This kind of a long post, so please bare with me. I don't normally tend to be breed oriented, but am thinking about getting a horse and am looking for a starting point to look at certain breeds. I would probably consider myself a novice rider and have only been seriously riding for about 2 years, but spend most of my time at the barn and am experienced with being around different horses. I started out riding western, and switched over to English a few months ago. I am still undecided about which discipline I like more/ would be more committed to. Basically I want to become a more competitive rider, but will be leaving for college in a few years so will only really be in small local shows. So, I am just wondering what some of your opinions are about what breeds of horses could do well with both English and Western (I would most likely be competing in Western pleasure and reining in Western, and jumping in English).
I am open to looking at any breed of horse. The horse I am leasing currently is a young paint mare, but I also did most of my lessons and spent my free time riding an older arab mare for a while. The paint is very relaxed but also very stubborn, while the arab was very high strung and spookybut less likely to buck her rider off or not listen than the paint. Even though I have only been riding for two years, I am willing to take on a more highstrung "hotblooded" horse since I feel that I did better as a rider dealing with the arab's temperament.
Basically, I am just looking for suggestions of breeds of horses that could do well at a competitive level in both English (hunter jumper) and Western showing. I have a pretty open mind towards any and all breeds, however, I would prefer to ride a horse that is not gaited. It is also unlikely that I would be able to get a warmblood (although I would love to be competetive at jumping one day) which hopefully wont be too much of a problem since I will just be sticking to local shows. Finally, I am mostly just looking for breed suggestions here, but wont be basing my decision completley on the breed of horse but also on if I feel the horse is a good match since I am aware it's not all about the breed when looking to buy a horse. Thank you so much for any and all suggestions!
I am open to looking at any breed of horse. The horse I am leasing currently is a young paint mare, but I also did most of my lessons and spent my free time riding an older arab mare for a while. The paint is very relaxed but also very stubborn, while the arab was very high strung and spookybut less likely to buck her rider off or not listen than the paint. Even though I have only been riding for two years, I am willing to take on a more highstrung "hotblooded" horse since I feel that I did better as a rider dealing with the arab's temperament.
Basically, I am just looking for suggestions of breeds of horses that could do well at a competitive level in both English (hunter jumper) and Western showing. I have a pretty open mind towards any and all breeds, however, I would prefer to ride a horse that is not gaited. It is also unlikely that I would be able to get a warmblood (although I would love to be competetive at jumping one day) which hopefully wont be too much of a problem since I will just be sticking to local shows. Finally, I am mostly just looking for breed suggestions here, but wont be basing my decision completley on the breed of horse but also on if I feel the horse is a good match since I am aware it's not all about the breed when looking to buy a horse. Thank you so much for any and all suggestions!