Going to venture out a little bit

KarinUS

KarinUS

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May 20, 2001
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I love my RI. She's great. Longe line lessons this year have helped me so much!

But I feel like I've been going in circles, like I've been in a rut.

With Dj's saddle still being fixed and Minnie's troubles I've had the pleasure of bringing Bixby back into work and I have to say I really enjoy her.

And I like neckreining. I love her smooth soft gaits that are easy to sit to.

It made me think that perhaps taking a little 'big dressage horse' break will do me good. I am going to take some actual Western lessons.

Jog instead of trot, lope instead of canter, neckrein instead of contact - I am hoping it will be slowing down and downscaling everything for a bit.

What do you think? Am I expecting too much?
 
Why the hell not? I'd love to. I find when Z and I are out and about, I sometimes find myself sitting with one hand on the reins... and that hand creeps up.... and there I am channelling Alias Smith And Jones again! Ziggy doesn't seem to mind the odd bit of neck reining but he's a very tolerant little pone where his mum is concerned.
 
Go for it, bet you'll enjoy it. I had a go at Western when I lived in Italy as so many people do it there, doing it properly was harder than I expected but it was really fun to try a whole new style of riding - especially as I was very much a novice (English) rider at that point and I found that the security of a Western saddle helped me learn to be more confident on horseback.

This made me :giggle:

KarinUS said:
Longe line lessons this year have helped me so much!

But I feel like I've been going in circles
Click to expand...
 
I think it sounds like a great idea. I don't have much experience when it comes to riding, but I can certainly imagine trying a different style would make a refreshing change.

I love western riding and I'm certainly glad when I took the plunge into lessons I took that route rather than the more traditional English path. It's very laidback (don't know how much that's to do with my RI though) and right from the off I've felt more comfortable (and confident?) on horseback than on my previous pony trekking trips.

Anyway, I say go for it and I hope you love it as much as I do!
 
I hope I don't love it too much. lol
Now I finally got my whole crew outfitted in quality English saddles.

But IT's ON!

Friday morning -my first Western lesson.

Chanted, I know what you mean though. Riding western always makes me wonder why English has to be so hard? lol
 
joosie said:
I had a go at Western when I lived in Italy as so many people do it there, doing it properly was harder than I expected but it was really fun to try a whole new style of riding
Click to expand...


Right! There's the leasurely Western riding like on trails and there's the more competitive Western riding that physically requires pretty much the same as good English riding.

I was surprised how many similarities there were.
For example the RI is a barrel racing competitor, trainer and breeder. So her approach is more athlete like and less leasurely.
In fact she scares me a little. lol She expects a lot of her horses and I worked extra hard during the lesson as to not get the little dude in trouble. :eek:
You need a lot of good core stability for the faster execution of the transitions and all that sitting trot so that is physically a lot like dressage!
And the barrel saddle actually puts you in the same should/hip/heel alignment as a dressage saddle would -not the chair seat you see in trail pics.

I think it will be a nice change of pace - although not as leasurely as I envisioned lol
 
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