Choosing Between Western and English Riding Styles
Learning to ride is exciting, but it can also be confusing. Which riding style is best suited for the type of riding you’d like to do. Talking to experienced riders is one option, but you need to understand that most riders have one riding style, either English or western, and they tend to prefer their style over the other one. You’ll find that whichever style you choose, you’ll have to comit a good amount of time to learning the basics, and even more if you want to be a competitive rider.
If you are going to compete, knowing what you want to do in the competition is essential before choosing a riding style. If you like the more formal style of dressage, hunt seat and saddle seat, than your choice will be the English riding style. But if you’re the more casual type who prefers a comfy pair of jeans, a cowboy hat and loping the trails or competing in the myriad of western competitive events, then the western riding style is for you. You can ride for pleasure on the trails with either style of riding.
Besides just what events you can compete in there are also differences to the actual riding styles. Riding the western style is a more casual style designed to allow the rider to ride for hours and hours over varied terrain. The stirrups are longer and the rider sits deep in the seat. Western riding also has the reins held in one hand, leaving the other hand free for using a rope. English riding has shorter stirrups with riders more erect to slightly forward sitting, posting in motion to the horse and typically holding the reins in both hands. Some English riding will require double reins, one set to direct the motion of the horse and one set to control the head position. English riding also has several different styles including hunt seat, dressage, saddleseat, and endurance. Each of these disciplines has their own style of tack – a dressage saddle, jumping saddle, all purpose saddle, and so on.
Once you make a decision on which style you prefer, make sure you are wearing proper safety equipment, including a riding helmet. This is just a good habit to develop, especially for young and novice riders. When you select a style you can always decide to learn the other style at a later date, after all your horse can certainly learn another style, but learning both at the same time is overwhelming and can lead to confusion.
