To think American horse riding is much better than English?

[SweatyYFronts]

I’ve dabbled in and out of horse riding since I was a kid. Have always loved it but the cost has stopped me from taking it up properly. In addition to this, I couldn’t understand the point of a lot of it! All this pompous rising trot business and diagonals etc ... all seemed pointless! I just wanted to learn how to stay on and go fast! But as I’d only ever rode in Britain I assumed I must be missing something as all schools taught the same way.

Anyway, last year in America I went on a horse ride through the desert in Utah ... oh my god what an experience! There was no sillyness, no “rising trot” no “KEEP YOUR BACK STRAIGHT!!” ... it was just get on, hold on and ride.

DH is a complete beginner and within an hour we were both galloping through the desert having s whale of a time! In the UK asking them to teach me canter was like asking the pope to appear on Love Island!

Why is riding so silly and pompous in the UK? In America you see 5 year olds with the horse skills of a 60 year old pro ...

I think it's the western saddle - like sitting in an armchair!

My daughter is obsessed with western riding at the moment. She’s trying to teach her pony the western aids

She loves it for hacking

It's the comfy saddle and the guiding with reins.

I spent 5 days in the Rockies in a furry armchair.

Great fun

I love the scenery on eg the Pacific crest trail and I had always wanted to ride a western broke horse but...
Tbh I felt like the horse was very fresh and about to take off all the time.
Not like a typical riding school horse in the UK.

Plus we saw a mountain lion so the horse actually did take off.

Give me a bomb proof welsh mountain pony and a nice wide track over a bouncy horse and a narrow ridge any day.

But it was lovely to realise a lifelong ambition!

It sounds like you had a great trip - that's fab!

Hold on so there's a different way to do it?

That sounds a million times better!

Well I never

And fucks sake

Riding is not ‘silly and pompous’ in the U.K. - it depends on what you want to do, dressage, show jumping, eventing, hunting, just riding in the countryside. You will need to have a horse that is schooled to some degree or it may be uncontrollable.

I have been on rides in the US any my experience is they only let you walk, perhaps the laws are different in Utah.

In order to canter you need to be able to control the horse without hanging on to it’s mouth.

I think you are comparing genres rather than countries tbh. All American riding isn't like that.

I like both but am a dressage girl at heart.
Western is easier for beginners but it gets a bit boring.
But on a trail western is much more comfy. But you’d never get me to swap permanently- I like pompous

Ohhh my dream. Actually my dream is to ride in Patagonia. I really recommend The Wild Other by Clover Stroud for all your horse lovers. Much better written than Jill’s Gymkhana and talks about her experiences being a cowgirl (amongst lots of other cool things).

And the 5 year old thing? I have seen some incredible tiny riders in the UK. Perhaps you just haven't been exposed to it. All American 5 year olds are not skilled horsemen.

You are comparing some western riding American touristy thing with UK riding schools; not really comparable at all.

I was galloping through fields when I was about 10. I have never had a riding lesson in my life, just got on my pony; listened to mum and cracked on. I spent my teenage years hacking all over the countryside but if you put me in an arena I would have been laughed out because I didn't know the 'pompous' way..

You’re not comparing like with like, though. The UK lessons system you’re describing is intended to teach control and communication with a horse, good seat etc — lifelong riding skills which may see children move into eventing, hunting etc — not as in the kind of US tradition you’re talking about, riding a working horse to herd cattle using a saddle designed to be comfortable for long periods, and signals that are usable when you’re also lassoing something.

In your holiday in the US, of course no one cared about your seat. You were one-off tourists on a trail ride, in a state with a lot of open space.

Perhaps you could try competing on a cross country course riding western style? Or maybe over a steeplechase course? Western is very limited.

I went on a horse ride through the desert in Utah .

Maybe the clue is right there.

It may be fine and fun for someone who can't really control a massive animal to sit on its back and career around a huge open space. There are very few places in the UK where that would be remotely safe or appropriate.

I'm not a rider (I've had enough lessons to have respect for competent riders!) I'm a walker. Riders in the U.K. , outside of the show ring, surely need to be able to ride a horse safely for all concerned on mixed use bridleways and roads?

It certainly sounds a lot easier.

I can't ride any more because my balance is shot (Meniere's disease). I wonder if an American-style saddle would make it easier to stay on?

DH is a complete beginner and within an hour we were both galloping through the desert having s whale of a time!

Yes, but what did he actually learn in terms of riding, seat, control; gait etc etc. Nothing.

So while you think he has done well, all he has really learned is 'go' and 'stop'. He is still a complete beginner.

yes and yours and your husbands lack of balance whilst fun for you, could have been very uncomfortable for the horse bouncing around and pulling on its mouth due to lack of experience.

I've ridden western and English for over 20 years and although the styles are completely different, the principles are very similar - for horse and rider to work together as comfortably as possible.

it's great that you had fun and did something you enjoyed, but riding in England is not by any means silly or pompous, just like western riding isn't just for cowboys heading to the saloon with their pistols!

I wonder if an American-style saddle would make it easier to stay on?

A Western saddle? Not an American saddle; because in America they have a reached of sales for different purposes, just like the UK.

• A range

'So while you think he has done well, all he has really learned is 'go' and 'stop'.'

Probably not as the 'stop' and 'go' was probably from the guide they followed

Ffs auto correct

A range of different saddles

You're comparing lolloping along on safe horses in an open space with the discipline of actually learning to ride, it's not like for like.
Above some have mentioned western horses just needing to work cattle. That's a massive discipline in itself (I've done it, properly). Riding in balance so you don't get thrown off in tight turns, riding with one hand so that you can rope...

To compare like with like you could maybe look at conventional dressage in comparison to California Vaquero, as demonstrated by someone like Mike Bridges or Jeff Sanders. I know which one I prefer... but that would be similar disciplines in terms of skills and training.

A very quick google shows that there are places in the U.K. offering this sort of thing, on private land e.g.

www.valleyfarm.co.uk/content/western-riding

So, if you want to do it without flying to America, you can.

But if you want to be able to ride on bridleways and roads (do Americans have bridleways?) then you need to learn to ride.

Literally 'horses for courses'!

It also depends a lot on the horses. If they are tourist horses they may well be following a pretty set route and will largely carry rider without too much input.

That doesn’t mean your DH could get on another horse and ride just because it was a western saddle.

No.

Western riding is easy on people, hard on horses.

English riding SHOULD be harder on people (you have to LEARN) and easier on horses.

English riding has evolved from saddles designed to hold people on, to much flatter lighter affairs.

Western.. hasnt. Even with the invent of more modern materials and manufacture, a western saddle is incredibly heavy.

English riding concerns itself with the best 'way of going' for the horse, ideally, a way of going that protects the horses body and health.

Western.... concerns itself with riders not falling off, and being comfy for hours in the saddle. How the horse is using its body is far less important.

Used to be a great Western riding place near Sligo.

Sadly don't think it's running anymore