If you ride horses what do you think is better... English or western???

Question

Im an english rider and i love it!!!!! its amazing and comfortabl but chalanging you dont just sit there like you do in western! at least thats all i noticed about western is how sloppy it looks. state your oppinion below!!! please and thankyou!!!

Answer 1

There are positives and negatives to both styles of riding and both styles require precision, balance, skill and finesse.  I have ridden both and still love to ride western on occasion though I grew up riding english and prefer it.  If you think western looks sloppy then you have never witnessed a true western horse and rider, the fluid, easy style and flawless effeciency of movement are quite beautiful to watch and I appreciate a well executed reining pattern as much as a well ridden dressage test.

Answer 2

I ride both.  For a fun ride I prefer Western, and for showing I prefer English.  My gelding does great under English.

Answer 3

I my self like Western. My sister rides English and she sometimes finds it hard to hold on when she rides her horse. I think Western is more comfortable and it seems easier to stay in the saddle for me.

Answer 4

English is better ,,

western does not really look sloppy !

But if that your opinion+ ok

Stay ridding English

Answer 5

I THINK IT IS YOUR OPTION AND WHEN YOU SEE A WOMEN RIDING A HORSE IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL SO YOU CAN THINK OF OTHER WAY AND IT IS YOUR CHOICE

Answer 6

I think it's great to experience and to learn both.  Morrisville (NY) College requires that you learn both.  Either or is a personal preference.  Both can look great if one knows how to ride. However, I do agree  English riding show a certain style, grace and class.  Have fun!!

You're Welcome :)~

Answer 7

I only ride western pleasure although there was a time when I did compete in amateur reining and heaven knows I certainly do love watching competition in all western disciplines, both amateur and professional. I have never been one to admire the pretentious courtly manners of aristocrats and so the English disciplines in the style of aristocratic horsemanship has never been very appealing to watch until my wife and daughter took interest in it and then that brought back youthful memories of when my grandfather bred and trained Morgans for saddle seat, hunt seat, dressage, and driving show competitions, although I had never attended any of the competitions. My father and grandfather didn't get along well and my father just didn't have any interest in the horses, maybe because my grandpa was overbearing and worked him too hard when he was young. I know grandpa sure was domineering when I was young but I didn't mind too much because I loved to watch him work the horses and I loved the horses, all but the mean old stallion he had. That horse absolutely hated me with a viscous passion and I can honest say that the feeling became mutual. That was grandpa's driving competition horse and he loved that horse more than anything. Seems like the more that crazy mean tempered stallion aged the older and more frail grandpa got and his health then started getting really bad not so very long after that horse died. Anyway, back to the topic of this question. Although I ride western and my primary interest are the western disciplines, I have learned a little appreciation for the English riding disciplines since my wife and daughter began to show some interest in it. But I still can't get over a deep rooted feeling that it is just so much highfalutin, pompous, hoity-toity, sissified aristocratic silliness.

Answer 8

I am a cowboy from Montana . what do you think

Answer 9

Riding with an English style saddle requires more skill and is much more difficult to learn than Western where the saddle does much of the work and the rider simply 'steers' by neck reining.  Western is the ideal style for the cowboy who spends many hours in the saddle over vast distances, although the Australian outback riders use a flat, English style saddle and so do the Argentinian gauchos.  Western saddles have a strong resemblence to those used by medeival knights in armor who had to be held in place in case they toppled off their horses and were then unable to get up off the ground without hoists..  Styles of riding and their saddles were developed over hundreds of years to suit the purpose, not as another writer said rather rudely.

Think of it like driving an automatic car or a gear shift vehicle.  One requires much more skill and one doesnt - but they both get you from a to b.