TarrSteps
Well-Known Member
Now, now.
Western saddles aren't THAT heavy, first off. Okay, heavier than english ones but most people can pick one up one handed. They are also obviously built very differently underneath and spread the pressure over a larger area. Of course, just like english saddles you can have fitting issues, even damage, but to be honest, aside from a few particulars, my experience has been if people use the right bars etc, they are actually somewhat more forgiving than english saddles. That said, just as in english saddles, quality makes a huge difference but no one going to the WEGs is going to be riding in a cheap Indian leather saddle, no matter what discipline they're in.
The bits are leverage bits, obviously (curbs, not gags) but there are many variations of mouthpieces, shank length and construction (some quite long ones are "swept back" in such a way that the leverage factor is actually fairly low), curb strap material etc, combined depending on what the horse needs. All of which need to be FEI legal. Again, as with english trainers, western trainers have walls full of bits. They are also made to be ridden with in a very particular way. Anyway, if leverage bits are bad, all the dressage horses have got to go, too.
As perfect11s said, young horses start in snaffles and not everyone even schools at home in a curb. It is also interesting how many people do "bridleless reining" - you don't see too many GP horses doing that - which would suggest (and is my experience) relatively little is done with the hand. It think it's really interesting for english riders to ride a well trained western horse, if only for a reminder of how little *has* to be done with the hand.
On the Anky front, I really don't think her horse went so much better than anyone else's. Although I do think it's funny she was late with her changes.
Anyway, have the english world seems to hate her way of doing things so if she'd made her reining horse the same way, wouldn't it be showing the same faults?I have to say, it makes me a bit sad that people don't seem to want to appreciate good horsemanship if it doesn't look like what they're used to. There's good riding and bad riding - all on display at the WEGs, not to mention everywhere else. As I said, I really don't like quite a bit about the "western way of doing things" (again, it's a BIG world so not fair to generalise but most of my experience has been AQHA) but I've also seen some truly great riders and horses in that world. And some really terrifying ones in other disciplines.
Sorry, I'm not trying to pick on anyone, just saying there's as much to learn from other disciplines as there is to hate. I agree there are trends/fashions/practices that might not be to everyone's tastes but surely that's MORE reason to look "outside the box" and see what might be different/worse/better somewhere else?
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