Great new format!

[SSage]

Who's all "western" out there?? We are! :)

Shelley and Sage

[horselover]

I am one of those divided riders who is both- english for lessons and western when I am just out for a hack. i trained alot western- some basics of barrel racing and stuff like that- and i rode western for quiye a few years. A year and a half ago, i stated English lessons so that I could jump.

But I still have a warm fuzzy place in my heart for western.:)

[Maci]

I sometimes ride my Quarter horse Western. Actually, he is MUCH better and suited for Western, than English. He cooperates SO WELL! I also have a lady that comes and rides him Western. I find it more laid back (well, at least the stuff I do, which is basic)!

Maci :)

[JackiAH]

I've been taking Western lessons on Pal for the last few weeks to get my balance and to help train Pal. I eventually want to go back to English, but I've found Western alot of fun. When I get my own horse I want him/her to be trained in both...

Actually, now that I think about it, Pal is alot better Western than English. Plus, he looks alot cuter with a western saddle than with an English one... *g*

Cheers

[Allie]

I'm another one of those "sort-of's". I started out western when I was about 10 years old, rode that way taking lessons off and on (mainly off) for about 2 years, then after a break of a year or two I switched to hunt seat because I wanted to do jumping. I only got 5 lessons into the huntseat when I got my own horse, Calypso, who is most definitely not suited to jumping or much of anyhting other than trail riding (sounds harsh but its true - and she's a great trail horse). About a month after I got Calypso I dislocated my kneecap and had to stop lessons, and I never went back because I had my own horse. In 1998 I went to a saddleseat "intro thingie" with Girl Scouts and won a freee lesson and so I started taking saddleseat lessons which I still do at the same barn. I have 2 western saddles, 2 hunt seat saddles, and a Lane Fox saddleseat saddle, so I do pretty much all the disciplines. My own hoses I mainly ride bareback, so the western saddles don't get used too much, they are just very pretty garage decorations...

Allie

[SSage]

I recognize some of you...Hi there horselover and Maci!!!! Where in the heck is Outrider anyways? Maybe he is on "stress leave" from dealing with all the new riders in this forum (like me!!) :0 ;)

[Maci]

SSage- Hi there! I think he said he's training a horse somewhere for a few weeks, and has no access to the Internet!

Allie- Whoa, that's A LOT of saddles! When you ride saddleseat, do you have to hold your hands/reins up high (above the withers, that is)? One day, I'll have to try saddleseat riding, as well as sidesaddle and a tolt from an Icelandic!

Maci :)

[floppy]

hmm i ride with a western saddle when i ride out with other people :) does that count??

[JackiAH]

To put this bluntly, I just don't feel all that safe on Pal with an english saddle. God knows I trust him, but it just makes me feel better if I have something to hold onto during his canter...

Let me explain: He's a 5 year old PalominoxQH with ALOT of spunk. When my trained bout him he had two gaits (she told me) which were: stop and run madly after cows. Now, that was about... 10 months ago. I take it I've been one of the first people to want to ride this pony, and he hadn't been all that trained up when I first rode him. Now, he's doing great. He can do actually walk without getting bored and putting on a burst of speed, do an ok trot, and well... er... He just starts up a "bit" fast when asked to canter... *g* I'll put it this way, when he starts to canter it's a gallop, but then he settles down a little.

And excuse me for saying so, but I don't exactly see how to ride a gallop English when you've only been taking lessons for 6 months... lol

cheers

[floppy]

what do you mean gallop english?
hehe but you can only experience this if you out ina big open space and let the horse go and lean slightly forward in the saddle...btu i knwo what you eman with the western saddle..if i ride out with friends i always ride witha western saddle because my li' 6yr has started to buck when going into canter and goign at full pelt so i feel alot safer...when i ride alone i ride english..my horse is a lazy loaf alone but with other hroses around she has to show off and demonstrate her power...which i can tell you is something amazing cosnidering she is a slighty over weight and 'out of condition' after the winter!

[Allie]

in saddleseat you do hold your hands up higher than in hunt seat, but your lower arm and the rein should form a straight line to the horse's mouth.

There are good reasons for so many saddles...One of the western saddles came with Calypso, but it does not fit her, so we bought the other western saddle b/c it does. One of the english saddles is a cheap leather one that I bought just to try out whether I liked english or not, and I keep it so we have extra saddles to use when friend's go riding. The other english one is a pretty new Wintec, the kind with the adjustable gullet, that fits Calypso really well and is wonderful to ride in - its my favorite of all the saddles. The Lane Fox I needed to have for my lessons and to take to shows - and that is all it gets used for. We mainly bought it because one of my trainer's friends was getting out of horses and was giving us a really good deal. It is a Barnsby and a really, really nice saddle. I wanted to sell the cheap english saddle but my mom told me not to until I go to college in case I need it. I can't bare to part with the extra western saddle b/c even though it doesn't fit either horse it is really comfy and nice looking...ah, the chronicles of the tack rack in the garage...last fall I finally sold all my extra halters/bridles and then about a month later all my tack was stolen...I learned my lesson about getting rid of "extras"...just kidding...

Allie

[horselover]

It's so great to see that there are quite a few people on this board who are familiar with western!

By the way, hi to you too, SSage!!! :)

At the stable where I ride, a new trainer was just hired. He's still in college, so he is only part-time, but he is going to be teaching western. I met him when I was at the barn on Saturday. Anyway, his attitude to English riding was awful! My trainer joked about him riding english someitme, and he was like "No way- not me EVER!! I DON"T ride english." Probably alot of you can think of some people who are exactly the opposite- refuse to ride western. I don't really get it b/c I ride both, and I love both. Western is very relaxing, and it can also be thrilling if you do barrels or reining. English is very precise, and I just love jumping! :)

Anyway, he was talking to me, and he's like "So, you ride English?" and I said "Well, I ride both, but my lessons here are english. When I ride otherwise, it's usually western." To which he replied, "So you ride English." I stopped, looked at him and answered "No, I ride both. I like english, and I like western." He just didn't understand- he kept questioning me, trying to get me to say I ride one or the other.

Sometimes, I think we can get to wrapped up in the style of riding and forget that riding is riding, whether you ride english or western or aussie stockseat, do jumping or reining or sidesaddle or saddleseat. This conversation just made me realize that people who are too narrowminded when it comes to riding miss out on so much.

[SSage]

Yes, you are right horselover!! Riding is riding! I was a little nervous because most people who board where we do are "english", but everyone is really cool. There are many people who do both styles there. I have never tried English, but someday I will!! Seems much more technical, but as I said, I am totally unfamiliar with it!

[Liz E.]

The Western horn gets in my way... it's annoying comeing from an English saddle.

[floppy]

i agree with you liz e about the horn on a western saddle..i have ridden english all my life...and the past few months i started using awestern saddle because of a problem with my horse startign to buck...at first the horn got in my way...but i had to ride with the western saddle because my friend was borrowing my english saddle...but now i quite like it! i still rpefer english but western is fun when you go out hacking...you get use to the horn being in the way :)

[Liz E.]

Thanks. I've had very little experience with a western saddle but as soon as I do more trail riding (hacking) I'll probably get over it too. Nice to know I'm not alone!

[horselover]

Can I just say that the horn is not so annoying when your horse takes off with you, bucks, rears, or tries to dump you. It comes in handy at those particular times, or so I have found.

The first time a horse bucked when I was riding english, I reached for the saddle horn; unfortunately, it wasn't there. STill managed to hang on, but it took alt more work! :)

[Liz E.]

Lol, I guess it is useful! My mom only saw Western saddles before I began riding, and even NOW (years later) she still says, "How can you hang on when you go over those jumps? It's not like you have one of those Western-thingies." Lol, having non-horsey parents can be sometimes funny and sometimes annoying.

(Though I did think it was particularly funny when my dad pointed to a halter and said, "That blue thing.") :rolleyes: :)

[floppy]

western horns..ive been riding english for the past 17yrs and this year was my first with a western..but because im used to horses bucking in a english saddle and not having anything to grab hold of..the horn onthe western saddle was a pain for me..because even now when my horse bucks i still dont grab hold of it..but i dont need to because the seat on a western saddle is deeper and thats what keeps me still seated on the horse..but when im plodding along at a walk i use the horn to rest my poor little hands on :D

[Liz E.]

I guess some of us have a hard time changing when we ride. Sometime that goes for style. Sometimes it goes for the horse's personality. We're all used to SOMETHING. Western horns are useful to all riders who remember when to use them. I'm just glad I haven't experienced a horse bucking in a Western saddle. But as far as Western goes for me, I think I'd have to start out on the half-asleep trail ("hacking") horses... not a "bucking bronco". ;)

[JackiAH]

As a new western-rider, I was just wondering, has anyone ever attempted to jump with a western-saddle? HeeHee, I'm talking about little things like cross-rails and cavalettis, but still, I'm just wondering...

It would be awful interesting, wouldn't it??

[horselover]

and awfully painful!!! :p

[JackiAH]

Lol yeah, I kinda thought it might be... The horn would go right into your chest, right?

So this is why Outrider doesn't jump! lol

[Liz E.]

A few years before I started riding, I went to visit my cousin Susie's farm. She said that competed in barrel racing, and I just thought that Western people did jumping too, so my warped little mind came up with this: Barrel racing was when cowboys/girls would jump over a course of barrels. Lol. Strange, I know. But I thought I'd share that. ;)

[Outrider]

I'm back all! I was at the National Training Center desert of California training soldiers. I wish I had been training horses. They are so much easier to train than people! So we have a new forum here? Glad to see it. If I can help the moderator in any way, please let me know! Happy Trails all!

[floppy]

welcome back outrider :) you have certainly been deeply missed around here :)

[horselover]

Welcome back! Hope you had fun- we have missed you :)

[Outrider]

Fun? Nope. Not a lick. No horse opportunities at all. Work sure tends to get in the way of what one really wants to do at times! As for jumping with a western saddle, I wouldn't advise it. Unless of course, you want to enlarge your belly button! Been there and done that! And didn't enjoy it! lol Actually, the real reason the saddle horn was developed was to enable the cowboy to dally (wrap) his rope around it when roping cattle or horses. Happy Trails!

[SSage]

Yes, you were missed!! :) Good to see you back. Feeling much better now since we got good new/used saddles!! What a difference, it is unbelievable! Will post later..
:)