Debate: Which horseback riding style is better: English or Western?

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Which horseback riding style is better: English or Western?

Results so far:

English		50%	242 votes	Total: 482 votes
Western		50%	240 votes	Total: 482 votes

English

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by Amanda Ines

Created on: April 02, 2010 Last Updated: April 30, 2011

It must be noted, before I carry on writing this article, that I have only opted to vote riding English style as being better simply because that was how I learned to ride but I think both styles have their benefits and disadvantages.

Riding the English way means that you have a much smaller and lighter saddle which is both lighter for the horse to carry and in being smaller makes it easier for you to wrap your legs round the anatomy of the horse and so have more direct contact.

This means that when you squeeze your legs in order to transmit a command to your horse it will be easier for you to do it and easier for him to feel it.

Another plus point for the English saddle is that because of it being smaller your legs are not placed in such a wide apart position as in the Western saddle and when you dismount after quite a few hours in the saddle, one notices this difference quite a lot.

To explain it in simple terms - the Western saddle is probably the reason why most cowboys have bandy legs while English dressage riders don't! It is much easier to grip tightly with your thighs onto something that is narrow rather than wide and every now and then when horses misbehave or unexpected things happen, the only way of staying on is precisely by gripping with your thighs.

Many years ago, although I don't know whether they still teach the same method today, the way youngsters were taught to ride was to place a bank note in between their thighs and the saddle and they had to make sure that by gripping they didn't lose it.

But to go on to the benefits of the Western saddle now I would say that it really is the nearest thing to being able to ride on top of a horse in an armchair. For someone that has to spend long hours in the saddle it probably is the best thing that there is for comfort.

The small of your back is supported, the pommel of the saddle at the front let's you rest your tired hands there every now and then and the (usually) sheep skin under-blanket gives you a lovely springy feeling through the movements of the horse.

When riding English style one has to concentrate on keeping the back straight, the hands have to be held at a certain height and the legs and heels both have to be maintained in the same position all the time and all of this at times is a bit of a pain to say the least!

Riding should be fun. Riding should be where the horse and the rider both feel comfortable with each other and so at the end of the day my final pronouncement on which saddle is best would be that both have their benefits.

If you are having to do accurate work with a horse such as a dressage competition or show jumping then it should always be an English saddle. But if you are out in the country rounding up cows for a whole day then opt for the Western saddle. But at the end of the day, if you love horses and riding I'm sure you will be able to enjoy on any kind of saddle!

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Western

1 of 3

by Gail M Feldman

Created on: September 27, 2010

English horseback riding has a formal look to it; English riders are often dressed as if for the hunt, while Western riders may appear less formal because their traditional dress reflects the working environment of the cowboy. This style of riding requires skill, not least because it deprives the rider of certain safeguards, such as a saddle designed to facilitate the weight-distribution of a rider who may be leading a cow she's just lassoed, as well as a handy pommel to grip. The English rider maintains a posture that, to the Western rider, appears stiff; this may be an illusion. Dressage.com avers that "Dressage is the partnership between Horse and Rider. Dressage becomes art when it is a joy for the horse. "

However, while acknowledging the skill involved in English riding, one should never undervalue that required for Western riding. For the Western rider, the pommel is not just a convenience; Western riding is the life's blood of the American cowboy (and now the cowgirl as well), who needs to be able to rope cattle (and have something to which to tie the lasso) and keep his seat while doing that and other tasks. English riding is not geared toward work-related tasks; it is geared toward leisure (fox hunting, for example) and show (jumping is good if a fox scurries through a hedge but these days it really is more a part of dressage. That being said, Western Riding has evolved into a sport as well, and it is an art, too - just a different art.

Some of the major differences between the two methods of riding (cosmetics aside - mane-braiding does not affect riding skill, after all) and aforementioned general posture and attire:

1. Equipment and tack differ between the two riding styles. The saddles are most obvious, but the bits, too, can be different, although there is some crossover. The snaffle is most often used in English riding, but sometimes in Western as well, where, on the other hand, one is more likely to find a curb bit (which itself has both English and Western versions).

2. Western riding is done with the reins in one hand; its origins are apparent in this, since the simple cowboy, later the more accomplished vaquero, needed a free hand. (Cavalries have that need as well, which makes one wonder why English riders use both hands; after all, the English went to war on horseback as well.) Those who aver that English riding requires more skill should think again; English riding requires one kind of balance, Western another. One is not superior to the other.

3. A Western-trained horse moves away from leg pressure, whereas the English-trained horse moves toward it. What this means is simply that an English rider will turn a horse right using the right leg, and a Western rider will turn a horse right using the left leg. If a Western rider finds him/herself on an English-trained horse, s/he may be in for a surprise!

4. Cutting (separating a cow from its herd) is not an event in English dressage; its raison d'être in Western shows should by now be evident. On the other hand, dressage is particularly noted for its "airs above the ground," involving many kinds of jumping - not one of them in pursuit of a cow.

With all of the above differences, you are sure to note that not one of them bears a quality that can be adjudged "good" or "bad." The differences reflect origins, current uses and stylistic traditions that developed from those origins and uses. One cannot say one is better or worse than the other; one can only state one's preferences.

This writer's preferences are based on her nationality (American), experience in the saddle (mostly but not exclusively Western) and her overexposure, as some might see it, to cowboy movies in her impressionable youth. Her earliest ambitions were to be, simultaneously if possible, a cowgirl and an Indian (as Native Americans were then called). Gene Autry, in his black embroidered button-down shirt, his cowboy hat (no helmet for him!) and and his casual air (how can you be formal while riding with BOTH hands off the reins - in order to strum a guitar?) won her baby heart, and it remains won, to this day. How could she help preferring Western riding to English? But that's all it is: a preference. That's all it ever is. Anyone who declares that one style is innately and objectively superior to the other needs to observe a little better, study a little harder, and learn to acknowledge that there are all kinds of people - and equestrian styles - in the world. In the vernacular, "That's what makes horse racing!"