George Morris comments on perfect form....

It is very important to understand who taught George Morris to ride. His name is Gordon Wright. Wright was a product of his time, which was the era of the world domination of equestrian competition by the Fort Riley Seat. Legend has it that Wright at age 24 came east from cowboying in Utah to compete in the Madison Square Garden rodeo. He stayed and took "English" riding lesson at West Point from Colonel Wofford (Olympian Jim Wofford's father) once a week. When World War II broke out Wright enlisted in the Cavalry, went to Fort Riley where he eventually became an instructor and taught until 1943 when the US Cavalry was dismounted. He then returned to the east, rented an abandoned State Trooper stable in wealthy Westchester County NY outside NYC and opened a riding school. Well healed students like George Morris and William Steinkraus were his clientele.

Morris learned to ride correctly. After WWII the most respected riding instructors were former Cavalry. I started riding under such and instructor eight years after the War. Morris is eight years older than I, so I assume he began riding under Gordon Wright probably immediately after the War. We both had the same curriculum taught by the same kind of disciplined instructor. While I suspect Wight might have been a more advanced instructor than my Cavalry teacher, we both basically learned how to ride in the same way and see a rider with the same eye. I therefore agree completely with Morris' assessment of the photo. The rider is near perfect (I'd only ask that the rider have a softer elbow). I am overcome with joy that Morris, now in his old age and perhaps because his long term memory is overshadowing his near term memory, is returning to his roots.

I am disturbed by his complaint that most of the other riders in the magazine's pictures are ahead of the motion of their horse. After all, it was Morris' invention of the crest release (something my instructor, and I am sure Wright, called a mistake) that caused riders to get out of the saddle prematurely to grab the mane that caused generations of riders to get ahead of the horse's movement. I wish Morris would take more responsibility for the degradation of American riding instead of deflecting and blaming others like Rodney Jenkins, but this comment of his is a start.

At any rate, whether it be due to the memory reconfiguration of aging or remorse for his major screw-up of American riding, I am glad George Morris is returning to the core of what made American riding great. I have urged him over the years to write a book entitled something like, "How I Learned to Ride: a memoir of my time with Gordon Wright".