Equestrian Goods

I have a friend who lives in Grenville South Carolina. He wants to start his 7 year old daughter in western riding. Does anyone know of any western training stables in Greenville?

Eden Farms (www.edenfarms.net) is located in Marietta, SC and isn't too far from Greenville. They give western pleasure lessons and work with all types of kids. The people there are extremely nice. Also, Vandele Farm is located at Lake Lure, NC and offers western lessons for children. There address/number is below. There are TONS of english instructors in your area. If your friend's daughter decides to start riding english I would recommend she join a local Pony Club. There are two Pony Clubs near Greenville. One is located in Greenville, they don't have website, but there is another club close to you. Here is there website: http://www.rivervalley.ponyclub.org/

Vandele Farm
530 Cedar Creek Rd.
Lake Lure, NC 28746
828-625-0975
vandelefarms@bellsouth.net

Eden Farms
4700 Dacusville Hwy
Marietta, SC 29661
864-898-0043
edenfarms@nuvox.net

Hey there, so I've found a good horse for lease. :] Only problem is that he is a western horse, and I'm an english rider, is it hard to teach yourself to ride western? I don't really want to take lessons.
I know I could train the western horse to do english easily, but the owner doesn't want me to.

It's hard to teach yourself any riding, but since you already ride english, you could probably pick up the basic diffrences.

The main differences are longer stirrups, no posting (it's okay to post in a western saddle, but western horses usually have a smoother, slower trot that you sit, and WP horses jog, so you sit.), lope vs. canter, neck reining vs. direct reining (many, MANY western horses don't neck rein, but if you ride in a curb or leverage bit you should be neck reining), and the different disciplines.

I think you'll be fine for a while, but you really should take at least a few lessons.

I ride mostly western, but am just starting to ride english more. I have only taken three english lessons, but from what I've read and my basic horse knowledge I know how to ride english. Before I start showing, I'll take lessons.
And before you advance to more complicated western things you should take a couple lessons. (If you just trail ride, you should be fine, if you start specializing in one discipline, for example Western pleasure or reining, you should take lessons.)

Good luck!

I have never ridden western but would like to know about the gaits and training.

Here are some links to read. It is good info. to educate yourself. Good luck!

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_riding_training/western/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_riding

http://www.garretequestrian.com/Westernriding.htm

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Western-Riding-Ideal&id=602160

http://horses.about.com/od/horsesportsexplained/p/engwestdiff.htm

This question is a kind of a follow up on the previous question I asked:
"Please explain what is "English Ridding" and "Western Riding", what are their similarities and differences?"
Thanks for the answers so far and thanks "Jeff sadler" for sugesting some breeds was helpful.
Thank you very much for everyone’s contribution to the answers. Found it useful and as many said I should try riding in these types and see for myself what is best for me. Again thanks a lot to everyone

Since you specified trail riding and pleasure then go Western.

Western uses saddles with deeper larger seats which are more comfortable (and safer) for long rides. The style is also more relaxed.

English develops a better balance on the rider. However, english saddles are small and riding long distances becomes uncomfortable. I have been on trail rides of 20 miles of rough terrain (and I mean ROUGH!). Those rides are hard enough on a fit rider in a western saddle. In an English saddle the rider would be exhausted.

Look up western and english saddles and take a look.

I will also suggest looking into gaited horses. The top trail horse in the US is currently the Missouri Fox Trotter. However if your trails are smoother (less rugged than here in the Central Ozarks) I would go with a Tennessee Walker. They are a little smoother on even grounds. The walker tends to lack the sure footedness and stamina of the fox trotter when really rugged ground is ridden over, but are bettter on smooth ground.

But back to your question. for trails and pleasure riding western is much more suitable than english. It is not really rider dependent. It is simply that the western saddle was designed to spend all day in the saddle. It was designed by the cowboys of the western US. The english saddle simply is NOT!

As for the Australian stock saddle. They are great too but require getting used to. You will also need to get a good one. You will not like a cheap model. But the better ones are very good.

One more point English (and Australian) stirrups tend to hang more especially if you are wearing improper feet wear (ei, tennis shoes or joggers). It is NOT FUN to be drug even if only for a few dozen feet. I found that out the hard way with my Aussie. I switched the stirrups to western stirrups right after that and made sure never to wear tennis shoes again on a ride (even if I am only just trying the horse out in the yard real quick). I switched back to western after riding aussies for two or three years because I wanted a little softer seat and wanted to learn roping.

Oh and peruvians are wonderful to ride but the amount of DSLD in the breed made me leery. Well over half of the horses I saw when I went looking were had symptoms of the disease. Most of the others had pasterns so soft that they would clearly be prone to the disease and even if they did not get that disease they would still be prone to injury. Afterwards I decided to stay away from the breed and stick with fox trotters.

I'm going on holiday there in August and as I've done English riding here I want to try Western! Any ideas of good places to go?

Try going to an area outside of Vancouver, like Abbotsford or Langley. There are riding arenas all over, you just need to ask beforehand whether they do English or Western. Right in the city there won't be much though.

I took riding lessons for about 4 a years a couple of years back and thoroughly miss being around horses and riding. I am looking for a place in Ottawa, hopefully west, that offers Western riding lessons or horse leasing. I cannot and do not want to ride English.
A barn that would just like someone to come in and groom their horses would be fine as well, as I really miss just being around equines.
Thanks!

The Ottawa valley has a number of horse places. Some are just pony rides, and by the names I can't tell who does what, but you'll have better luck, I'm sure. There's the Pinto Valley Ranch http://www.pintovalley.com/ and a more complete directory at http://www.ottawaweb.com/ottawaweb.cfm?category=Equestrian

How do I find one? Should I call around, or put an add in the paper for Western riding. I'm near Scranton PA. Thanks.

1. any stable will let you ride any style you want as long as you pay them.
2. if you're looking for a western trainer, then go to a local barn/tack store and ask for suggestions from them, they're sure to know.

I am very curious about why there are two styles of riding and if western style was created in the west(I know it's kind of obvious, but still). Is western style better for doing things like roping cattle, and eastern for things like police work? Is one style more relaxed than the other? Does one style give you more control over the horse?

Here are 2 sites to read. Hope they help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_riding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_riding

I'm going on a western horse riding and camping holiday in Utah in September. Any suggestions on what to wear?? I'm guessing that it's going to be very hot during the day, so I don't want to take my usual black jodhpurs and long riding boots that I wear at home in (wet + cold) England. I only started riding in January (aged thirty-something!) so any advice appreciated. Thanks!

Wear some comfortable jeans and shirts, and boots. You may want to wear some hiking boots rather than long riding boots, due to the heat. However, you will need sturdy footwear. I'd also advise wearing a wide brimmed hat for protection from the sun.