How soft and responsive the horses are when trained right—if you’ve ever ridden a reiner, it’s addicting.What a blast! The gaits are usually easier to sit than those of a warmblood and more comfortable. It’s a pleasure to have a horse that can go on a loose rein and work so much off leg and seat when finished. Plus, I find the saddles more comfortable!
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What do they do with their horses at a show if they are not riding them?
This was an interesting thread to read. I’m strictly a western rider, rode an English saddle maybe twice. To read opinions from those who’ve rode both was fun 
They hold them or put them back on the trailer. Leaving a horse on the trailer is where the wreck might would happen I would think.
What do I like about riding Western? It’s definitely not the weight of the saddle!
I love how beautiful western tack is, with the tooling and bling and everything. I love how varied it is, and how you can recognize the makers by the style of tooling. I love how intricate the saddle pads can get. I love how secure I feel in my saddle. I love how unique the show outfits can be, where it’s encouraged to stand out. With English, you’re expected to wear just a handful of colors and the goal is to be understated and let the focus be on your horse. In Western, you’re asking for just as much focus as the horse and people expect LOUD outfits.
Also, I like being able to wear cowboy boots. They break in a LOT easier than english tall boots. haha.
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Interesting.
My horse is English and at shows she is tied to the trailer. She does have water and a hay bag to keep her occupied and I check on her regularly. I tie the rope to baling twine but thus far she has only broken it once and she was easily caught and re tied… She is an OTTB and they don’t learn to tie at the track. She has improved very much in the tie dept since I have owned her but is not perfect (and likely never will be).
We have also done team sorting (in English tack). And were a member of a drill team for awhile and did exhibitions and parades in western tack (with snaffle). Oddly she has always known how to neck rein.
And I LOVE my cowboy boots!!!
I love the people.
For the most part they are warm, accepting of others, helpful, and fun loving. They don’t look down their noses at those working within a budget. They don’t sweat the small stuff.
And when some bonehead starts a thread in the Western forum titled “I don’t like riding Western because …(just for fun)”
The western folk don’t take it personally. They mostly just ignore it.
Care to imagine the royal train-wreck such a title would spawn in Dressage or Hunter/Jumper?
Western folk have class :encouragement::encouragement::encouragement:
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Now, now, who do you say maybe doesn’t has much of a sense of humor here?:lol:
And who’s proving they’re missing the bicker-fest of Current Events? Yawn… 
???
I think you may have the wrong poster.
I was not even participating there any more when it was closed.
I really love what riding on the ranch does for my horses. It isn’t completely exclusive to a western saddle (although I wouldn’t try to brand calves without a western saddle). But my horses have learned to help me get something done, and that has really changed how we relate to each other.
It isn’t only the ranch/cattle work, the horse needs to be mentally present and thinking about what we are doing…my husband has a horse that usually just mentally shuts himself out of things, though the horse is useful for getting many jobs done and rideable by anyone but a rank beginner. He’s not nearly as enjoyable for me to ride; he learned from someone else’s mediocre riding that he needs to be Compliant, Right Now. So, he is…but he’s not that into you, or the cows.
I find that riding in an arena can really make a horse feel chowsed, put upon. When you take the exercises outside, or add cattle, it makes sense. I spend just a wee bit of time in the corral, setting my horse up to do something (like steer, in the case of a colt) and then when there is a lot of sagebrush, my telling the horse “turn right. now turn left. now left again, now right” around the sagebrush makes sense to the horse- there’s a reason that I keep asking the horse to DO something, to give/yield.
I have a mare that doesn’t have much natural ability to raise her forehand, rock back and use her hindquarters. She could get heavy and resentful really fast, working on stop softly, take a step or two back, and turn (even just 45 degrees) over your haunches. But when we went in with the cattle, and she DID stop and rock back: she found out that she could control the cow with a lot less effort than if we had to go out and around, to start over and get farther out to get the positional advantage on the cow. I remember the first time she did stop, rock back and turn that way on a cow…I swear I could hear the gears turning in her head when she knew she blocked that cow. She has been much more willing to make those turns on cattle as well as practice them dry ever since.
Beyond that, the horse learns from YOUR relief when you get the sassy bovine escapees back through the gate, that the two of you have accomplished something. And then from there, the horse learns to fill in for you, to help you, to save your bacon. And that has to be one of the most satisfying things- when your horse is looking out for the both of you, and you both know it.
There are other things that horses can enjoy and learn to help you out on, jumping comes to mind. But I really enjoy riding out through the desert or the forest, spending all day with my horse.
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Riding western is certainly relaxing.
I’m a dressage rider - self carriage is gospel to us. All my horses tie.
I love my broke horse. No dancing around, no fussing, no naughty spooking. Most of the time it’s “yes, ma’am”. When it’s not, then he visits the reverend for a tune up. Love it, life is easy!!!
I like wearing jeans and western boots. Has pretty much been the bulk of my wardrobe since early childhood. I grew up riding western but always had a desire to ride English. Now I alternate between riding western and English, I enjoy both, I do wear a helmet riding western.
