Do You Ride Horses?

[opal.]

@Monchele
That's awesome! Boy do I miss riding highs...

@Silence
*Hugs* thanks I really have tried before. I try discreetly all the time, but I've been forthwright about it before, and pretty much just get the same reaction as when I show her breeches and things in the Dover catalogues.

[Bluebird22]

Dolphin: That's great! Even without placing, both you and your trainer knows how well you did! I can't wait to see pictures and videos. :3 Too bad about Shadwell, will you be able to ride him this week?

Smokey: Oh i know! Other then some fallen branches and dead trees down (in the woods behind our house, so nothing was damaged) everything was fine.

Milo: Of course you would ask! You can not start riding by buying a horse. It's just common sense. Thank you, i really like his color too. Especially his muzzle because it is the rusty color <3

[admires last delight]

@Daylight
No kidding XD Western saddles aren't made for posting, so it's naturally harder, especially when you have an english-moving horse! :D It's funny, because while the trot is obviously MUCH more comfortable to sit in a western saddle, I actually enjoy cantering in an english saddle better. Between the fact that the english saddle is so perfectly made for the canter, riding western has given me a great seat, and that my horse has some on the most comfortable gaits I've ever ridden, I find cantering in an english saddle really fun and comfortable XD. Also, a huge saddle is never fun, no matter what discipline. Also, if you shortened the stirrups of the western saddle at all so you could use it in more of a english manner, then everything gets uncomfortable XD It's slightly easier to post, but still awkward, and the canter is near impossible.

It's funny, because I've only been riding western for 4 years, and I rode english for 8 years before that, so english is my "home discipline" so to speak, same as you. I've been really missing it lately, and craving doing something different. I don't take formal lessons, so hours and hours of arena work three days a well gets REALLY boring after a while. I ride JJ english sometimes, but he's really just not an english horse and things he does wonderfully in a western saddle fall apart when you put an english saddle on him. That's why I am working with Sizzle though, who is going to be my hunter-under-saddle eq. horse! XD

Sorry, I'm late. D;
& of course. xD & my horse has a very vibrant springy trot, so it feels SO awkward. -_-
That's strange. But that's awesome that you can ride well in both. Hahaha. I love switching back from english to western.
I ride my horse in a western saddle but I also get to ride school horses in english tack. :P Ha.
& That's awesome what breed is Sizzle?

[opal.]

@Daylight
Yeah, it is really fun XD

Anywho, Sizzle is a Morgan, just like JJ :3 He was the first horse I ever broke by myself, and he's doing great! My mom rode him once, and my trainer rode him once just to see how he was doing, but other than that I'm the only personwho's ever been on him/worked with him :3 He's not mine, but I refer to JJ and Sizzle as "My boys" XD
We broke him in a western saddle since they're much more secure and what not, but as soon as he's consisent in all three gaits, I'm going to make him into a children's hunter-under-saddle eq. horse. He knows basic dressage right now, and is finally starting to get consistent in the trot and walk, but his canter is still pretty rough and chargy. He's by far the sweetest horse I've ever met though, and will nicker at you like crazy when you walk past his stall. He's so happy just to come out and be with people, and you can just see how much he wants to please.
Anyway, here he is!

[Bluebird22]

Opal: sorry, I forgot to mention you in my replies! If she likes western over English, and you do dressage, that might help you. You could try having her watching you do a small dressage test in the western saddle, then switch over to an English saddle and do the same course, then have her have her tell you some pointers to help you in each saddle. Like something to work on with each. It might just be jumping that she is not big on. We all have our preferences, but I know you would like at lease some of her attention with English. Could you try working on trail or reining with JJ? It would be something new at least. :3 Sizzle looks great!

Monchele: that's great! Other then that first canter it seems like a great ride. Leasing Thinker would be so amazing for you! How many days would you be riding with that? I forget, how old is Thinker? He seems pretty young.

[opal.]

@Blue
Well, I compete in western dressage, so she's seen me do probably hundreds of mini-dressage tests XD That, and the fact that we don't have an english dressage saddle at the barn, since it's like 99% western XD

It could be that she's not big on jumping, but that doesn't make any sense because she used to jump her horse when she was my age, even did a couple shows.

I mean, I already do some trail with JJ, but we don't really have to means to do anything else trail-wise that I haven't already done, so it's not too new.

Reining is okay, but not really my thing, not to mention we don't have the means for that either.
The other problem with reining, is that the cues and the riding style is soooo different that you really have to have a single horse that is used only for reining and nothing else. It's called "reining" because you do just about everything by neck rening, which is essentially pulling the neck one way or the other with the reins "pushing" the horses neck that direction. Also, for things like sliding stops, your horse has to have special elongated back shoes that allow him to slide. It's just hard if not nearly impossible for a reining horse to be anything other than a reining horse, and the cues are so polar opposite to dressage that it just wouldn't be a good mix :C

Barrel racing would basically turn JJ into a crazy rodeo horse, which he's far to nice for, not to mention it's never appealed to me and the people who do like barrel racing are not my favorite types of people either.

The one solution that I've already tried was asking my trainer to give me driving lessons, since that's actually what he's most renowed for and what our stable's main discipline is. The problem is, that it's a training stable, which means the majority of the horses there are there because someone is paying my trainer to train there horses for them, meaning I can't just ride whomever. JJ knows how to drive, but he hasn't been driven in years, and wouldn't be the best for me to learn on, even though I would be able to drive him later.

[Hooligan.]

Hey guys:

More news!! I'm running for Senior Princess Rodeo Queen this year!! It isn't a big type of queening show, all we have to do is on stage interview and question, onstage modeling and a horsemanship pattern. I am thinking there won't be that many people in senior princess so I think I have a decent shot. Plus my mom won queen before and so did my aunt. And 2 of my friends have won senior princess and are helping me, one of my friends has won junior princess and one of my friends has won queen so I have a lot of help lol. My competition is in April. I really hope I win because there are some pretty awesome prizes. Each, sr princess, jr princess and queen get a bridle/breastcollar set, embroidered shirt, hat buckle, belt buckle, and chaps. The buckles are absolutely to die for gorgeous too!! Ugh I can't wait!! Meanwhile my friends mom is teaching me how to model lol (sh won mrs. County here) and everyone else is helping me on the rest lol. I have model and walking practice tomorrow lol.

[Kickin' up dirt]

@Blue
Well, I compete in western dressage, so she's seen me do probably hundreds of mini-dressage tests XD That, and the fact that we don't have an english dressage saddle at the barn, since it's like 99% western XD

It could be that she's not big on jumping, but that doesn't make any sense because she used to jump her horse when she was my age, even did a couple shows.

I mean, I already do some trail with JJ, but we don't really have to means to do anything else trail-wise that I haven't already done, so it's not too new.

Reining is okay, but not really my thing, not to mention we don't have the means for that either.
The other problem with reining, is that the cues and the riding style is soooo different that you really have to have a single horse that is used only for reining and nothing else. It's called "reining" because you do just about everything by neck rening, which is essentially pulling the neck one way or the other with the reins "pushing" the horses neck that direction. Also, for things like sliding stops, your horse has to have special elongated back shoes that allow him to slide. It's just hard if not nearly impossible for a reining horse to be anything other than a reining horse, and the cues are so polar opposite to dressage that it just wouldn't be a good mix :C

Barrel racing would basically turn JJ into a crazy rodeo horse, which he's far to nice for, not to mention it's never appealed to me and the people who do like barrel racing are not my favorite types of people either.

The one solution that I've already tried was asking my trainer to give me driving lessons, since that's actually what he's most renowed for and what our stable's main discipline is. The problem is, that it's a training stable, which means the majority of the horses there are there because someone is paying my trainer to train there horses for them, meaning I can't just ride whomever. JJ knows how to drive, but he hasn't been driven in years, and wouldn't be the best for me to learn on, even though I would be able to drive him later.

That offended me. All barrel horses are not crazy. My horse is calm unless he's ready to run. Sure he bolts sometimes but all horses have their days. I barrel race and I'm not the bratty type that only cares about winning. I do it for fun. Please think about that.

[opal.]

@Dirt
Please read that again. I said that MY horse would turn into a crazy horse if I did that. I did NOT say that all barrel racers were crazy. If that's your thing, that's just fine, but JJ is far too excitable to do that, and was trained in pleasure and western dressage, not "rodeo" disciplines. Sorry for the offense, but please read more carefully before jumping to conclusions about what I said. I said nothing about all barrel racers being crazy.

Also, I know YOU aren't like that, but unfortunately, all the people I've ever interacted with in my area are. There's a girl at my barn that comes to the barn "ready to ride" in short shorts, throws her horse around the barrels like a mad-woman, spurring him crazily, than throws him back in the pasture wet. (Not to mention her horse is the meanest horse in the barn, and the other pasture horses are constantly bleeding and have hoof marks all over from him kicking them). I've been at rodeos where there was blood coming out of horses noses after runs, and they just sat there looking miserable and wet afterwards. I'm well aware that all barrel racers aren't like this, but in my area they are, and all the experiences I've had with them have really not put them in a good place in my mind. All the ones I've met have had terrible horsemanship too, and just really weren't nice to watch.

[stirrupirons]

@Blue: Thanks ill have pictures up as soon as the woman who took them puts them on Facebook, lol. If I leased him I'd hopefully ride almost everyday He seems young, right? He's 17. xD he's in great shape though and moves and acts like a young horse. Even though he's 17 I still have to lunge him before I ride because if not I will end up cantering laps around the arena because he has so much energy! He's still perfectly healthy with no signs of arthritis or aging. I swear he has a fountain of youth in his paddock. xD He moves quicker and he's more of a handful than our 3 year old pony :3