George Morris: Educating a horse to a spooky jump

[horsefreak34]

anyone who's questioning his methods... Did it work or did it not work... CLEARLY the method gets results and if its not for you then its not for you, but look how nicely it worked for these guys!

[hunterjumper798]

Amazing*

[hunterjumper798]

Ok seriously they aren't hitting the horse hard at all. It's a tiny crop and they just tap the horse. It wouldn't even hurt a person. Horse's skin is really thick, so get over it. It's his style of teaching and obviously it has worked becuase they all went over and he's done a,axing

[CollinLovesMe31]

HEY GUYS! last time i checked George Morris is a GENIUS!! shut up you don't know what your talking about:) he trains athletes and show horses not back yard ponies..so please give him the respect he deserves..... since he is the chef de equipe <---(prob spelled that wrong) of the US team and all

[kurtizkd]

i agree this isnt a good way to teach it. 

[143dasher]

I will never understand why high level trainers still train using fear based techniques. Learn about animal behavior and classical and operant conditioning. Let the horse look, sniff and walk over. Associating something scary with a pat or soft voice teaches the horse to trust you versus whipping them over so that they are not relaxed. You can also school it on the ground first if you are not capable enough a rider.

[littlerider1303]

Why would u walk to the fence knowing the horse will not go over it, just for the sake of hitting him? Why do they whip them before the jump even though there is no hesitation from the horse? I dont understand what this coach is doing .

[angelsee19]

why they hit the horse before the jump ?

[Strul83]

Not good! :S

[thequietone1551]

Yeah... I would love to see how this would work with my guy. He is been deathly afraid of tarps to the point he wouldn't enter an arena if one was in there. Been that way the entire time I have had him (10 years). I have now gotten to the point he will approach with me leading him but not within 12 feet with me on him. ^_^ He'd run right over GM!!!!!

[Equestrian08]

This is a very interesting way to do it. At first glance I felt skeptical. But when I think about it, I can see how it could work. You teach the horse to associate the fence with a driving command such as the tap of a whip. So when he approaches it he thinks about that tap and the thought already encourages him. This is definately thinking outside the box. I imagine this might not work so well on all horses, but its very interesting approach that probably is effective.

[XSwiftasmyheartX]

This isn't how yout teach a horse how to jump. This is how you teach a horse to be afraid of a jump.

[XSwiftasmyheartX]

@XSwiftasmyheartX you*

[kathleenmknights]

If you use a stick behind your leg it teaches the horse to go forward; if you let the horse stand there and smell it, it teaches them to look at the fence when you come up to it- which is what they might do when you canter up to it again. Each horse and rider is different but I have tried both methods and the stick works everytime- obviously with a hot horse who wouldn't normally refuse this might not be the best idea, walking up to it and leg yielding by also works wonders...

[3ponyrider]

@Eamloo i totally agree with you. It could deffo teach a horse to refuse or slow down

[MetalSiicken]

It varies tho, my jumper, would jump over fire, and he isn't sensitive, so crops do nothing, I don't wear a spur or a crop. However I do think this would work with my one hunter, but not my other, I have a feeling the one would get verrrrrry angry.I might end up with a facefull of dirt

[Eamloo]

I dont believe in the method, hitting a horse with a crop well standing there and then going around, it will spook them from jumping and they will learn bad habits.. beautiful horses though.

[SoelleKhiss]

I think this is brilliant. For the person who commented about how the horses behaved afterward, try thinking outside the box for moment. Once the horse has done this exercise and understands, the reaction will be less and less. Some green horse get a little forward over their very first jump. We don't quit on them. We teach them that run through the hands is inappropriate. When approaching this type of fence for the third or fourth time, stick will not be necessary.

[TheRedhorse3]

I think the purpose is to get the horse to focus on you, not the spooky object...I do it with my horse..and it works.

[kickbuttequestrian]

If i smacked my horse on the butt with the crop infront of the liverpool. My horse would have jumped from a standstill right there...

[KarlyyMiracle]

@kickbuttequestrian thats good!

[HoRsEjUmPeR305]

Please go watch my video of me jumping my horse!

Feedback would nice, so rate & comment :)

[TheArtOfTheSpy]

I think this method works brilliantly. What it does it make the horse WANT to jump the jump. Not allowing it to the first time creates the feeling (albeit perhaps a false feeling) of want to jump that jump. It may not be pretty, but it works without harm to the horse or rider. Isn't that the point?

[xoxSherwoodxox]

I think this method is wrong. Because if you look, right after the horse goes the liverpool for the first time, they kick out defense.

[Iwasapony25]

I would love to go to a GM clinic... but then I would be afraid I wouldn't be able to understand him.

[ninilein1505]

I really dont like this method...

like if you are scared of the dark and every time the lights went out somebody hits you with a stick youre not gonna be like "oooh its ok now!"

[esjumper]

@mydoran1 It makes the horse know that you aren't gonna fly with any stopping or bad behavior and lets the horse look at it and know that if he stops, he'll be in trouble. GM knows what he's doin!

[mydoran1]

thanx,i see it sorta makes sense,but its not really my method either,but it was just curiousness and understanding that was needed, of that method that gm was doing abut the spooky fence stuff..

[shiiuza]

I have no idea lol, but maybe it reinforces the need to move forward over the jump. When horses see something scary the first time, they usually stop and look at it once they're stopped (i.e: if they dump you at a scary jump, they're going to look at it after or just take off.) Once they're stopped, nervous, and looking at the jump, the smack of the crop essentially snaps them out of that horsey-behavior and says "No, you can't look at this. Now let's go."

[hipersonhello]

im pretty sure the crop is to teach the horse if you stop and look at the fence that they cant do that next time.. when theyre coming towards it the next time and crop its to let the horse know they have no other option ...even if they are jumping it anyways .. just a precaution :) ..

[hipersonhello]

@hipersonhello THAT being said ... i do believe gm should explain why he is teaching the riders this method and what it does to help the horse ..to allow riders to better understand the horse and develop their own training methods :)

[wedmag10]

a hit like that won't hurt a horse if you think about it, may sting a little like a pinch to us but really compared to their wild behavior where they kick another it shouldn't be painful.I also think the horses in this were specifically chosen because they were spooky. so if the method works & doesn't cause pain or confsuion and offers a clear and simple understanding allowing the horse to happy with work, then i don't see a problem with this method, happy and understanding horse and happy rider

[nixicaDuUh]

i don't like this at all. why the fuck r they hitting the horses? :(

[Unicornluver123]

All horses are different. I wouldn't question GM's method whatsoever considering he has excelled in the equine industry for longer than most of us have been alive. If you listen to him, he explains why he does this.

[Painthorsey]

I'm not saying this is a bad method or George's methods don't work. I have gotten useful ideas from other videos of him. but if I did this with the horse I ride...he would just get more scared the next time I rode to it and probably run at the fence. I would just do the first part, halt at the fence first, then when riding to it again add extra leg, and maybe a crop at the take off only if he needed it or showed me he was going to refuse. Then the next time over he wouldn't even bulk at it.

[shermanandlula]

not liking this method whatsoever! 

[roulettexc]

the smack seemed alittle unnecessary for some of the horses, some seemed willing to just hop over it

[mydoran1]

i'm not quite understanding gm's idea of the smack with the crop at a standing stop by the jump.especially if horse is spooky at it in the first place.

[AuntieSarahR]

@mydoran1 I'm not either, but 1) far be it from me to question GM's method and 2) it totally worked. Every horse hopped right over that liverpool. They went through it several times, and each time, the encouragement was reduced (eg from crop to kick to cluck.)

[smith5213]

@mydoran1 I think with the horses the point he wants to get across is the spook is not ok, you must go over the jump. If the horse is spooky at it in the first place a lot of people like to do what he says not to do, stop, let the horse sniff and look at the fence and examine it. All that does is encourage the stop and spook behavior, the horse expects the opportunity to examine it. The horses must just jump the jump without hesitation or a spook and the stick encourages that.

[SittingExtendedTrot]

@mydoran1 Its so that the horse associates the forward movement with the scary jump. So in the horse's mind, there is no other option then to jump the jump.

[victorialovera]

@mydoran1 I also don't agree. With a mare that I am training, I use the method of coming up close at a trot and slowing down to a walk right before to let the horse touch the object with it's nose and smell it and know that it is not a threat. I also don't let the horse turn right before a jump because then they get used to it. So I modified George's circle into doing 2-3 steps backwards and pushing the horse sideways to already be in position re-take the a canter.