Tampa, FL—April 2, 2001—Show jumping Olympic Silver Medalist George Morris, veteran Carol Durand, and Touch of Class, a famed a member of the United States Equestrian Team’s (USET) 1984 Olympic “Dream Team", were inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame at the Budweiser American Invitational, April 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. These new inductees join 37 previously enshrined members of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame.

George Morris is a world-renowned hunter and jumper instructor, and considered by many to be one of the most influential trainers in the history of equestrian sports. A rider with a long list of impressive wins himself, Morris first caught the attention of the equestrian world in 1952 when he won both the AHSA Hunter Seat Medal Final and the ASPCA Maclay Final—the two most prestigious junior equitation titles in the country—at the age of 14, the youngest rider ever to do so.

He went on to represent the U.S. as a member of the Gold Medal-winning USET squad at the 1959 Pan American Games and the Silver Medal-winning team at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Between 1958 and 1960, he rode on eight winning Nations’ Cup teams, and in later years, has served as Chef d’Equipe for numerous Nations’ Cup teams as well. Since 1978, Morris has been a USET director. He is the USET Vice President for Show Jumping and a member of the USET Executive and Show Jumping Committees. He has been the USET co-chef d’ equipe at the last two Olympic Games. In 1988, Morris won the biggest purse in Show Jumping history at Spruce Meadows, Canada.

In 1963, Morris began training junior equitation riders. Morris’s former students include some of today’s top Grand Prix riders including: Leslie Burr Howard, Norman Dello Joio, the Leone brothers, Chris Kappler, and Katie Prudent. At the 1984 Olympics, the Gold Medal-winning team included three former Morris students: Conrad Homfeld, Leslie Burr Howard and Melanie Smith-Taylor, while the 1992 team had Morris students Lisa Jacquin, Anne Kursinski and Dello Joio. In 1996, Morris was Co-Chef d’Equipe of the USET’ s Silver Medal Olympic team, whose four riders included three former Morris students—Burr-Howard, Kursinski and Peter Leone. A well-known author, Morris’s first book “Hunter Seat Equitation,” has sold over 40,000 copies. A second book, “George H. Morris Teaches Beginners to Ride,” has also been highly in demand. His newest book, “The American Jumping Style,” has been equally well received. Morris has also branched out into the world of video with “The Science of Riding,” which describes his approach to riding and teaching.

Carol Hagerman Durand, widely considered to have been America’s leading lady rider in the immediate post-World War II era, was a star on the first ever U.S. Equestrian team and was the first woman rider to qualify for an Olympic team, at Fort Riley, Kansas in 1951. Though the International Olympic Committee eventually sustained its exclusion of women show jumpers for the 1952 Olympics—they were to change this posture only four years later—Mrs. Durand competed with conspicuous success on the “fall circuit” of Harrisburg, New York and Toronto from 1950-1953. Riding Reno Kirk, Pale Face and Miss Budweiser, she annexed such competitions as New York’s Individual International Championship and International Stake and Toronto’s Puissance as well as sharing in many team victories. She also formed a memorable partnership with team captain Arthur McCashin in the International Pair Competition that was featured on the fall circuit in that era as part of the three-phase “Low Score Competition.” At one time or another, the Durand/McCashin duo accounted for this competition at each of the fall circuit shows.

A Kansas City girl, Carol Hagerman started riding at the age of eight. By her twenties, her riding skills were sought after by many of the leading Midwest exhibitors and dealers, and she was also showing horses that she had developed herself. When her riding career was curtailed by the reduced horse show activity of the War years, Durand joined the Red Cross, and served overseas for two years in India and China. Picking up the reins again after the War, Mrs. Durand was quickly back in the winner’s circle. In 1950, she shipped to Indiantown Gap, PA for the selection trials for the first “civilian” USET, and earned a spot on the team for that year’s fall circuit, joining Norma Mathews and Arthur McCashin. Though this team of international neophytes had to face Mexico’s 1948 Olympic Champions, led by the legendary Col. Humberto Mariles Cortés, as well as riders from England, Ireland, Canada and Chile, they acquitted themselves admirably, accounting for five victories. The following year they improved on this with seven wins, and topped the team standings at Harrisburg.

Despite the disappointment of being on the sidelines for the 1952 Olympics, Durand was able to get a taste of international competition abroad by joining the team for the world-famous Royal International Horse Show in London. As a full team member again that fall, she shared in the team’s best showing to date, an even doze, victories, and was the mainstay of the team’s fine showing the following year when it notched ten wins and led the overall standings at Toronto.

Carol Durand died tragically in 1970 at the age of 52, while trying a horse at the Cahokia Downs racetrack in Illinois. She was survived by her husband, Dana, and a son, Dana, Jr. Touch of Class, a 16-hand, bay Thoroughbred mare, was the first horse to ever post a double clear round in Olympic history. Clearing 90 out of 91 jumps, Touch of Class took home two Gold Medals from the 1984 Games, as well as the admiration of the world. Her tremendous performance also helped her become the first non-human to win the USOC Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year Award.

Even before the Olympics, Touch of Class was a winner. Foaled in 1972, Touch of Class quickly transitioned to the jumper ranks after a brief racing career. She won the intermediate championship at the Washington International Horse Show with Debi Connor before Joe Fargis took over her reins. In her first year (1981) at the grand prix level, Touch of Class won classes at Harrisburg, Washington and New York.

Touch of Class and Fargis proceeded to make the USET's World Championship team at Dublin in 1982, but a leg injury caused Fargis to turn her over to Conrad Homfeld for the remainder of the season. With Homfeld in the irons, she was victorious in the Grand Prix of Southampton and qualified for the World Cup Final in Vienna the following spring, where the pair finished 4th. In 1983, Fargis guided Touch of Class on victorious Nations’ Cup teams in Rome and Calgary. In 1984, she won the Grand Prix of Tampa, and turned in several consistent Olympic Trial performances before being named to the USET Olympic Show Jumping team.

After her Gold Medal-winning performances at the L.A. Olympics, Touch of Class continued to compete successfully throughout the ‘80s. She also embarked upon a breeding career that included partnering with her Olympic teammate Abdullah.

The Show Jumping Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to preserving the legends of the men, women and horses who have made great contributions to the sport of show jumping. The focus of this noble institution is to encourage broader interest and participation in show jumping, as well as to educate devoted equestrians and novice horse lovers alike, by sharing the sport’s legends, lore and landmark achievements.

Since 1987, the Show Jumping Hall of Fame has inducted William C. Steinkraus, Bertalan deNemethy and Idle Dice (1987); Patrick Butler and August A. Busch, Jr. (1988); David Kelly, Jimmy Williams, Ben O’Meara, and Frances Rowe (1989); Arthur McCashin, Kathy Kusner, Brigadier General Harry D. Chamberlin, and San Lucas (1990); Adolph Mogavero, Whitney Stone, Morton ‘Cappy’ Smith, and Pat Dixon (1991); Eleonora ‘Eleo’ Sears, Mary Mairs Chapot, Barbara Worth Oakford, and Snowman (1992); Dr. Robert C. Rost and Joe Green (1993); Frank Chapot and Gordon Wright (1994); Mickey Walsh and Trail Guide (1995); Pamela Carruthers, Jet Run, Richard “Dick” Donnelly, and Hatherbloom (1996); Edward “Ned” King, Bobby Egan and Sun Beau (1997); Fred “Freddy” Wettach, Jr., Melanie Smith Taylor and Johnny Bell (1998); and Rodney Jenkins, Sinjon, Franklin F. “Fuddy” Wing, Jr., and Democrat (1999). For further information about the Show Jumping Hall of Fame and Museum, please call (508) 698-6810 or email to classic.pr@verizon.net or visit the website at www.showjumpinghalloffame.net.