I have to switch

I may have to switch to western riding because of knee problems and I wanted to know a little bit more about the discipline. I would love to see show pictures from people who ride western and to learn about what you can do with western riding. I really wanted to do dressage, but that is not an option.

Also, do you think it would be strange if icelandic horses were ridden western?

There are many saddles that would look good on your horse. Round skirt saddles as an example. As for disciplines, western horses are trained in a large variety - if you enjoy dressage, then you may like reining and, in particular, free style. Choosing a Horse Discipline -- Isnare.com Articles

What is the problem with your knee that Western riding would help?

I just found an interesting thread about dressage and reining: Dressage and Reiners

Thanks for the replies.

Well I'm not sure what is wrong with my knees, but I know that the posting trot and jumping aggravates them and afterwards they hurt when I squat or walk up stairs. I may just need to strengthen my knees, I'm not sure. I was riding English last year and my knees started hurting after a while, but when I did western over the summer, I had no problem.

Does anyone have pictures of them showing their horse western style? I am clueless on what riders wear.

If you Google "Western Riding" and then go to images, you will see a bunch of pictures of some different western styles.

Here are a few of the things that you can show in while riding western:
Reining, Trail, Barrel Racing, Pole Bending, Team Penning, Ranch Versatility, Western Pleasure, Reined Cow Horse Work and Cutting. There are more out there too!

If you wanted to do dressage you should definitely look up reining on the western side, its almost the same thing, only faster and in a western saddle, with different moves lol
As for attire, jeans, boots, western shirt, hat that's pretty much it, but then again I don't show, but I think that's pretty much the basic, I know a few people on her that do western pleasure...but I can't for the life of me remember their names....anyway
Good luck!!

Hi hi,

I know I'm a bit late in replying but I'm new here and I just saw your post here.

I'm Icelandic and I owned an Icelandic horse for 5 years and I'm very used to them and their riding style.

If you're interested in Icelandic horses you don't need to ride them western to help your knees I think. The Icelandics are gaited and are usually ridden 'Icelandic style'. The standard Icelandic style involves having very long stirrups so your knee is not very bent at all. You don't post the trot and you usually don't focus on jumping either.

What you do work on is the extra gaits and the tolt is a really smooth fantastic ride. On a really smooth icy you can hold a pint of beer in one hand and go on a fast tolt (fast canter speeds) and it wont spill! Ok I never tried it on my horse and he didn't do very fast tolt but still. It's a great horse breed and the gaits and the size of the horse usually makes for a smooth ride that's easy on the riders body.

Thanks, that's really interesting. So you mean that in Iceland you don't post to the trot at all? Is it just like western where you sit to it? And do you have a special saddle for Icelandic horses, or can you use a regular english saddle?

Yeah you don't post the trot at all normally. You also usually don't let the horses trot that much (unless you're trail riding on bad ground) because the tolt is so much smoother and more comfortable.

The standard Icelandic saddles are somewhat similar to the english ones. They look usually something like this: http://www.valhallaicelandic.com/_im...s_barri_tn.jpg The most important thing is to have the saddle fit the horse properly though.

I'm now living in Scotland and I had to sell my Icelandic horse when I moved abroad from Iceland. I just got into horse riding again recently but this time around I'm forced to ride english style since I can't get at any Icelandic horses. It's been really interesting but I was a complete beginner in some ways because I'd never done posting before! It's also weird to not have any tolt to work with.