Hi, I am new and was just wondering if anyone rode saddle seat? I love to ride it and I love Saddlebreds. I'm not into showing yet, but I hope to next season. So what do think?
could you tell me about it? *whips out pad and pencil* I saw some people at the show, they looked kind of stupid in their outfits (some of them look cool...but the brown plaid...)
I was just wondering, what do you do saddle seat? What kind of things do you do to show your talent?
In saddleseat, I'm no expert trust me, you dance with your horse. Not like dressage at all. You work hard, at least I do with the horse that I am on, to step high at the trot. Their are different levels. Walk/trot, three-gaited, and five-gaited, to name a few, the most popular. It is true the colors might be a little much on the suits, but it looks elegant, if gone well with the horse. I like the saddle that we use. It is very broad and flat. You used your upper thigh and knee musceles, not your calf muscle, pay no attention to my spelling errors That is a summery of what we do, remember I'm no expert, but it is fun and chalenging. There I go again.
so...your horse does all the work and you just sit there looking prim?
Don't you have any...thinking games? Sports that require the rider to follow a specific pattern, or what ever?
or is it kind of like the paso fino's i saw one time? THose are brave little suckers, they were doing...something....and this huge watering truck came into the arena while they were practicing, and do you know what? THe drivers chased the horses! They were deliberatly trying to hit them, or make them rear, by honking and yelling and making little runs at them...and the horse only stopped once, ONCE!!
that was impressive...
I think I remember one game I saw with saddle seat, where they had to hold a glass of water and the person with the most water in it won...
Well ... a bit like a paso finos, but not really. The paso finos rack, as do some saddleseat horses, but the similarity stops there. The horses used in saddleseat are often more high-strung than paso finos, so I don't think they'd respond to a water truck that well ...
Here's, in a nutshell, what saddleseat is: (I copy/pasted it off another board)
Saddleseat is indeed similar to english, but a bit more laid back (in some aspects.) The saddle is placed farther farther on the back and the horse is ridden with a different type of bridle, called a double or a full bridle. This bridle has 2 bits (a small snaffle and a large curb) and and extra rein. Horses do not neccessarily have to be "gaited" to be ridden saddleseat; there are walk/trot and walk/trot/canter classes in saddleseat show that are just as exciting as the "gaited" (walk, trot, canter, slow gait, rack) classes. The horses predominantly used in saddleseat are the American Saddlebred breed, although some Tenessee Walking Horses and a few various other "racking" breed are used occassionally.
In saddleseat, horses are not supposed to look calm and subservient, but instead excited and eager to perform (but not frightened.) They are shown entirely on a flat (although the previously mentioned breeds have the ability to jump.) The outfit worn by the rider consists of a long coat, long pants, a vest, a blouse, and a derby (not a helmet.) Unless you are showing in saddleseat equitation, the judging is done entirely on the performance of the horse, not the rider. The gaits:
Walk, trot, and canter: same as they are with any other breed of horse
Slow gait: A swift movement with a similar motion to the walk, except only ONE FOOT is on the ground at a time.
Rack: A much faster version of the slowgait
(NOTE: The above 2 are not to be confused with the "pace", performed by standerdbreds, in which both feet on the same side of the horse move at the same time.)
For more info, go to: http://www.american-saddlebred.com/
Oh no there is a lot that you must do. Saddlebreds, at least the one I ride, are extremely, whats the word, fiesty. They can act worse...yes worse...than arabs. There is a lot that you must do to keep them going/slowing down, calm, mannered, and not so excitable. They are really fun to ride because they are all somehorse different. It is so cool to ride one of them when there are spooky things outside or you are going somewhere where they haven't been in a while. There are mind games. Especially when you have to think how to ride the next corner where another horse is or if there is a horse out in the pasture next to the ring. It is a lot of fun to ride them. You have got to do as say jumping or dressage.
Just another silly question... Surely it is painful for the horse with saddle further back?? Because, I was always taught with english riding that if we put our saddles too far back they would press down across the kidneys which would be v. painful? OR are the saddles not very far back??
If I'm not mistaken, Penelope, (and somebody correct me if I am!)a major difference in the saddles is that the front of the saddle does not restrict the shoulders like a regular English saddle would.
AHA !! Wonderful question, penelope ... I've heard this one many times before, 'tis a very common myth
A horse's kidneys are quite far down in his body, so it is nearly impossible to "sit" on them. It causes no pain or discomfort if the saddle is farther back. And saddleseat saddles are actually very similar to "normal" english saddles.
For questions similar to this, go to http://american-saddlebred.com/ and read "Exploding the Myths: Part 1 and 2" under the "discussions" heading
Originally posted by Silver1 or is it kind of like the paso fino's i saw one time? THose are brave little suckers, they were doing...something....and this huge watering truck came into the arena while they were practicing, and do you know what? THe drivers chased the horses! They were deliberatly trying to hit them, or make them rear, by honking and yelling and making little runs at them...and the horse only stopped once, ONCE!!
that sounds horrible! why in the world would they be chasing them with a water truck?! what kind of event were you at??
Two things ...
1) Paso Finos are NOT Saddleseat horses.
2) I have no idea what kind of event that was ... the water truck driver has some issues, though :/
I, too, ride saddle-seat. ^_^ But! You left out one breed!
National Show Horses do saddle-seat, too! ^_^ Hee. {NSH's are arabian/saddlebred crosses, by the way. whee!}
I must say, though. Please, *please* don't compare Finos to saddlebreds. That's just... ::shudders:: wrong.
Saddlebreds are absolutely beautiful horses, although it does take a rather experienced {or one with guts!} riders to work them, as they are, indeed, a very high-strung breed.
NSH !!! SORRY !!! Forgot about them Never ridden one, but they certainly look fun ! *Many* saddlebreds are exciteable, but very few are so exciteable than no one can ride them. I know others, in fact, that compete locally in more "common" sports -- jumping, dressage, even barrel racing ! They also make good pleasure driving horses, lesson, trail, and whatever else.
Hee. Actually, I saw, I think a few weeks ago, an add for a western pleasure saddlebred! *_* I kept wondering how on *earth* they got a saddlebred to put adjust their headset that low, and keep them at a jog, but... hey, I guess, whatever works!
Some saddlebreds don't like carrying their heads high, but they usually end up on the hunter/jumper circuit. ASBs are actually growing common in the Western world, and they carry their heads like any other saddlebred ! (At least all the ones I've seen)
That is a summery of what we do, remember I'm no expert, but it is fun and chalenging. There I go again.
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