English Riding

English Riding vs. Western Riding

To best explain the differences between English and Western riding you must first examine the saddles. An english saddle is designed for optimum balance both in dressage, deep seat, and out of the saddle, such as you would use for jumping. We post at the trot in an English saddle to lighten the weight on the horses back. The general rule is -the faster one goes on a horse- the shorter the stirrups should be.

 

A Western Saddle is designed for sitting deep and in. The horn on the western saddle keeps you back in the seat and enables a rider to do various ranch type work such as roping, dragging, etc…