Today was a flat lesson based on the fundamentals. During the lesson, I learned that there are four gaits the horse should be comfortable with—the walk, trot, canter and gallop.

In all of the gaits, the horse should be as light as he is in the walk. In our group, George rode Nikko’s horse, Aristotle. His horse was not very responsive to the aids and was very dull. The second that George got on him, he hit him with the crop to make him go forward. He then proceeded with lots of transitions from the gallop to a collected canter.

The second group to work on the flat consisted of Carolyn, Kim, Jen and Aurora. During this group, George rode Carolyn’s bay horse, Blast. Her horse was a stiff horse, so George did lots of figure-eights and bending. These exercises make the horse supple and responsive to the aids.

George emphasized that while bending, you should only see the corner of the horse’s eye.

Following the two flat sections, Melanie Smith Taylor talked about the importance of being a thinking rider. She told us that we need to use our minds and we get that knowledge through experience.

“Your mind is the greatest resource,” she said. If you put your mind to something it is all possible. She also told us that we need to learn from the past generations so we can grasp that knowledge and pass that knowledge down to the next generations. Every little detail counts.

At 4 p.m., we set the gymnastics course, which consisted of cavalleti, short distances, and tricky, airy obstacles. George wanted to challenge our minds and make us use our brains.

George always likes to set a course a certain way. All the jumps on the perimeter are set up first, then the diagonals across the ring. Along with today’s experiences we were assigned our mentors—Beezie Madden, Lauren Hough, Melanie Smith Taylor, Todd Minikus, Frank Madden, Margie Engle and Vivi Munden.

Wednesday, January 23

Our day started at 8 a.m , with the first group attempting the gymnastics phase. The group was Carolyn, Nikko, Jen and Aurora.

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We started by trotting over a single rail on the ground to make sure the horses were comfortable and not shy of the rail. Then we progressed to a series of three cavalleti at a normal distance then two trot steps to a rail on the ground. After we had negotiated that, George put the rail up as a jump and we did the same exercise. The cavalleti before the jump taught the horse rhythm and an even pace.

For the rest of the gymnastics phase, we had a diagonal line that was an oxer set 4′ wide, then a long three strides to a vertical with a liverpool underneath it. This was followed by a short two strides to an oxer, then a long three strides to another vertical with a liverpool underneath. This exercise showed your horse’s ability to extend and contract in an invisible manner.

Then there was an outside line that consisted of a very short one-stride combination to a boxy three strides to a triple bar, then a very long two strides in a bending line to one direction and a boxy three strides turning the other direction.

The first group had to work on their release through this outside line. They had to release down by the side of the neck to allow the horse to use its neck.

George’s comment was that Carolyn had a good relaxed elbow whereas Jen had a stiff, rigid elbow. Nikko had a great galloping position, and Aurora had to work on her release due to her horse being a bit of a fussbudget.

The second group consisted of Kim, Maria, myself and Karl. We did many of the same exercises as the first group, but also a few different ones. We practiced a series of circles that acted as spirals. The first circle was about 20 meters in diameter and then the last two got progressively smaller.

We did the same cavalleti exercises and the same diagonal line but a different outside line. George stood at the end of the line with his hand raised up in the air and as soon as he put it down that meant to stop wherever you were in the line. We eventually had our horses stopping in a one-stride line.

Then we had a single oxer and a vertical and we practiced tight turns. George also had us jump a liverpool with our hands on our head, then our chest, and finally our hip as we were approaching the fence. This helped our balance on the horse and distracted us as riders.

Following our lessons, we had a clinic with Dr. Timothy Ober, who knew exactly what he was talking about and used four horses to demonstrate his points. We got to have a hands-on experience and feel all of the tendons and suspensories.

We learned how to hoof-test and how to determine lameness and the way the muscles work in the body.
Then, Dr. Katie Young, Purina’s equine nutritionist, taught us about what our horses need to eat, hay analysis and the nutrients that horses require.

Dr. Danny Marks gave us a lecture on conformation, where we learned about the angles and muscles of the horses. He showed pictures of famous show jumpers and pointed out good and bad features of their conformation.

Thursday, January 24

Today was a very intense day. The first group—Karl, Maria, Kimmy and myself—had another gymnastics day. We walked a broken line of cavalletis and then trotted them using the opening rein, then cantered them in a slow connected canter.

We then negotiated an exercise that consisted of three jumps on a circle. All of the horses were quite fresh because the weather was about 20 degrees cooler today.

Karl went first and he did the exercise wrong, which is why George said that he chose him. We were supposed to jump one fence, skip the second fence, and jump the third. Then, when we were confident, we would do all three in a row.

George said that this exercise lightens a horse and keeps him soft and supple to the bit.

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After that we worked over an oxer that was crossed down like a cross rail and practiced our release, which was exaggerated and down by the shoulder. The oxer was then put up and we again practiced our release.

We had a course set up that was fairly tricky but doable. We started with a fairly wide triple bar to a forward six strides to a vertical with a liverpool. Another six strides took us to a broken, very short two-stride in-and-out, then to an oxer off of the right lead. After swinging wide in six strides to a vertical with a liverpool, we rode a very forward five strides to an open water and then five strides to a vertical.

All of the horses were cooperative and then George raised all of the fences. The second group did the same exercises and had the same luck.

Susan Harris and Peggy Brown gave a demonstration of Anatomy In Motion, where Brown rode a horse painted with all the different skeletal and muscular groups, to help us understand how the horses use their bodies.

Then, we went back to the barn and Dr. Young went over all of our horses’ feed and what they get each day.
Dr. Marks also came to the barns and helped us evaluate the conformation of the horses we were riding.

Friday, January 25

Today was a no-stirrups flat day. We did exercises that helped our balance such as holding the pommel with one hand and the reins in the other hand. We also had to trot and canter with our legs above the knee rolls to practice a deep seat.

George set up a line of three bounces, which we had to jump through with one hand on our head. The next time through, we had to move our hand from our head to our chest, hip, and back. This was great for our balance and also to concentrate on something other than our horse.

After the flat lesson, Steve Stephens did a demonstration on course designing. He is designing the 2008 Olympics, so to have him was such an honor. We learned about the different distances, how a
course designer designs the course and the different techniques that they use.

Saturday, January 26

This was the day that we would jump a course and practice everything that we had learned. The course consisted of a triple bar, open water to a combination, and some roll-back turns. George evaluated all of us and told us each what we needed to work on so we can become better riders.

After we put our horses away and cleaned up in the barn, we had a luncheon, which was hosted by the U.S. Equestrian Federation. This was a time to thank all of the sponsors and everyone who put their hard work and time into putting this clinic together. Without Bates, Purina, and the USEF none of this would have been possible. All of the riders also received a picture in a customized frame with our names engraved. All of the riders went to the barn and packed up all of their stuff and went home with an experience of a lifetime.

To have such amazing people help with this clinic was such a treat! This was truly an experience of a lifetime, and not many people get to experience something like this.

To ride with George Morris for a week is beyond anything that anyone can encounter. He has so much to offer to everyone that you pay attention to every little detail. All of the seminars were interesting, but in my opinion the seminar with Dr. Marks was phenomenal. I would just like to thank everyone who was involved in this clinic, and I truly appreciate being given the opportunity to participate in something like this.

Tina DiLandri

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