Great forum

[Catbaloo]

This is my 1st night on this forum and I love it, good old natural people and natural horses. The Monty Roberts disscusion group was good at one time but the english way has crept in, so I don't go there anymore. Please keep this site WESTERN. Great to have someone like outrider, out there. Gives good advice and still believes everyone should have their say. I love having my Western lessons and can't wait untill my yearling is ready to be backed. Good luck to all and thanks for a great site.

[Outrider]

There is this section of the web site that is devoted to western, and I'm a tried and true cowboy from Texas who rides western, but this site is primarily an english site. Saying that, I will also say, that as a western rider, this is the best site I have had the pleasure to be a part of in a long, long time! There really isn't all that much difference in the basics between the two styles until you get into specific disiplines and these good english riders have a lot to offer us western riders. And we have alot to offer them. I have been met with great enthusiasm and kindness from folks here. There will be a new section coming soon called "The Western Way" that will give a lot of information about western riding, so you will want to watch for that.

The bottom line is, take a walk through this barn with an open mind and meet the horses and good folk you'll find here. You couldn't ask for better partners in this old cowboy's opinion! So saddle up and keep your eye on some of those expensive leather napkins these folks ride. They just might impress you! They sure did me! Happy Trails!

[kelsey]

Interestingly enough, there is an article in this month's Horse & Rider recommending that Western riders ride in an English saddle periodically to improved their balance....I could go the other way and say that I myself (who first learned English)have finally learned from my Western lessons how to to guide a horses by weight and not by hauling on the reins. So, yes, we can all learn from each other!

[plusone]

but surely you could just ride without a saddle if you wanted to improve your balance? So you don't necessarily need an English saddle.
It's true that you can become quite complacent and adopt a fairly loose grip if you only ride in a western saddle. That's why I ride bareback every now and then.

[Catbaloo]

I quite agree with plusone. You still need to be balanced even more so western. I have been having lessons on a quarter horse (finished). The horses are so sensative to movement, when I first went backwards between cones, I kept making the horse go zig zag, because one minute I was looking over my left shoulder, then my right should. With out thinking the horse must have thought, "she wants to go this way, now this way", and so on. Riding bare back would give you a greater feel of all the muscle movements. But I shall leave that til later, when I become a better rider in the saddle.

[kelsey]

According to my instructor, you have to be very careful when riding bareback as you can hurt the horse's back more easily unless you already have quite a good seat. (Her husband is a vet/equine chiropractor.) She only allows the school horses to be cooled out at a walk that way.

The magazine suggested an English saddle as the exercises involved a lot of standing in the stirrups, you could use a western saddle for this but it wouldn't be as effective.