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What is better for the horse Western or English2007-11-24 21:21:34

Hey. So I like Western and English riding but which is better for the horse? ex, reins, saddles, bridles, ect.

and another question is, how hard is it to teach 1 horse BOTH english and western?

Thx very much :)

Answers:

When referring to the actual skills of each discipline, neither is better than the other and both are as valuable to horse. It makes a nice all around horse. I believe horses should be taught multiple disciplines, how boring it is to go around an arena in a walk, jog , lope etc. Or walk, trot, canter.

Now as far as tack, theres another issue. Either discipline can have poorly fitting tack and that alone will just mangle your horse.

A nice fitting western will do the trick as much as a nice fitting english.

I pinched a nerve in my mules shoulder from an ill fitting collar while driving, so that happens in any discipline.

Training is training. teaching your horse multiple disciplines shouldn't be any harder than teaching one. I use alot of voice commands with my mules, mules tend to be more voice prone in their training. They understand, kiss = canter, trot-trot, come around-turn to bit pressure (in harness), clucks-extend at gait, shhhhh- road trot(harness again). Those help when teaching new disciplines also.

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That's a hard question to answer, because there isn't a black & white answer to it. Either discipline can be harmful to the horse if the saddle isn't fitted properly or the bit is too harsh or in the wrong hands.