Western Riding – Riding Styles Explained

When horse owners speak of riding, they are often speaking of either Western style riding or English style riding. For those new to horses and horsemanship, it may be difficult to pick out a difference between the two styles to begin with but it is not hard to understand how they differ once some time is spent looking at what the two styles are used for.

For those new to riding who are interested in picking a riding school, the choice comes down to why you are riding and what type of riding you plan to do. If you are interested in dressage or other such equestrian events, the Western style may not be what you are looking for.

Western style riding developed with the advent of horses in North America. Starting with the Spanish conquistadors, this style of riding favors a deeper saddle with a higher cantle and a pommel and knob forward on the saddle which was used for roping. Over time, especially in the United States, Western riding was further developed by cowboys who need a saddle that would absorb some of the force of roping and would also help keep a cowboy seated.

Western style saddles featured a large pommel in the front

Cowboys worked hard and their jobs took them across inhospitable terrain far from home, often while tending herds of cattle that were not likely to be relied on. The possibility of being flung from a horse was very real and the design of the saddle was slowly adapted to these needs.

Because of the work done by cowboys and their horses, Western riding emphasized a horsemanship that involved very little or subtle instruction from the rider. These horses were trained to have something of a “cow sense” where the horse itself understood the job of tending herds just as well as the cowboy did. Because of the need to have both hands free at times, horses were trained to respond to only small movements of the reins, often simply the slight pressure of the reins on the neck was enough to get the horse to move in the right direction.

While English style riding is most often connected with competition, there are a number of Western style competitions that often look for those traits and skills on both the horse’s and the rider’s part needed for a working horse. Competitions such as reining, cutting, trail class, and team penning are all events in which a horse and rider can compete.