[ridingdaddy]

I have a question for all of you.

My daughter is 11 and has been taking lessons for 1hour a week for three years.

This year she is riding 3 hours a week and doing quite well.

My concern is this:

My father has just purchsed a 12 yo school horse from the stable where my neice rides hunter. Now this horse has been at a hunter horse for as long as we can tell. He plans on riding this horse himself as a western horse doing cattle separation contests for fun. How difficult is it for a horse to go back and forth between the two disiplinces?

Will the western riding make his mouth considerably harder and therefore make him harder for my daughter and neice to control?

I am still fairly new to this horse stuff, so if my question is a dumb one please call me out.

Any feedback will be appreciated!

 

[ridergirl23]

it is no biggy at all for a horse to switch from in between
all riding disciplines have sorta the same basics.
i kknow a western reiner horse that is a great reiner... but then you put an dressage saddle on her and she can do tempis and beautiful lengthenings (those are two dressage movements) if the hrose is trained properly there should be no trouble! good luck!

 

[ridingdaddy]

Appreciate the input, have a Merry Christmas!

 

[Sixxofdiamonds]

Western riding shouldn't make his mouth "harder". If done correctly it will make his mouth softer as a good western rider rarely, if ever, makes contact with the horses mouth.

But to your original question, there is no problem. I switch between western, english and bareback without difficulty. Things are so much the same that it basically makes no difference.

 

[mom2pride]

I've always ridden my horses 'all around'...western, english, bareback...I've not had problems with 'hard mouths' or anything like that. As long as no one jerks on his mouth, or constantly hangs on his mouth, he shouldn't get hard mouthed at all.

 

[farmpony84]

The only concern with that would be in how your dad rides. If he's heavy handed and yee-haw, then the horse may get a little hard mouthed. If he's a pretty good rider and gentle on the bit, then no problems at all... In fact sometimes hunt horses really enjoy getting to go out and cut loose, makes for better attitudes.