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Post by horseguy on Jun 29, 2017 9:02:35 GMT
The "critique" is a Hunter/Jumper thing popularized by George Morris in his Practical Horseman column over many years. Riders submit a photo and from the still pictures George comments on everything from their apparel to the various forms presented in the image. This is the same man who will charge riders twice the going rate for his clinics so he can repetitively shout, "heels down" and "more hip angle". Morris, the man who brought the crest release to riding in the 1970's with his Hunter Seat Equitation, is a prolific "innovator". The critique and crest release being just a sample of his ruinous contributions to American riding. The critique gives us a very clear insight into the Hunter/Jumper mind. It is based on static form completely devoid of dynamic movement. If horsemanship is the pursuit of unity of motion and balance, as many traditional masters have asserted for centuries, then what is the value of a still snapshot of a split second in time? The answer can be found in an exploration of Morris's mastery of self marketing. The critique provided George with another stage on which he could perform his BNT (big name trainer) act, the two dimensional pages of a magazine. Had Pat Parelli not come along after George, Morris would have been remembered as the greatest self promoter in modern equestrian history. Now he must settle for the historical distinction of being the person who gutted dressage from the Military Seat, enabled human nature's lazy impulse in riding instruction and as a man who dressed impeccably while undermining American horsemanship. See George Morris's new Beryer talking action figure (this might put George ahead of Pat in BNT marketing wars): www.horsenation.com/2015/09/23/a-talking-george-morris-action-figure-just-came-on-the-market/Not everyone is a fan off George's critique innovation: www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/hunter-jumper/220488-george-morris-ridiculous-critiques-of-horses-form-in-practical-horseman |
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Post by Emily on Jun 29, 2017 12:34:43 GMT
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Post by jacki on Jun 29, 2017 13:14:50 GMT
"Not everyone is a fan off George's critique innovation:"www.hillbillyfarms.org/critique.htmlThis is hilarious! (You might have to "cut and paste" the link - I'm technologically challenged!) As for you, Emily, as Horseguy said, it's hard to "critique" from a photo (videos show much more). However, to my UNTRAINED eye, it appears you may be jumping higher than you are ready for/comfortable with. I am not a rider or a trainer, and I cannot tell you how to fix what I see, so I must defer to those who are so qualified. But welcome, and keep reading/posting! Jacki
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Post by jimmy on Jun 29, 2017 14:21:41 GMT
I would never wear a lime green shirt with a dark blue pad. Your jumps need painting. |
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Post by horseguy on Jun 29, 2017 14:56:40 GMT
I would never wear a lime green shirt with a dark blue pad. Your jumps need painting. Wow Jimmy, I didn't know you were as good as George. |
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Post by jimmy on Jun 29, 2017 14:57:37 GMT
As I suspected, I'm pretty sure that troll 2 and troll 3 are in collusion. Their aim is not an honest critique, but to set up Horseguy, and critique his critiqueing. They don't really want HGs opinion any more than I want a headache, as I suspect they are here to judge HG, and pretty much feel there isn't much to critique. Especially after HGs explanation of why these type of George Morris critiques are worthless.
They both jumped on what they considered a serious critique from me, which proves they have zero sense of humor. My comment was strictly satire, but they seem to self absorbed to understand that.
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Post by horseguy on Jun 29, 2017 15:03:38 GMT
As I suspected, I'm pretty sure that troll 2 and troll 3 are in collusion. Their aim is not an honest critique, but to set up Horseguy, and critique his critiqueing. They don't really want HGs opinion any more than I want a headache, as I suspect they are here to judge HG, and pretty much feel there isn't much to critique. Especially after HGs explanation of why these type of George Morris critiques are worthless. They both jumped on what they considered a serious critique from me, which proves they have zero sense of humor. My comment was strictly satire, but they seem to self absorbed to understand that. Yeah, I got that too, but I am serious about George's critique format. It was, like his Beryer doll royalties, all about the money from the magazine. I thought the figure 8 question was sincere, so I responded. Like you said a few weeks ago, they will learn if you don't make them uncomfortable. Their threshold of comfort is so high that is restricts any sense of humor they might have and their ability to learn get crushed by their need for affirmation. Your critique cracked me up. You nailed George. |
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Post by Emily on Jun 29, 2017 15:53:56 GMT
I catch the humor in it now. It's hard to understand sarcasm when you are just reading words on a screen and not hearing the tone it is said in. To the person who said I was not comfortable jumping that height... I am very comfortable jumping that height. My horse is green and if I wasn't comfortable with that height she would of refused. She needed the confidence from me to get over the jump.
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Post by horseguy on Jun 29, 2017 16:02:19 GMT
These riders who are in the Morris tradition, do not know Morris. This is what I meant about cumulative error. It is as rideanotherday posted like the phone call game or repeating something until it becomes meaningless. George Morris started Hunter Jumpers. He was the first Big Name Trainer. He changed American riding in huge ways that through time and successive instructors ended up to be how you young riders were taught, but with the phone game confusion added in. You don't know what you don't know.
The funny part is George has turned into a caricature of himself. He is now famous for his "sayings" like "heels down (no instructor said that all the time before Morris) now in a talking doll. He is the main influence on your riding and most don't have a clue how or why. But the funniest part is his famous obsession with clothes and turnout, i.e. the shirt pad joke.
Is anyone beginning to see how limited your knowledge of equestrian history is and how isolated your ideas are as a result?
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Post by horseguy on Jun 29, 2017 16:16:36 GMT
No. All of us Trolls know who George Morris is. Just because we didn't grow up in the time period of George Morris like you did does not mean we don't know anything about him. We know you don't know about his obsession with color matching or you would have been laughing along with Jimmy and me. Please tell me what you know about Morris, particularly how he has had an impact on American Horsemanship. That would be interesting, like hearing the final player's summary of the communication in the phone game, is your understanding at this time in history. I am not saying this to embarrass you. I am curious how much has been lost, altered, confused, etc. It's not your fault that generations of instructors have failed to teach you how riding has evolved. Most interesting to me would be what you think Morris did that has been positive for riding and training. There are a few things, and I do not mean elevated apparel. |
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Post by jacki on Jul 1, 2017 15:34:22 GMT
I catch the humor in it now. It's hard to understand sarcasm when you are just reading words on a screen and not hearing the tone it is said in. To the person who said I was not comfortable jumping that height... I am very comfortable jumping that height. My horse is green and if I wasn't comfortable with that height she would of refused. She needed the confidence from me to get over the jump. I agree - communication/interpretation is difficult when it's just words on a screen. The same goes for a still photo of a longer "action" such as a jump, but .... to my UNTRAINED eye, it appears your horse has jumped long and pushed off unevenly from the hind, and you are ahead of the motion of the jump - overly bent, resting slightly on the horse's neck, etc. -- in other words, far less than an ideal jump. You have since explained that you were schooling a green horse, which could explain a lot; sometimes form goes out the window in such instances. I get that, but ... if you knew it was far from an ideal jump, why would you post the photo with no context and ask for a "critique"? On the other hand, if you think the photo is representative of a typical, "confident" jump for you, then in all seriousness I think you should look for a more knowledgeable trainer. We have never met, so please believe my comments are not meant to be hurtful to you in any way -- I'm simply concerned that, as Horseguy put it, you may not know (realize) what you don't know, and the same may apply to your trainer. IF this is typical jumping form for you, it may serve you OK show-jumping (you may even bring home ribbons) in a flat arena. But were you to jump this way fox hunting in places my daughter routinely hunts, it could get you killed.
I think most of the members of this forum would agree, we appreciate your sincere interest, and I for one would love to see you keep posting as you progress in your riding. As you spend more time here, the "words on the page" will become easier to interpret, as well as the spirit in which they are written. Hopefully you will keep reading and learning and maybe even get a few chuckles.  Keep riding and STAY SAFE! Jacki |
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