Western or English?

I’m curious how many of y’all ride western or English. I ride western and want to compete in barrels and poles. But English is so fun too! Agh decisions decisions.
How do y’all ride?
infinityrider
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Im an English rider - Show jumping to be specific. When I first started riding, I did western, but western is honestly not very fun for me. Barrels are thrilling and all, but English is much more my style. I enjoy jumping with my horses, whether it’s over a cross country course or a jumper course. default smiley :)
Equestrians
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I ride western and I like how laid back it is compared to English. Also I don’t think there’s anything more fun than a good pole horse! I run barrels and poles but poles is definitely my favorite
emmyM
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I'm actually riding both as my appaloosa is not as fast my American paint horse but western has always been for me I'm doing daily training in barrel racing and poles I am saving up for a quarter horse but expensive horses are these days and soon I might even get one
Westerngirl
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Im an English rider thats how i was taught as there are little places that teach west where i live in the uk i love jumping, cross country and eventing .ive seen loads of barrel racers online and it looks so fun and interesting
Dinonugget2010
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I ride English and do low level eventing and jumpers. I love to watch western events though and my dream as an adult amateur rider is to have a all around type horse to trail ride western and also ride English and do little jumps with. default smiley :)
SomethingSpecial01
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I started riding at a local riding academy. They taught generic "western" riding, which I think is probably closest to western pleasure. Later, I moved to a different lesson barn and began learning dressage, which is definitely where my passion lies! I keep hoping that one day I will have a horse of my own, and will be able to ride competitively.
AidynGemini
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i ride both but primarily western since i started with that. i honestly prefer western but english is fun too - i'm just particularly talented at falling off for no discernible reason. you can definitely do both!
sourskittles
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I ride western!! To be specific, I do reining, and I wanna do cutting one day, but I don't currently. I grew up on western riding, as my mother and uncle both did western, so it kinda just grew on me, and I was never really around English riding, so I do Western now! However, I would like to do cross country one day!!
Bess_Athene
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I ride English and love to jump and foxhunt. I'm jealous of people who ride western though because all the new English saddles have no place to put saddle bags for trail riding.
DaisyJune
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DaisyJune wrote:

I'm jealous of people who ride western though because all the new English saddles have no place to put saddle bags for trail riding.


They're harder to find but you can find them. There are pommel ones that clip to your breastcollar rings and chicks saddlery has a cantle one that slips over the cantle with straps that attach around your billets. I used to use a pad with pouches sewn into it also; couldn't carry anything weighty but it worked for granola bars and like
Mischief In Heels
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I ride English, mainly dressage but I do a little jumping here and there on my best friend's show jumper turned dressage gelding.
bellastar
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Hunt Seat Hunter/Jumpers. So, English
BreyerGirl
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I live in the UK and there are a few places that teach western style riding but I've never tried it. I love dressage and used to do hunter trials and one day events with my horse - he loved the jumping parts but not so much the dressage though he was good at it! I did have a few side saddle lessons many years ago but never got the chance to try western .
minkthepink
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I ride Western since I had a Criollo mare as a kid! She passed in 2017, but Western is kinda more relaxed than English, IMO. Anyways, I’ve tried both and English is definitely also fun! Especially jumping!
Criollo_Lover
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I'm an English saddle-seat rider
Starbafs
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WESTERN!!!!!!!!! TRAIL RIDING! I don't have anything against English riders, I have friends who do English and I have tried to ride in English before( it was sad) i hope to do endurance one day.
HORSEGIRL
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English hunter/jumper is my fave!
BreyerGirl
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In my competitive days, I rode saddleseat on my Arabian gelding, and western (barrels/poles) on my Quarter Horse.

These days, I'm content to ride (flat) English or Western to just enjoy the time with the horse!
Sandman Stables
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English riding. I love dressage as racing. It is just beatifull.
LovePony
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Both! I like parts of both, though I tend to learn towards English because they tend to be a better fit for me. Quarter horses (true quarter horses, sorry appendix friends haha) are unbeatable imo, and they are *so* fun to ride in western disciplines that allow the horse more independence, but I usually prefer the people in English (in terms of working, western riders are great!) and I like the dressage system in general too and its focus on the physical development of the horse.
Stormy Muse
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English Hunter/ Jumping. English
XXEquestrianXx
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DaisyJune wrote:

I ride English and love to jump and foxhunt. I'm jealous of people who ride western though because all the new English saddles have no place to put saddle bags for trail riding.


There a few good ones out there! I've got a really nice set of saddle bags, from Shires Equestrian. They fit really well on my English dressage saddle of all things ahahah. It straps at top by the girth straps underneath the saddle, and then again by where the actual girth lies. Main thing is to have even weight across, but it does it's job really well.

As for my answer to this question, I ride English myself. Have ridden it all my life, and it's all I've ever known. Did do a bit of trail riding in a western saddle, but I personally found the lack of knee support in the form of padding a strange experience. I far prefer the comfort of an English saddle. While I sat decent in a western saddle, I sit so much more secure in my little Kieffer Inzell dressage saddle.

I used to jump a lot, as in, showjumping. Lately it's been lots of hacks, and a few dressage shows. Really want to take the horse out for a few cross country jumps / maybe small events at some time because she loves to jump, and also is the bravest soul I've ever known.
Fɑmine
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English! Use to do eventing and showjumping, but switched to the show ring and dressage after a nasty rotational falll
howbaddouwantit
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I ride English always have as in the uk there arnt many places where you can ride western near me and i rrly love jumping/cross country im not planing on trying western Currently but it seems fun
Dinonugget2010
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I jokingly like to say I've done it all, but truthfully, it's not far from the truth. My riding career started with Tennessee Walking Horses that were shown saddle seat, in fact, I still own my original cutback saddle. After I bought my mare, I realized she wasn't built for saddle seat, for a Tennessee Walking Horse she was incredibly built like a Quarter Horse. That began my journey towards gaited western pleasure. She excelled there. Soon, I realized many equestrian colleges didn't allow gaited horses and mainly did western or English disciplines. This lead me to where me and my horse are now, which was an Arabian show barn. Here I have learned everything from Sport horse In-hand/Under-Saddle, Hunter Pleasure, Western Pleasure, Reining, Trail, basic Over Fences, basic Dressage, and Ranch Riding. I am a Western girl through and through but have much experience in English as well!
verlette
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