FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES MARCH 2014 29
he went on to show in the hunters, while dabbling in equitation.
When he was about 15, Oakley went to train with a jumper barn in
Canada and became focused on the new discipline.
Oakley’s farm is a family-run affair, where his mom and his
sister also help train and manage the facility. Twitchell Hill Farm
has been a training and lesson stable for the past 10 years. “At first
it was very low key, with only a few horses in our little barn, then
it slowly grew. There was a demand since a lot of kids wanted to
start riding,” stated Oakley.
Even though Oakley will now be under George’s tutelage,
that doesn’t mean his own days of teaching are over. While in
Wellington, he will be training one of his own clients, as well as
working on expanding his business and perfecting his riding.
Oakley will be bringing down two horses from Twitchell Hill Farm
that he will be showing in the jumpers. He also hopes to find some
hunters to ride upon arrival in Florida.
“One of the jumpers is named Joe Louis. He’s a really cool little
gray and looks like a little pony. I haven’t been riding him for too
long, so we will probably start small in the schooling jumpers and
see where I can go from there,” Oakley said. “The other horse is
a client’s horse. She’s in high school, so she’ll come down a few
weekends over her break. She does the children’s jumpers, but
I’ll do him in a little bit more than that on the weeks that she’s not
around.”
This is the first time in four years that Oakley will be back at
the Winter Equestrian Festival.
“I’m excited. This is the first time
I’m going to be doing this so I
don’t really know what to expect.
I envision myself being able to
ride a lot, hopefully a lot of that
in the show ring.”
In addition to enjoying WEF’s
iconic show scene, Oakley is
definitely going to be learning a
lot this season. After traveling to
several clinics with George, he
has already begun to see what it
will be like working alongside an
equestrian legend. Oakley went
to Oregon to help George with a
clinic at Rich Feller’s barn and
was able to see Rich ride, tour
his barn and see how he and his
team went about training and
preparing for the next step.
This
experience
was
especially good for the young
trainer, as he can take these
skills back to his farm in
Vermont. In three-months time,
Oakley explained that he has
gained valuable knowledge in
the saddle, on the ground and in
the barn.
“George has done a lot to
change the way I ride in general,
little adjustments that I’ve
made,” Oakley said. “I’m out
of the saddle more when I ride
and my hands are up more, the
focus on the flatwork has been
really helpful, and his big thing is
leg to hand, so that’s what I say
to myself all the time now when
I’m riding.”
These little alterations make all the difference and are a large
part of what George teaches in his clinics. He places a huge
emphasis on flat work, stating that “without position and seat, you
can’t talk about the aids, how to influence your horse.”
Oakley said, “When George likes a horse and rider combination,
he’ll say that ‘your horse has one problem, whatever you paid for
it, whether it was a million dollars, it wasn’t enough.’ You can tell
when he knows a horse is being awesome and I love that part.
For as much as he has this reputation for being hard on people,
he can give you some good compliments, and he will have some
good things to say if you meet him there.”
Oakley added, “I’m definitely quite shy, and it takes some
getting used to, because he is legendary and a little intimidating
at first. Until you get to know someone, all you have is his or her
reputation to go off of. It’s been good for me to work with him and
talk to him.”
During the Winter Equestrian Festival, Oakley will also be
working with Chris Kappler in the jumper ring and Susie Humes
in the hunter arena. “Two months ago, I didn’t even know I was
going to Florida at all and now I’m working with George Morris, so
I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t look too far ahead,” he
laughed. “Come back to me after season and ask me again.”
