Riding Styles

What's your style?

Riding a horse means different things to different people. Some of us like to ride out on a slow hack, enjoying the sights and sounds of the countryside. Others like a fast ride, jumps and excitement. And then there are riders who get a buzz from training their horse to the discipline of dressage.

Most riders spend some time in the menage or school, perhaps having lessons themselves, but also schooling their horses in the essentials to make them a safe ride. In the UK, most people initially learn to ride in a classical or English style, a way of riding most commonly associated with dressage, accenting qualities of calm, obedience and precision.

Western riding from the USA has become much more popular in the UK in the last ten years, and has a different approach to that of English riding because it developed from the working needs of cowboys in the American West.

Although at first sight the two styles may appear very different, in both equipment and riding styles, there are lots of similarities. This is partly because of the influence western riding has had of late over classical riding, but also because both styles reflect an interest in learning to move with the horse, and avioding unnecessary interferring with the horses natural instincts.

A third style, which is seen to some extent in both classical and   western riding, is natural horsemanship. This promotes controlling horses by understanding their behaviour, and learning to 'speak horse'.

The differences between these apporoaches to horseback riding are sometimes blurred in practice, but all have something to offer. Sometimes it takes a while to discover which approach to riding you feel comfortable with. Often, it's about finding a good teacher, and your riding style will usually develop from their example.

English Riding
Western Riding
Natural Horsemanship
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