07-21-2009, 03:16 PM
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#1 | Yearling
Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: NY
Posts: 1,002
|  I think alot of people are confused.
I always see people online and in real life ask "I've been riding english my whole life and I want to ride western but I think it will be hard", "My horse has been trained in western so she cant do English or dressage", Or people will go look at a horse to buy and ask what disciplines they can do and the owner says to them "Western, this horse doesn't have a English bone in his body". The truth is that pretty much the only difference in these disciplines is what tack they use and what he/she wears. Will a horse excel more in one discipline than the other?, Yes. But any horse and any rider can do any discipline. Dressage is the basis of all riding, if your horse is under saddle and riding it's doing some type of dressage. The major difference in disciplines is showing and how you are scored.
Last edited by White Foot; 07-21-2009 at 03:19 PM.
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07-21-2009, 06:32 PM
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#2 | Green Broke
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 3,322
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I agree!!
Especially living in AUS; We don't have the big English/Western divide that you guys do, so it's so strange to me hearing people ask can their horse do western/english... It's all riding!! | 
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07-21-2009, 08:11 PM
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#3 | Yearling
Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: NY
Posts: 1,002
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Exactly! =) | |
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07-21-2009, 08:51 PM
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#4 | Weanling
Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Colorado
Posts: 734
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I love riding both! | |
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07-21-2009, 09:00 PM
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#5 | Yearling
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,153
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I couldn't agree more. It rather angers me when people say "My horse wont like western" or "he can't ride english". Argg. Its just a different bit and a different saddle. No huge life changing actions there | |
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07-21-2009, 09:00 PM
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#6 | Green Broke
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 3,322
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I just love riding, and I don't really do either! | |
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07-24-2009, 12:56 PM
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#7 | Weanling
Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: UK
Posts: 641
Horses: 0 |
In an ideal world. all riders should learn to ride English and Western because essentially the two systems were devised to cope with the work the horse and rider was doing. There is no "best" system but there is best for purpose.
A barrel racer would make an ideal polo pony.
A British Pony Club pony would make an ideal barrel racer.
Nowadays we choose the tack according to the game we want to play with our horse.
B G | |
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07-27-2009, 09:20 PM
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#8 | Weanling
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 355
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I think I understand what you're getting at, and for people, this is true. People can ride different 'styles' (English, Western, dressage, etc.) b/c they are simliar, but some horses are truly suited to one style. My horse Rainy, for example, has the worst sitting trot, and if you attempted to ride her Western (which I have, twice), you would quickly discover that because of her speed and little quirks, she is better suited to English. I don't know if that's what you meant, but that's MHO on it. | |
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07-27-2009, 09:30 PM
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#9 | Green Broke
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 3,322
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Quote: |
My horse Rainy, for example, has the worst sitting trot, and if you attempted to ride her Western (which I have, twice), you would quickly discover that because of her speed and little quirks, she is better suited to English. I don't know if that's what you meant, but that's MHO on it.
| Then how would you do sitting trot in a dressage test? I can't think of anything a horse does that is exclusively either western or english... everything is done in both styles, just in different ways. | |
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07-28-2009, 11:19 AM
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#10 | Weanling
Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Southwest, Va
Posts: 614
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Very well said! | |
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