Riding English?

C. Reid McLellan, Executive Director, The Groom Elite Program

There is tea and then there is English tea; there are English people (called Brits) and then there are people who speak English. And there is riding, and then there is English and Western riding, the two main styles of riding. Like languages and people, there are various activities and different kinds of riding: trail riding, bareback riding, rough stock riding and trick riding to name a few. In horseback riding’s “big picture” do you ride English or do you ride Western?

The distinction between these two basic riding styles was apparent when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. Those who rode Western wore cowboy hats and disdained the “sissy” helmets worn by their English riding counterparts. Western saddles were (and are) big, bulky saddles with substantial “fenders” that hold leather-wrapped, 3-inch wide stirrups.

English saddles, in contrast, weigh a third as much and their “stirrups,” called irons, are affixed to the saddle by “stirrup leathers” that are generally an inch wide. English saddles do not have the pommel and horn of a western saddle. They require English riders to be better balanced ­ or at least that is an English argument that counters the “sissy” helmet barbs.

English riders wore “sissy clothes,” tight pants, lacy shirts, suit coats and sometimes a BOW TIE for goodness sakes! Western riders wore cowboy boots, jeans, snap front western shirts, a cowboy hat and a “manly” neck kerchief (that could be pulled up over your nose to keep dust out ­ or rob a bank for those on that side of the law). And then there was the “coup-de-gras”: English riders rode with BOTH hands on the reins.

For the most part in the 1950s and 1960s, horses that were ridden English were “gaited” horses with fancy braids in their manes. Some even had their tails “broken” and wore tail wigs. There was a division of the riding styles. Most English broken horses were only ridden English style, and Western horses were only ridden in Western equine events. There were also prejudices within the disciplines. A Western horse that had any kind of “single-foot” gait was considered a “sissy horse,” even if it was under a western saddle and his rider wore a cowboy hat. I know this first-hand, because I owned one.

Dodger's Big Ace in 1971 as a 10-year-old.

Dodger’s Big Ace was an American Quarter Horse colt. My Dad had traded two other animals in order to give to me a horse for my sixteenth birthday. Early one Saturday morning we loaded up a registered Hereford cow and her calf to deliver to a local farmer about four miles from our farm. We backed the stock trailer into the farmer’s field and unloaded the cow and calf. Even though this cow was in the top 3 or 4 of our herd, I was glad to see her leave. She was a nervous type that created problems when we moved cows from pasture to pasture or brought the herd up for worming and shots.

Reid McLellan giving 20-month-old daughter Noelle a ride on 9-year-old Ace.

After we unloaded the cow and her calf, my Dad and the farmer began to talk about a 15-month-old colt the farmer had in his barn. Dad asked me if I wanted to go up to the little horse barn and look at the colt, knowing that I wouldn’t refuse to look at a horse. The farmer led out a lively deep liver colt with a narrow blaze that widened to cover most of his upper lip and a flaxen mane and tail. I looked the colt over, noticed he was a bit crooked behind, and immediately loved the expression on his face. The farmer commented that he was a “handful” and “full of himself.” Dad asked me what I thought and I told him I liked him, that he was a good looker. I figured it was time for us to leave, then suddenly Dad said, “Well, do you want him or not?” I said something like, “Huh? What do you mean?” I was thinking, “Sure. I’d love to have a horse like this one day.” Then I heard words I was not expecting to hear that day, “He’s yours if you want him!”

Read the rest of the story in the April issue of Saddle Up Nebraska. Subscribe for only $15 for 12 monthly issues! Click the following link to order a subscription: http://goo.gl/FlbLD

Tags: English riding, Equine, riding, western riding

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