western/english whats the difference

[taffy]

hi
i ride english but i would luv to have a go at western . but the thing is i dont really no n e thing about it. could sum1 please give me some info on it and how to get started??

thanks in advance

[Epona UK]

Well, I usually define it like this.

An English rider balances his horse, a Western rider teaches his horse to balance itself.

To find out more about Western Riding in the UK take a look at http://www.wes-uk.com

[CrazyfurAnimals]

Hi Taffy!!
Well, there are some differences as you already know. Like the way you hold the reigns. While in English riding, you hold the reigns with both hands, in Western riding, you only hold it with one. Except for shows. I'm not sure if its the same in the UK, but here, seniour horses are ridden with one hand, while the young horses or ridden with both.

The saddles and bridles are also different. Some bridles in western don't have a cheekpiece, or a noseband. And, as you probably already know, the saddles have the horn in the front.

I'm not sure if that was any help, but if you want a whole lot of help on Western Riding, ask Outrider. He's the big Western Rider of this site. :)

[msp]

Have you noticed http://www.newrider.com/Specialisms/Western/western_index.html up at the top of this site, its got quite a few interesting articles.