‘George Goring was never boring'

George Goring – team chasing legend, master, and hotelier – has died aged 81 after an illness. His daughter, Theresa Goring, remembers his life less ordinary

MUCH to his embarrassment, delight, and confusion, Horse & Hound included our father, George Goring, in its article “50 greatest horsemen of all time” in 2017.

I say “confusion” as Dad was a famously bad rider and boasted that Douglas Bunn would take aside any new groom of his and say to them, “Would you please teach George to ride.”

My favorite profile of Dad was in Horse & Hound on 23 April 1992 entitled “The gospel according to George”, the general thrust of which was “never blame yourself, always blame the horse”. He stated, “I started winning the day I accepted the painful truth that I was an appalling rider and should let the horse think for himself. I cannot cope with a horse that I have to tell what to do.” Dad may have had outrageous ideas but he did live by them.

In trying out prospective mounts, he liked to ask a few tricky questions to make sure they had the brains to cope with this approach. Many years ago he went up to try out a horse in Leicestershire at the yard of a professional showjumper. Dad’s question was to take this horse at the water jump backward.

He woke up flat on his back in six inches of water with the owner looking down at him, the horse in hand. The owner said, “You’re an idiot,” and stomped off with his horse.