curious about western...

Im from ireland and over here horses are used for racing, pleasure riding and showjumping.no one works horses at cattle. I've always been fascinated by western riding and have a load of questions. Bare with me if I sound like an idiot , I don't know the first thing about western riding...
what is cattle cutting? What is penning?
Do people really do it on the farm or is it just practiced for compatition?
Whats the differance between a western saddle and an english saddle?
What type of horse do you need for cattle work? What other disiplines are there in western riding? How long does it take to train a horse for cutting etc?

There are no stupid questions, no worries. I'm going to number your questions and do them in the order you wrote them.

1) Cutting is really anytime you "cut" or basically separate a cow from it's herd.
2)As for penning it could be rounding up cattle and putting them in a pen OR the game called team penning in which three riders work as a team to cut cattle with a specific number on them out of a heard and put them in a pen on the opposite side of the arena as fast as possible.
3)yes! There are still real cowboys out there who own cattle that need to be rounded up. Many people learn for fun and don't show as well.
4) there are Manu differences. Western saddles have a horn on the front that stands straight up, this was added so a rancher could attach a rope. Outside of ranch work it's there out of tradition.
5) in the states traditionally the "stock" breeds are used, like quarter horses and paints. I've seen Arabs show interest in cow work however so it's more of a personality and athletic thing. To me, as long as the horse is fast enough to keep up and enjoys it, you could probably use most breeds.
6)Other western disciplines are gymkhana (games), reining, working cow horse, western pleasure and rodeo type events.
7) This, like any discipline varies. I will say though that a horse needs "cow sense" to really stick with the sport. This means the horse really has an affinity for following the cow and isn't afraid.

That's all semi general because I'm on a phone but of you need more detail, ask away!
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I agree, there are no stupid questions! I've been raised riding western, doing things like Walk/ Trot/ Canter as opposed to the walk/ gait for English. But I have the opposite problem you have-- I don't know the first thing about English riding!!

Here's some barrel racing (something I've learned it VERY popular)

And pole bending (associated with barrel racing)

There are also all sorts of "rodeo" events that involve cattle, such as roping and penning. All are very fast paced, timed events. Very thrilling!

Thanks for explaining zeke. Wow I can't imagine what it would be like to work cattle on horseback. Its so hard to picture it. Over here the average size farm is about 300 acres (120 hectares) and 100 cows would be a decent amount. You wouldnt even warm a horse up lol.great videos musicalmarie, I spent an hour looking at videos on yotube after your post. It looks so exciting! I wish we had somewhere teaching western over here! Another question..what are trail rides?

Reining is awesome

Common Ground / About NRHA on Vimeo




Trail riding is the same as hacking : )



Where in Ireland are you? My boyfriend is from Cork and I've been there a few times.

Trail rides are basically riding out in a pasture or in the hills or both. Lol Sometimes they are very large organized rides. Personally I prefer riding with a few friends as it cuts down on the stupidity that often happens on a large ride.

Here are a couple pics of one trailride I've been on this year.. Just a couple of friends and I.

You know, this is one of the main reasons that I love this forum. It's so interesting to learn about other riding styles, and to learn what goes on in other parts of the world. Western riding is so second nature to me that it doesn't even occur to me that someone might not know anything about it. I feel like my world has opened up a little bit because of this post

Most cow horses are short and stocky. I personally ride western because English is virtually unknown where I'm from and rodeos are veryyy common. I don't compete, though I plan to train my mare for barrels. I don't expect her to be awesome, I just like barrels. But Quarter horses and Paints are common for cattle for their size. I know I've been told that Quarter Horses have an uncanny ability to predict the way a calf will move while cutting.

I'm also biased towards QHs, as they are the most common where I live. Paints too, but anything else are fairly uncommon. The mare in my avatar is a Breeding Stock Paint, but she's half QH, and super stocky.


Also, THANK YOU CloudsMystique! It has taken me WEEKS to figure out what was meant by "hacking". I think there's probably one English barn in the state of North Dakota (well, one that I know of), so I was like "What are they talking abouttt??!?"

Ah! That's nothing to some horses! In Montana there are some farms that have over a thousand acres and still use horses to work it. Its pretty awesome. I love western. I was english trained and I just got so... sick of how stuck up people are. Now I do western and its so much fun. Everyone is nice and about having fun and learning.

I'm going to second the idea that reining is awesome!! Definitely check it out on YouTube.
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