Dave and Susie Morris rise every morning before the sun starts to creep over the horizon.

They put on their jeans, clean polo shirts, signature baseball caps, and head to the horse show to begin a new day. It’s usually still a few hours before the darkness dissipates, and they enjoy the early dawn, before the hustle and bustle of the horse show commences.

In a world consumed with the latest technological advances and quick fixes, Dave and Susie, of Keswick, Va., understand and cherish the importance of taking their time around horses. The extra effort in the morning allows them the opportunity to observe and look over each horse to make sure that he’s not developed any new bumps, cuts, or changes in attitude. They give each horse as much time as it needs so the animal feels relaxed and calm about a new day’s work.

“The hardest part of taking care of a winner or a potential winner is maintaining it,” said Dave. “With the number of shows horses are expected to compete in, the daily maintenance is important to the longevity of the horse.”

As any good horseman knows, there’s never one person whose work single-handedly goes into creating a champion. Often, a horse changes hands several times, is cared for by dozens of different people, is trained by various professionals, and lives in stables of all different shapes and sizes.

In the world of racing and show hunters, the Morrises have a long list of former and current champions. The pair has cared for the 1995 Chronicle Horse of the Year, Monday Morning, as well as other famous show hunters, including: Tickled Pink, Country Grammar, High Hearts, and most recently, Popeye K.
Every once in awhile, up at the ring, you may catch a sly smile creep across Dave’s lips when he knows his horse is having an unbeatable round. But, for the rest of the time, he’s serious, often contemplating what he can do to make the horse perform better the next day.

Born To Love Horses

Together, Dave, 58, and Susie, 54, carry the secrets of the past. They’ve seen the great horsemen, like Rodney Jenkins, George Morris, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Kelly, Jimmy Williams and Bobby Burke rise to fame. They know the old remedies and old wives’ tales that are slowly disappearing from a world consumed with encyclopedias full of veterinary advice.

Horsemen like Dave and Susie are a dying breed.

“I was born with a disease,” said Dave about his love for horses. “I just couldn’t stay away from the barn.”

When Dave was 12 years old, he went to a stable down the road from his home in Pennsylvania and mucked stalls in exchange for lessons. He remained there mucking stalls and riding for two years, until he met Joy Hall.

“I did a little bit of everything,” said Dave, which taught him the importance of all aspects of horse care. It was at Hall’s, at the age of 16, that he bought his first horse. Dave paid $200 for an unbroken 4-year-old named Mickey. Through hard work and dedication, Dave transformed his horse into a show hunter and foxhunter.

“When I was coming up as a kid, there were 20 people waiting for a job at the barn. If I made a mistake, or did something I knew the owners didn’t like, I could be replaced like that,” said Dave.

Following his graduation from high school, Dave was drafted and went to Vietnam, where he was placed on munitions patrol at night. He walked the camp perimeter with his German Shepherds to look for intruders or attackers.

After 11/2 long, hard, and stressful years in Vietnam, Dave returned home to Pennsylvania and started working for MFH Carol Hannum. He worked as her whipper-in, cared for the horses and foxhounds, and began steeplechasing.

Hannum was the springboard for Dave’s entrance into the world of racing. In 1972, Dave left Hannum and took a job with Bill Walsh, where he helped prepare race horses. For the next few years, Dave took on various titles including barn manager, assistant trainer and freelance rider/trainer.

“I learn best by watching people, so I tried to work for people I admired. I’ll never go to work for a person I can’t learn or benefit from,” admitted Dave.

After a stint at Road’s End Farm, where he worked as the barn manager for the Maxwells, Dave fell in love with the racetrack. He traveled up and down the East Coast, and it was through his travels that he met his future wife, Susie. The pair first saw each other at Hialeah Racetrack (Fla.) in 1985, but they didn’t marry until nine years later.

Unlike Dave, Susie wasn’t born with a burning desire to be with horses. It wasn’t until the age of 27 that Susie began working with horses. Her change in career sprung from her loathing of the 9-to-5 atmosphere in a car dealership.

“It felt like a prison,” admitted Susie. Fate jumped in and worked in her favor, because one hot summer day, George Gross, a trainer and jockey, walked into the office. In that moment, Susie’s life changed for good. She worked up the nerve to ask him for a job walking hots at the track and propelled herself into a new world.

“He [Gross] taught me a lot. I learned about basic horse care and leg care. It was a good foundation for taking care of horses in any discipline,” Susie recalled.

While at the track, Dave and Susie worked in different barns, and one of her most memorable moments was when a horse she was caring for, Sir Leon, beat Dave’s horse and the favorite, Silver Comet, in a stakes race at Monmouth Park (N.J.). Both horses were proven winners, but Sir Leon, a 16.1-hand, bay stallion, managed to win by a length.

“When you win a race like that, a stakes race, against another great horse, it’s exhilarating,” said Susie.

After she left Gross’ stable, Susie worked for Billy Curtis Racing Stable and later moved to the Paul Maxwell Racing Stable. Her final stint in the world of race horses was with trainer Joe Clancy in Oxford, Pa.

Changing Course

Anyone who has gone from the race track to show hunters knows that the two worlds are nowhere near the same, although they share many of the same horsemanship requirements.

In 1991, Roger and Judy Young offered Dave a job working at the horse shows. So, Dave and Susie packed up, left the track, and started a new life together in the world of show hunters.

“I thought they were crazy,” said Susie with a laugh. “At the race track, we got there between 4 and 4:30 a.m., and were done by 10:30 a.m., except for feeding in the afternoon, or unless you had a horse running.”

Susie’s first horse show was in upstate New York, where the daytime high reached a measly 22 degrees. Similar to the track, she had to rise early, but at 10:30 a.m., things were just starting. But long days or not, Susie fell in love with the environment.

“After I started learning about the horse shows, I really enjoyed it,” admitted Susie.

After leaving the Youngs, Dave and Susie worked for the Towells at Finally Farm just across the road in Camden, S.C.

Finally Farm contributed to a number of memorable moments for Dave and Susie. In 1995, Monday Morning and Liza Towell earned the small junior hunter championship and the best junior rider on a horse titles at all four indoor shows: Capital Challenge (Md.); the Pennsylvania National; the Washington (D.C.) International; and the National (N.J.).

“When I was with Jack, Lisa, and Liza Towell, I really felt like I was part of it,” recalled Dave. He used to prepare Monday Morning by longeing him in the morning, then helped Liza and Monday prepare in the schooling area.

“Dave gets all the credit for Monday Morning. If it wasn’t for Dave, that horse wouldn’t have been what he was,” said Jack Towell. “Dave can do it all–he can ride, teach, drive the truck and trailer, and can think like the horses–which is part of what makes him great. In fact, I think he likes horses more than people,” added Towell, laughing.

In recent years they also cared for Nancy Amling’s horse, Country Grammar, who won numerous championships and helped earn Amling the World Championship Hunter Rider title in 2002.

Some of their other memorable horses include All Mine, a junior hunter ridden to many championships by Holly Hays Orlando, as well as Jeffery Welles’ junior hunters Ivory Cross and Comic Story.

Most recently, the pair have been caring for Elizabeth Spencer’s conformation hunter champion, Popeye K, who was 2004 USEF National Green Conformation champion with rider Tommy Serio.

“Monday Morning and Popeye K are the only horses to ever make me nervous,” admitted Dave.

The partnership that Dave and Susie have created and maintained over the years has allowed them to rise to the top of their profession.

“Two heads are always better than one,” added Dave laughing.

The pair compliment each other because what one misses, the other usually sees. They spend hours every day watching the horses for any change in behavior, appetite or attitude.

“If you cheat them [by not paying attention], they cheat you,” said Dave. “A horse can tell you a lot by his behavior–if he can’t stretch his neck out like usual, if he urinates a lot or too little, or stands funny when he does, if he can’t shake his body from ear to tail–all those things can tell you when something isn’t right.”

So What’s Their Secret?

On a normal show day, when the most of the horse world is still sleeping, Dave and Susie pull up to the barn in their Nissan pickup truck, usually around 3 a.m., and start their day.

“If it takes all day and half the night, then that’s going to be the way. I’m not going to take a short-cut because then I know it eventually comes back to me,” said Susie.

And Dave maintains the same attitude. “I like to win, and if it takes another two hours to do it, I’m willing to do it. If I get beat, I want to get beat by a better horse, not because I took a short-cut,” agreed Dave.

“Creating a good horse is like building a house. You can spend $3 million on the house, but if you only spend $500 on the foundation, all it’s worth is what’s sitting under it. When that foundation caves in, that $3 million house falls with it,” explained Dave.

Many of today’s top riders and trainers understand the importance of learning the methods of the great horsemen of the past, but few implement the old methods or truly understand why and how they worked. The Morris’ not only know and understand, but they apply their knowledge on a daily basis (even though they are, at times, referred to as archaic), such as homemade poultices and old-fashioned feeding practices.

So is the answer to preparing horses for success long hours and hard work?

Not necessarily, said Dave. Day-to-day handling is also important. “Even when people do things differently, the foundation is still the same. The way that you handle a horse, the feel for the horse, and the time you take to work with them all play a part. You need to work slowly around horses because they’re products of their environment. If you take time with your horses, the horses will be that way–slow and relaxed,” replied Dave.

Patty Schall, whose daughter, Megan, competes in the older large junior hunters with her horse, Jazz, appreciates the time and effort Dave and Susie put into preparing and caring for her daughter’s horse.

“They are true professionals. It’s inappropriate to refer to them as grooms or barn help because it doesn’t begin to describe what they contribute. They’re not there just to do a job. They care about the horses on many levels: their safety and well being, their soundness, physically and mentally, and how it relates to their performance today and the development of their potential over the long term. When the horses feel safe and relaxed, everything comes easier,” said Schall.

When Susie first started working with show hunters, she believed horse show people were crazy, but now she understands why so many are willing to give 12-plus hours a day working in the bitter cold or blistering heat only to get up and do it all again the next day.

For Dave, the hard work also pays off when he sees the horses grow into their own and rise to the top. “I like watching the babies come along and then watching them win at big horse shows against the top horses in the country,” he said.

“Horses get in your blood, and that love is something you can’t get away from,” said Susie.