22 SIDELINES SEPTEMBER 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
him a place at her farm in New York. Her daughter, Jessica
Newberry Ransehousen, was training there with legendary Danish
dressage trainer, Gunnar Andersen. George said the year he
spent there was the most valuable and enriching year of his life,
and that Gunnar was the greatest rider he had ever ridden with.
Although George did consider a career in dressage, his
excellent reputation was in hunters. He stuck to the plan to teach
in that discipline and was a great success from the start. “I worked
at different places around New York,” George said. “I’d freelance.”
Although things were going well, George said he had a midlife
crisis during the early ‘70s. “Yes, I’ve had lots of midlife crises,” he
said with a smile.
Nick Van Heerden, a friend from Rhodesia, told him, “George,
you can push the boat away from the dock only so many times.”
For George, that was a great piece of advice. “That’s when I
bought Hunterdon, my place in New Jersey. I anchored. I was
a little bit adrift, but from then on I steered the course of my life,”
George said.
Along with his busy teaching schedule, George has held mul-
tiple positions with the USET, has been a member of various com-
mittees and chef d’equipe for the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
He has also been president of the United States Show Jumping
Hall of Fame.
George now resides in Wellington, Florida, but does not have
his own barn. He explained, “I stop at Beezie Madden’s, Laura
Kraut’s or Jane Clark’s. It’s hit and miss because they’re away
most of the summer.”
He just turned 75 and, while teaching and holding clinics across
the country, he now brings young riders along for the ride. “I try
now to find people, really good riders that can pick up the slack.
I can’t ride all these horses anymore. I don’t want to take the risk
and it helps the young riders. If they’re not riding, they’re learning,
listening, watching and it seeps in, even if they don’t know it.”
In 2008, he was asked to be one of the guests of honor at the
Equestrian Aid Foundation’s celebrity roast. The foundation as-
sists equestrians in need because of accidents or other cata-
strophic events. The gala was held at the Palm Beach Interna-
tional Polo Club in Wellington. It honored George and his longtime
friend, dressage icon Jessica Ransehousen, as they both turned
70.
Dressage rider Robert Dover, the foundation’s founder, said the
purpose of the event was to honor the two beloved equestrians
and have a little fun with them, too. It turned out to be just a little
too much fun for George. The event had over 500 individuals in
attendance who were entertained as 14 people took the stage to
tell their funniest stories about George and Jessica. Dozens more
spoke by video.
George says, “It ended up being an unpleasant evening for me.
It put me in an embarrassing position because it was done in a big
room full of strangers.”
Perhaps the loved and sometimes feared legendary George
Morris is more like the rest of us than we might think. Like those
of us who ride to nourish our souls he says, “I’m quite happy
teaching but I’m happier on a horse,” he repeats with emphasis,
“On a horse!”
About the writer: Doris Degner-Foster lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and rides with
Harvard Fox Hounds when she is not interviewing interesting individuals in the horse
sport. She also enjoys writing fiction and is working on a middle grade book series
about teenagers who ride horses and solve mysteries.
George and his U.S. team
during the course walk at the
2011 FEI Nations Cup in La
Baule, France.
Photo by PhelpsSports.com
Considered one of the most
influential riders and trainers
in equestrian sport, George
received the USEF Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2006.
Photo by PhelpsSports.com
