How to Ride a Horse English Style
Riding a horse is fun and great exercise. There are many ways to ride, and this article will give you some tips on how to explore the Art of English riding.
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Instructions
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How to ride English style
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Riding a horse English style is challenging, fun, and fantastic exercise that will tone your muscles and increase your ability to balance. Unlike the Western or Australian saddle, the English saddle has very little to "keep you in the seat", and you will rely on your own sense of balance and your own leg muscles to keep you seated. The English saddle does not have a horn, and consists of a form fitting saddle that hugs your rear end and thighs, while allowing you the additional security of stirrups. Besides this, you are on your own!
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To ride English, you must sit erect and maintain excellent posture. Direct your weight into your seat and channel the energy of your movement down your thighs and into the balls of your feet, which will be resting in your stirrups. The shoulder, hip, and heel should form a perfectly straight line. Knees are slightly bent, and toes are directed inward while the heel is pressed down. Expect to be quite sore the first few times you ride in an English saddle, as it makes you bend your leg in the opposite fashion you think it should go.
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Using your reins while riding English is also very different from Western style riding. You do not "neck" rein, but use both hands on the reins independently - sometimes this is called "plow reining". But the art of proper English reining is not coarse in the least. The reins are delicately handled to communicate fine instructions to the horse through an English bit - such as the Pelham or the Snaffle. All of the Dressage schools in the world ride English style.
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When trotting in an English saddle, one is taught to "post" at the trot. This is another major difference from other forms of riding, and means that the thighs are used to "lift" the seat out of the saddle as the outside shoulder rises up in the horses gait. This uses the natural motion of the horse to help raise you up, and also allows you to ride this gait in a smoother fashion than trying to "sit" the trot.
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Having a professional instructor through all this makes learning infinitely easier, and your learning curve much shorter. Take the time to explore some local farms and ask for referrals to riding instructors who teach English. Whether you travel to their farm, or they come to yours, it is well worth the time and the money to have the assistance of a highly qualified trainer.
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Tips & Warnings
Always wear your helmet while riding.
