becoming a western (or possibly dotty) happy hacker

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hackedoff

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Having imbibed a glass or two of wine last night I have bought a western saddle of ebay! its quite a decent make being a bighorn trail saddle. I have had a long hard thought about what I am doing with veteran pony as I have tried long distance, dressage and showing. The only sport I liked was the long distance, I love my hacking and we did 2 1/2 hours over the hills yesterday. POny neckreins and goes well ridden mock western so I thought I would give it a bash and perhaps be a western style happy hacker (would be aesier to carry my gear than with WH saddle that has no dees).

Anyone else do western and hack western style?
 
Mmmmm, I've often thought about a Western Saddle as mine is a piebald and would look good doing western.

What puts me off about western saddles is the big horn thingy (OMG sounds rude!!) in front, I'd be afraid that if I fell off I'd get tangled up in it.

Also I'd probably miss the knee-rolls on an English saddle - plus I think its far more difficult to adjust the stirrups than on an English saddle, I saw an American guy demonstrating horsemanship at Devon Co Show using a western saddle and he seemed to take ages changing the length of the stirrups.

Personally I'd urge a wee bit of caution and would be inclined to get a saddle fitter out just to check the fit on your horse coz it might be that a major change of saddle style might cause a few problems if not checked out, you might need a special saddle cloth or something, so I'd be inclined to be careful in that regard.
 
I hack my boy in a western saddle as i find it far more comfortable. He isnt western trained or anything, i just ride as i normally would (i tend to hack on a loose rein anyway...) He seems to get on with the saddle fine, infact i sometimes find he's more relaxed and forward going as he can really stretch out. just make sure you have a good western pad underneath.
 
Yep, a Bighorn is quite a good make for a 'happy hacker' . I would echo the comment about making sure it fits and using a proper western saddle pad rather than just a blanket or polypad - you should be able to find a WES instructor near you who can check, and I'd also recommend a couple of lessons, for lope (canter) particularly it's important to sit correctly for your comfort and safety.

The other vital point, even if you're just having a sit on to try the saddle is to ALWAYS keep your left foot in the stirrup and step down to get off, NEVER take both feet out and jump down. It's really easy to get your jacket, tee shirt or whatever caught on the saddle horn and frighten the horse as you are left dangling and can lead to a nasty accident.
Yes I know it's totally opposite to what we do on an english saddle and you do need the horse to stand still - if in doubt get someone to hold him to start with.

That said, you'll have a great time - I'd rather hack western than english style any day. One of my friends has just done a 20 mile fun ride in her western tack, so it shows how comfortable it can be :)
 
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