Morgan Geller is in the process of juggling two boys.
She’s nuzzling with one, as the other, just a few feet away, stamps his foot impatiently and
swings his head in jealousy. She directs her attention to “Rico,” as in Rico Suave, the
appropriately nicknamed boy who thinks he owns the place, she says. She kisses his nose,
appeases him with a few soft-spoken words and walks away, as both of her boys begin stomping
their feet. She turns back to look at them and smiles lovingly.
Condor and Fabricio have the personalities of typical competitive teenagers. They just happen to
be Geller’s horses.
Geller, 16, talks about the first time she met Fabricio (“Rico”) like she’s discussing a high school
crush, smiling giddily.
“He had a really great personality. Every jump he jumped was
beautiful. Every round was beautiful,” she says. “I fell in love
with him. He was amazing.”
It seems Condor and Fabricio feel the same way about Geller.
It’s in the way they fight for her attention, as they stand tied
up side by side in the barn, being doted on by Geller and a
groom. They watch her every move, they nicker, they paw,
they drop their noses and accept her kisses.
While “Rico,” she says, has the ego, Condor is the “big puppy
dog.”
“He’s giant and all he wants to do is sit in your lap and lick
you and give you kisses all day,” she says.
Morgan Geller sails over a jump
with Fabricio during a lesson.
(photo by Chris Miller)
While some equestrians choose simply to ride their course,
then hand over the reins to a groom when they’re done, Geller spends every moment she can at
the barn. She knows her horses.
“It takes not just a rider, but a horseman to understand the care of the horse,” says Morgan’s
mom, Mindy. “She knows everything about the horses … They connect with her.”
Morgan, who lives in Manhattan Beach, is not just any horseman. She was recently named one
of the top 12 riders under 21 years old in the country as part of the U.S. Hunter/Jumper
Association’s Emerging Athletes program, for which hundreds of riders, many college age,
competed against each other. In ninth grade, Geller was the youngest rider to ever win the
Varsity division of the Interscholastic Equestrian League for Chadwick School.
Last year she was one of two California riders to qualify for the prestigious national finals on the
East Coast, where she accumulated the most wins of any junior hunter rider in any division at the
Syracuse Invitational Horse Show.
On a recent Saturday morning, Geller guides “Rico” over a course of nine jumps, maneuvering
him around tight turns, collecting him slowly and smoothly cantering up to each jump. Her legs
are snug against his sides, her hands soft and steady, her chest up and her eyes forward. As
“Rico” lifts his front legs off the ground, Geller rises slightly out of the saddle, slides her hands
forward and sails over the jump. Her instructor says it is perfect.
“When I jump, I block out everything,” Geller says. “You’re one with the horse. It’s an out-ofthis-world experience. Everything is moving around you, but you’re suspended in air. It’s a cool
feeling.”
Geller began riding in Palos Verdes when she was still a toddler, sitting up on the saddle with her
mom on a rescue horse. She was 6 when she got her first pony, Cinnamon, a roan-colored Welsh
Mountain Pony with white legs. Cinnamon was a handful; Geller would fall off every week. So
she stuck with just walking her pony along the many trails in Palos Verdes. A couple years later,
she decided she wanted to jump. Her parents bought her first horse, Sprite, a beautiful
Hanoverian mare, and she began competing in sixth grade. Geller magnetized to jumping
because it provided something concrete to work toward.
“As you get better, the jumps get bigger,” she said.
Although Sprite was motherly and sweet, always taking care of Geller in the show ring, she
knew it was time for a challenge.
The family found Condor, a 17.2-hand (5 feet 10 inches tall) bay Holsteiner with a white blaze
down his face for the five-foot-one-inch Geller.
“He really made me work,” she said. “I got to ride a horse that wasn’t perfect all the time.”
After many great rides on Condor, Geller knew it was time to find a horse that was a little easier
to work with, to allow her to take on more complicated jumps and events. That’s when her
trainer, Peter Lombardo, recommended they look at Fabricio, who had been brought over as a
baby from the Czech Republic. After her love-at-first-sight-moment with the flashy, smooth and
talented gelding, Geller was sold. Last year, the family leased “Rico” and the pair, who had both
never been back East for the finals, let alone won, made it to the California Professional
Horseman’s Association Junior Finals and won. She also qualified for all of the national finals
that are held in New York and Pennsylvania. While at the Syracuse Invitational in New York,
Geller was named the junior hunter grand champion, beating out riders from across the country.
While many of Geller’s competitors are home-schooled or bring along private tutors, Geller has
found a way to balance her passion and frequent trips to out-of-town horse shows with advanced
placement courses at Chadwick School in Palos Verdes, where she maintains an “A” average.
She admits it can be difficult. Oftentimes when her friends are going out on a Friday night,
Geller is doing homework and heading to bed, so she can ride the next day.
At every opportunity, Geller is at the barn.
“My trainer told me, ‘When you’re not practicing, someone else is.’ I’ve always had that in
mind,” she said.
Katie Gardner, the assistant trainer at Morgan’s barn, Frontier Farms in Lakeview Terrace, said
Geller is “an easy kid to be around.”
One would never know this is a girl who rides for hours every day and still finds time to finish
her homework, make up tests she has missed and spend time with her friends and family, which
includes a younger sister, Michelle, who also rides.
“She never puts too much pressure on herself,” Gardner said. “If she does, we don’t see it. She’s
always cool as a cucumber. That can really help in high-pressure situations.”
The events Geller competes in are strenuous and difficult. The riders must handle tight turns,
difficult lines, a complicated set of tall jumps, all while looking as smooth and graceful as
possible. The goal is to make the horse look the best you can.
“With (Fabricio), it’s a beautiful picture,” Gardner said. “She fits him very well. She’s very soft.
She makes it look really easy.”
The laidback attitude and ability to handle potentially stressful situations are character traits
Geller’s AP Biology teacher Tyson Sacco also noted when interviewed separately about his
student.
“The great thing about her as a student is she takes it all in stride,” he said. “She doesn’t seem to
get super stressed about the fact that she’s going to have to miss class and take some tests. She
takes a practical approach — I’m going to miss this much time, gets notes from friends and asks
me questions (after school).”
Geller has an arrangement with Chadwick to leave early most days of the week, allowing her to
make the hour-long trek up to Lombardo’s barn. The other days she rides Sprite in Palos Verdes.
Sacco said Geller doesn’t make a big deal out of her riding while at school, so many of her
classmates do not even realize the level she is competing at.
“It’s hard to do your best if you get so torqued up about everything,” he said. “The fact that she
can relax and roll with the ups and downs is a good thing.”
It might be the influence of riding, or it might just be innate, but while talking with Geller it’s
hard to believe she’s just 16. She’s intelligent, well-spoken and driven, with the elegance and
grace of someone far beyond her years. So Geller’s answer to what riding horses has taught her
is not too surprising — responsibility.
“You’re taking care of an animal. Not like a machine you can take out in the morning and put
away at night. They have to be fed and taken care of all the time,” she said.
Geller plans to continue riding at the national level for the foreseeable future. She says she will
ride in college, continuing toward her goal — competing in Grand Prix, the highest level of show
jumping, and maybe even the Olympics.
It seems she’s not going to shake off the equestrian bug anytime soon.
“It’s very therapeutic just to be around (horses). No matter what you do, even if you fall off,
they’re always happy to just get treats and be brushed,” she said, smiling. “They’re just happygo-lucky. It’s nice to be around them. It’s always positive.”
http://www.tbrnews.com/articles/2011/02/24/manhattan_beach_news/news01.txt