english saddles types
what do u think is easier, a western saddle or English?
what type of saddle do u think is easier, because i have just joined a rideing club and i was wonder what way is easier to ride, English or Western?
Beginners usually choose the Western saddle. there's a horn in front to hang on with one hand while you guide your horse with the reins in the other hand. When riding english, you have to use both hands on the reins so you can't really hang on. The western saddle also has a lot more parts that come up and around the rider... the back of the saddle comes up higher so there's something there to stop the rider from falling back too much and the front of the saddle comes up a lot higher. When riding an english saddle, you're kinda sitting on top of it... you use your legs to hold you on the horse rather than letting the saddle hold you on.
For me, personally, the english saddle is unbelievably more comfortable than the western saddle. I rode western for a couple months before switching to english. Then a year later I started taking some extra lessons and decided to ride western again and it was really hard for me because the western saddle doesn't allow you to have as much contact with the horse. When riding english your legs are touching the horse and there's only a couple inches between the horse's back and your butt. And in english, your stirrups are a lot shorter. When switching back to western it was really hard for me not to balance with my leg muscles and instead use my seat to stay on the horse and let my legs just hang there. For me, there's too much saddle between me and the horse when riding western.
While many beginners start with western, there's plenty of people who come to my english barn without ever having ridden before and they learn perfectly well in an english saddle. If you don't mind not having a horn to hang onto, then I'd recommend the english rather than the western saddle.
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