English and Western Riding: Which Suits You Best?
Published by GHC • Oct 13th, 2008 • Category: Guest Bloggers, Riding Adviceby Lauren, age 11
If you don’t know what type of riding to do, or what you like best, you are at the right place.
ENGLISH RIDING: If you want to be in show jumping, dressage, saddle seat, English pleasure and/or hunter, English could be what you want. I ride English and am still practicing my gaits, what I do with my legs and hands, things like that. I really want to be a jumper, but where I ride is mostly western so we don’t get to do jumping except on the trails. But enough about my story. Any of these disciplines are under English Riding.
WESTERN RIDING: If you want to do barrel racing, pole bending, pleasure western, cow roping and/or bucking broncos, Western would be what you want. Any of these disciplines (and more) are under Western riding.
Both English and Western riding are equally challenging — neither is easier than the other. They are both fun and require different and the same skills. Even though I ride English, I like to throw on a Western saddle every once in a while. Don’t let someone make fun of your riding discipline just because they ride differently. And not all people just ride English instead of Western or Western instead of English, some ride both. Like I said, find the one that you like most, because there is no point being unhappy with your riding experiences.
Remember to try new things every once in a while. You never know, you may like both types of riding equally.
SEE ALSO: Bareback Riding by Stargazer
I’d definitely like to try Western riding sometime, but I am right now more than happy taking English classes. Great job explaining English and Western riding Lauren, and good luck with your lessons :)
English seems to suit me better, but I love both of them.
I’m a western rider all the way!
I do pole-bending, barrel racing, and (my fav.) goat tieing.( Goat tying is for people who want to go on to calf roping or as Lauren called it ‘cow tieing’ (I don’t think anyone would be able to tie a full grown cow…athough it would be fun to watch them try!:) )
I loved this blog! I’ve been wanting to know more about english riding, But I have one question, what exacly is Saddle Seat/Jump Seat?
Thanks!
I love this blog! It is so true! I used to be so biased and thought that english riders were snobs, but really they are just dedicated riders just like western. I see now that by thnking that I was being more of a snob than them! How much I have grown this past 4 years!!! Now, I kind of like english better than western, but I’m still deciding which I want to focus on, and this blog is definatly halping me decide. Thanks so much Lauren!!
Very nice blog Lauren! I am very impressed by your writing.
Your blog is very well written, and excellent.
Herd Member-
mustangmane
You are such a great writer! I love both types of riding, but I’m doing western right now. Keep on writing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does anyone know the anwser to my question?
Salina: Firstly, Saddle Seat is a type of riding where the horse (normally a Morgan, Arabian or Saddlebred) performs with great movement, stepping with lots of exaggeration or high-stepping, to create a sense of class and elegance. Often in Saddle Seat pictures you see an elegant horse with a high but comfortable head carriage and the rider would be wearing coats with long tails.
As to Jump Seat, do you mean Hunt Seat as well? Hunt Seat, or Hunter, is known as a forward-seat kind of riding where the rider is very secure in the saddle and consists of riding over fences and on the flat. The horses are judged more than their rider on their manners, movement and form although a correct rider’s position is very important. Equitation is more or less the other way around and involves the rider’s overall appearance and teamwork with his or her mount.
If there’s something else you don’t understand, you can search on Google for more details. Hope this helped :)
Ooooh…. I get it now! thanks for taking the time!
~ Cowgirl-who-doesn’t-know-a-thing-’bout-Engilsh :s
Western suits me best.duh!
Western is SO me! i don’t look or feel right riding english, but my mom thinks i do. but i like western better. :)
ive never ridden english, but i’d like to try it some time, right now i just ride western, which i like just fine!
YAY ENGLISH RIDING ROCKS!!!!!! I LOVE SHOWJUMPING!!!!!!
i never rode english since im in a western part of the USA.
Same here maddy!
thats what im taking about salina!
Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments! Salina: Saddleseat and Jumping Seat are different. Jumping is just well, JUMPING! Haha. Saddleseat on the other hand, is hard to explain. It is a type of riding kind of like dressage only there are breeds of horses that do saddleseat (Like the saddlebred) that may go a little faster and the riders arms are a right angle. Sorry I can’t explain it very well! I am not as good a writer as all of you, but I really appreciate everybody! Thanks so much LeadMare, for posting this. I think GHC also helps others understand about each other, and has certainly improved my writing skills! I also have learned a majority about horses on here, too! Again, thanks to EVERYBODY!
:D
I am a western cowgirl! I live in the south where everyone rides western! I love horse shows and rodeos!!! I have never tried english because I just don’t like the thought of me wearing really tight breeches. : o I probably would fall out of the saddle with no saddle horn. I love to watch dressage and jumping though. It is really beautiful!
you know i don’t have a horse of my own,but i have 1dog,3cats,and a white guinea pig.but i’ve ridden alot but on western saddle.
WESTERN ROCKS!
I love all riding:)
on the tenth i turned 11.i got a western saddle blanket from ma.