English or Western

[Queenofdiamonds]

Hi all,

I'm breaking a 4 year old sports horse. I have ridden English mostly, However i have recently started some western, And i'm not sure which to start him with.

Here are my reasons for preferring western;

It is more comfortable for me, Oweing to an injury, I find english harder on my back. So i'm more confident in a western saddle and i'm not worrying constantly about doing something to hurt my back.

I feel more secure in a western as the seat is different, Which is obviously a plus on an unpredictable youngster, And again i worry less about my back.

My reasons for thinking that despite the above i should start him english are;

I have only started horses english, Although i ride a green young mare in a western fine.

I've ridden english longer in general.

More people ride english - If i ever needed someone else to exercise, or a sharer for some reason, Would it be better to have one in an english saddle than have to switch/rush them into that if id not introduced one before that.

What would you do? Eventually i would like to do both, But also unsure at what point to introduce the second saddle?

 

[gnubee]

Western would seem to be what you want the horse to do, and I can't imagine that people would be unwilling to exercise a western horse in a western saddle in general.

Do you have enough of an understanding of what is required to do a good job of it though? There seem to be an awful lot of western horses in this country that just run around at their own pace cos they have never been taught to slow down within a gait, which I suspect comes from a lack of understanding of how to teach a horse to collect (for want of a better word) without constant rein contact. If you think you know the "rules" well enough and have someone knowledgeable to help out where required then I would do western, but if not then go English or send it away to be done properly.