Legendary George Morris and Olympic Gold Medalist Leslie Law Lead Coaching Symposium

Leslie Law and Shear L'Eau in Athens

The Canadian Eventing Coaching Committee, in collaboration with Jump Canada Coaching Committee is proud and honoured to present to the Canadian National Coaching Symposium on November 19th, 20th and 21st at the Royal Canadian Riding Academy (formerly York Equestrian Centre), Cedar Valley, Ontario, Canada.

Conducting the Symposium are two of the world’s foremost riding coaches and clinicians- 2004 Athens Olympic Eventing Gold Medalist Leslie Law of Great Britain and Olympic coach and former American show jumping team member George Morris of the USA.

Law was the 2004 Athens Olympic Individual Gold Medalist and Team Silver Medalist with Shear L’ Eau.

In 1989, Law rode in the European Championships, Burghley, UK, where he placed 26th. Since then, his competitive career has been extensive and impressive.

In addition to this year’s impressive Olympic results, Law’s other recent accomplishments as a member of the British Eventing Team include winning the team silver medal in 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and team gold medal at the European Championships, Pau, FRA, in 2001.He has also won the team bronze medal 2002 World Equestrian Games, Jerez, ESP, and the team gold medal at the 2003 European Championships, Punchestown, IRE, both times aboard Shear L’ Eau.

Leslie runs a facility in Naunton, Worcestershire, UK where he is an active trainer and coach. He has produced a superb must-have book called “Cross Country Master Class with Leslie Law.”

As the second clinician, Morris is one of the world’s most highly regarded members of the equestrian community. At the age of 14, he was the youngest rider to win both the AHSA Hunt Seat Medal Finals and the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Finals- a feat no one has every been able to duplicate at such a young age.

A few years later, as a member of the United States Equestrian Team, he won the Olympic show jumping silver medal in Rome in 1960 and the Pan American gold medal in 1959. He was also a member of eight Nations’ Cup winning teams.

Turning his focus to coaching in the 1960’s, his students include Olympic medalists Conrad Homfeld, Melanie Taylor Smith, Leslie Howard, Anne Kursinski, Peter Leone and Chris Kappler. He was assistant and then co-Chef d’equipe of the USET show jumping teams in 1996 (Olympic silver medal), 1999 (Pan Am silver medal) and 2000 (Olympic Games).

George Morris’s first book “Hunter Seat Equitation” originally published in 1971 is now in its third edition. The most recently published “The American Jumping Style” chronicles the development and establishment of the American forward seat as a worldwide influence.

“I 'm very excited to have such a legendary clinician as George Morris. He is the premier coach in the jumper world,” remarked Peter Gray, Symposium Organizer and Member of the Canadian Eventing Coaching Committee. “The eventers get the added bonus of the reigning Olympic eventing gold medalist, Leslie Law. I believe we offer something for everyone at this extraordinary Symposium.”

Program Information & General Timetable:

The program will combine practical sessions plus special discussion topics:

Friday, November 19th – Coaching the Winning Event Horse

-Focus on Dressage and Cross Country with Leslie Law

Saturday, November 20th – Improving Jumping Technique and Rider Position

-Gymnastics & Equitation with Leslie Law & George Morris

Sunday, November 21st – Walking Show Jumping Courses and Riding Strategies with Leslie Law & George Morris

The Symposium is open to everyone. Registration commences daily at 8:00 a.m., and the sessions will begin a half hour later. The full Symposium timetable and pre-registration form are available on the Equine Canada web site www.equinecanada.ca.

Canadian Eventing is a committee of Equine Canada responsible for the sport of eventing in Canada from the grassroots to the international level. The Canadian Eventing Committee is comprised of 12 members, including two rider representatives elected by the Elite Riders Association. Directed by the strategic plan for eventing, all Eventing activities are administered by this committee via six sub-committees (one of which is the High Performance Committee).  The Equine Canada Eventing Manager, based in Ottawa, coordinates these activities across the country.  The High Performance Committee works in partnership with the International Technical Advisor, James C. Wofford in order to develop and manage the National Eventing Team. For more information about Canadian Eventing, visit www.canadianeventing.com.