In the spirit of post Election Day reconciliation, it seemed a good time to discuss our differences. English riding versus Western riding? Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can’t we see the value in both?
To say that horse people have strong opinions on this topic is an understatement. English riders call Western riders lazy and sloppy. Western riders call English riders uptight and prissy. What escapes notice is that both groups are accomplishing the same goal, just in a different style.
The first goal of riding is quite simple: keep the horse between you and the ground. After that is achieved, the basic principles are the same no matter what tack you’re sitting in: relaxation, balance, feel, and timing. You can’t move with the horse if you’re not relaxed. If you have to unlock your hips to move with the horse’s back, you have no hope of sitting with him and allowing him to do his job. Without that relaxation, you will never find your balance. Your muscles will fight the movement, constantly tipping you one way or the other, and preventing you from finding the ease that comes from being balanced atop your horse. If you don’t have relaxation and balance, you will never be able to get past what your body is doing and feel the subtle shifts in your horse’s body. Without a feel for those subtle changes in the horse, you will never know when to give a correction, and when to release that correction so the horse understands he has done his job.
At the core is the interconnectedness of these factors that will get us to our ultimate goal: being a partner for our horse so that together we can move in harmony and accomplish more than we could have separately. It doesn’t matter if you achieve that goal in a large saddle on a loose rein, or in a small saddle with constant rein contact, what matters in the end is the harmony of the partnership.
Back in the Saddle 