Horse Back Riding

How do you want to ride?  There are several riding disciplines available.  The most popular in the U.S. and Canada are western, saddle seat, dressage, and hunt seat.

• Western:  the cowboys working on a ranch or farm ride western style, but this style is normally used for pleasure and show riding.  This could include trail riding, pole bending, roping, barrel racing, roping and cutting.  The saddle used is somewhat large and heavy, has a high upper front part of a saddle; a saddlebow. pommel and cantle, and its very distinct horn, differs greatly from the English saddle.  Unlike English saddles, the stirrups are not made of iron as they are wooden with a leather covering.
  
• Hunt Seat:  This is an English discipline that gets its name from the British sport of fox hunting.  Most hunt seat riding takes place in the arena.  In fact, if you want to jump with your horse, then this is the saddle for you.  This saddle is also chosen by persons that participate in horse shows.  Hunt Seat saddles allow close contact with the horses body.  The seat itself is rather shallow and the stirrups are kept relatively short.
  
• Saddle Seat:  This is considered and English discipline but it has become uniquely American.  Primarily, you see saddle seat on horses with high leg action like Tennessee Walking Horses.  The main purpose of the saddle seat is competition, although many riders also enjoy trail riding.  These saddles have a shallower seat and feature a design that allows the horse's shoulders to move freely as the horse demonstrates high, front-end action.  This causes the rider to sit far behind the horse's withers.  The stirrups are worn rather long.
  
• Dressage:  Dressage is an English discipline and is one of the oldest riding styles in the world.  This method is primarily a competitive discipline and is designed to focus on and emphasize the horse's natural movements.  This discipline is one of the hardest to master. The dressage saddle looks much like the hunt seat saddle, but is deeper than a hunt-seat saddle.  The flaps of a dressage saddle are also wider and at a greater angle to the seat.  The stirrups are lower in dressage than in the hunt seat.
  
• Australian:  This saddle looks like a cross between a dressage saddle and a western saddle.  These saddles have a comfortable seat for the rider and a comfortable fit for the horse.  The Austrailian saddle is great for those people to ride on the trail in endurance and competitive trail rides.

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