I’ve never for the life of me understood this. I know a lot of the BNTs don’t do this, but a ton of breed circuit people do on strictly HUS horses, not all-arounders. Why?
I’m guessing comfort for the rider. Maybe feeling more secure. Those aren’t great reasons seeing as some of these horses are pretty darn broke!
I have a buddy who will be showing eq and his at Congress and she made it a point to be riding in her hunt seat saddle all summer. Kind of seems like a given doesn’t it?
some of it may be male trainers warming up/training HUS horses and not preferring to be in the hunt saddle.
those are my best guesses. I’ve done a lot of posting in a western saddle when I worked at a QH barn I just did it because everyone else did!
My horse is an all-arounder, so I tend to do my schooling rides at shows in my western saddle because I work on a bunch of skills with him, not just HUS. I need my legs down and ability to use my western spurs to school those maneuvers. Although all warm-ups before HUS and Eq classes are done in my hunt saddle. (I am a DIYer, so no trainer ever schools my horse for me).
For a HUS specialist, it would really come down to trainer preference. Because breed show HUS is judged on how the horse moves, not what the rider looks like, if a trainer can get the motion they want in a western saddle, then that’s what they do. I think it makes it easier for them to switch between client horses who do different events with the same boots and spurs. The issue is if the owner/exhibitor isn’t comfortable or strong enough in the hunt saddle to ride the horse effectively in the class. Then they really need to spend their time schooling in the English saddle.
I just made a thread about this, haha! I show western, but I prefer to school in my English saddle. My english saddle is easier to tack up, lighter to throw up on my big horse, and fits into my tack locker better than my western saddle.
my question would be why confuse the horse? We showed cross disciplines with several horses, each would self adjust its gaits and carriage depending upon the type of tack it was wearing It was not something we taught but something they learned
In some instances, that could be considered anticipating, the horse not really listening to the rider and conforming to what is being asked to do, but assuming, “if it is Tuesday, this must be Italy, we better act like it”.
Judges can see that, ok in some venues, not so much in others, where “willingly guided” is paramount, like in reining.
If a horse automatically does things because it is the equivalent as trick trained to the situation, that may not be what is desired in every place.
For a horse in those situations where anticipating is a demerit, that it already anticipates anything is not so good, why cross training is important there.
With any kind of saddle or bridle, or bareback and bridleless, the horse should still do what is asked to do, whatever that may be, if it is trained well to do it.
I would guess that falls into the "different strokes … " and such.
I will repeat, of course it is smart to train and use the proper tack for the task when necessary and definitely a few times before showing, so there be no surprises there, if the tack is appropriate to the discipline, say just a different bit, or a completely different one and if they are surprises, time to fix them.
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Interesting… weird. I guess I still don’t see a benefit other than trainer convenience, but I still see girls who are DIYers who do it. Maybe it’s just a fad?
Once I get my english tack broke in an used, I prefer to school in my work tack, which is western. I do bring out the english tack prior to shows and work in it here and there, but I like to keep it clean and fairly pristine. Less work I do have some tween students who show both western and english who aren’t strong enough to hoist the western saddles on their horses yet. If no adult is within arms reach at the time, they’ll school either discipline in their english tack due to ease. These horses better be broke enough to withstand the difference or I have more work to do.
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I sometimes used to do that. Mine went about the same way with more extension for the HUS practice and didn’t depend on saddle type to know what they were supposed to do. You can post in a Western saddle. Why I did it was it was easier for me then hauling a second saddle around all day to work then out to the barn or swapping saddles to school at a show with limited time and ring availability. Besides that, since I also showed in Trail and WR, it was easier to school the gate and drag around stuff in a stock saddle and I schooled Trail a little almost every ride.
Bridle is a whole other story with two handed contact on one but not the other-that can confuse them, not to mention work against the way the bit is designed to work. However a simple snaffle can do double duty and the horse go on light two handed contact or one handed slack as the rider requests with a little training.
I don’t recommend it as a full time regime, the way themleg lies on the horse is different, but if the horse is trained and rider competent? It shouldn’t matter or concern observers.
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IME (limited), HUS in breed shows is not the same as U/S classes at hunter-jumper shows. IMO it’s basically just western riding in English tack, so maybe easier to school in western tack if it’s what horse and rider are used to.
I would be interested to see a breed-show-type pair in an U/S class at a hunter-jumper show, and vice versa. Just for the experience for all four of them.
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Lots of riders who show AQHA over fences also show on the “real” circuit. My instructor had a client who showed her quarter horse on the A circuit, and then turned around and cleaned up at congress. Very pretty grey gelding.
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Exactly> Western tack makes little difference in “their” training for HUS.
we were showing western pleasure and working hunter classes, our horses were taught voice command as well as the standard cues … we had one junior exhibitor horse who could do a class by herself if needed as she was always listening to either the ring steward transferring gait changes over the walkie-talkie to the ring announcer or the announced gait changes over the PA … you could put any one on her and as long as they could stay in the saddle they would either win or place high. One show the judge and steward played with her reversing the class twice and altered the pattern of gait changes, then on “line of the steward”… the steward kept moving about so the mare would just reposition herself to be in front of him … she was our kid’s horse that any kid could ride and win
But what I was saying these horses would alter their presence with tack changes, carry head higher with English tack, lower in Western, lengthen trot in English, shorten in Western, change a canter into a lope … they just knew what they were doing
Our horses were also used in competitive trail competitions, I think that is where they learned this ablity as both were top competitive trail horses also
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Because everyone else does it? LOL
We all know horse showing is just that way about pretty much everything!
