Young Rider.com / Young Rider Forum / Western Riding

Neck reining or two handed

LittleBrownPony — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:20:45 GMT

Which do you prefer when riding western? I mean like in a lesson, or just trail riding or somthing, not in shows. Lately in my lessons we've been doing bolth, so I was just curious what you guys prefered. Personally, neck reining is great but only if your horse is nicely trained to it. The lesson horses at my barn are, well, you could say not very well experienced in that area so its not so fun.. XD

Starting western

Winfield Image — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:00:07 GMT

I am going to start western horsemanship on the gelding we might get. I've never really ridden western can you give me some tips?

Boots

Fjordluvr14 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:06:04 GMT

I'm a barrel racer and I'm looking to buy a pair of Ariat boots. Any help or suggestions you could give me on what kind I could get?

Need help getting on horse that moves

lakotasgirl — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:55:09 GMT

My horse moves whenever I try to get on him! In my opinon he is a tall horse making it even harder to get on! Alot of the time he stands still until I get my left foot in the stirrup and then he moves. One time last summer I even got stuck! Thanks for the advice!

what kind of boots should i get?

ihearthorses_13 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:22:27 GMT

what kind of boots do you recommend?

Pulling horse

Caspianlvr — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:52:47 GMT

My horse has this habit of pulling on the bit. It's really annoying! Any tips on training him not to do that? Thanks!

Reining...

~Horsefeathers15~ — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:02:06 GMT

Post here if you love reining! I didnt even know of Reining untill I saw some stuff on Stacy Westfall and I fell in love with it! It is so awsome.

New Hot or Not

SummerMaiden — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:49:24 GMT

Start with Western Pleasure

Rules and Laws of a Cowgirl

~Horsefeathers15~ — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:13:52 GMT

The horse always come before the Cowboy
Know the bible
Let God control the Reins
Remember that it is not the color of the horse that matters.

New to shows..

cowgirl22222 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:55:18 GMT

I am starting showing this year and I would like to know what types of tack, grooming supplies and anything else to bring to shows. I will be doing gaming, western pleasure, halter classes/showmanship and western equitation. Thanks!!!

How to train your horse to do barrel racing and poll-bending

lakotasgirl — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:06:39 GMT

For 4h me and my friend want to do barrel racing and poll bending. How do we go about trying to train our horses?

P.S. Our horses are not at our houses so we cannot work them on it every day!

Gymkhana!!

PhantomCricket — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:56:56 GMT

Okay, so I'm doing the Squaw Valley Buckle Series gymkhana with my friend Madi. She's practiced barrels. I haven't practiced anything. (BTW, the reason is because I don't have any barrels or poles) The first one is next Saturday. Sage has done this before, and I am a tiny bit worried that he'll be all barrel/pole sour, but I'll be okay.

So can you guys give me any advice? Tips? Hints? You know what I mean. Anything I should do or I should know? Thanks!! :D

Maintaining Lope

Fjordluvr14 — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:45:05 GMT

I have a hard time maintaining a lope. I kick at every corner of the arena, and hold on and squeeze the rest of the time, but he always breaks by the second or third time around. It's been getting really frustrating lately. Any advice?

Update: Got a crop, and now he won't stop. He's going too fast. Luckily, I'm going on another horse. Thanks for your help. :)

What do you do to prepare for a show?

~RiderForever~ — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:05:56 GMT

What are some things you do to prepare for a show?

Bareback Pads

emerald-equine — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:11:15 GMT

Right, I'm in the process of deciding weather I want to buy a bareback pad, and which one I want. I found these two, and I'd like some opinions on them...

Here's the first one. I personally like this one the most, but it's a bit more expensive than the next one. ^^;

Next up, there's this one. It looks alright, but I don't really like the girth... should I steer clear of this one completely?

Any input is greatly appreciated; I'm buying (one of) these so I can feel comfortable riding my old mare Delilah again. <3
*I don't like to use heavy western saddles on her old back anymore, so yeah. xD
Thanks! =]

First Gaming Show this Summer! Help!!

HorseLover28 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:32:37 GMT

I'm planning on doing my first gaming show this summer!!! Any help or ideas!!!

Please I would appreciate any advice you could give me on any of the events or just more info about gaming!!!

Thanks!

Gullets

LoveMyMare — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:22:04 GMT

ok. so im looking to get a western barrel/trail saddle. it will be a 15" to fit my bottom (xD). i have a paint QH so im looking at full QH bars. what size gullet should i be looking for? ive seen a lot of 6 and 7" ones.

Training a young horse to barrel race!!!

♥Barrel Queen♥ — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:29:24 GMT

Ok, so I am hoping to buy a young horse (6 months to 3 yrs.) and teach it how to barrel race. My horse I am barrel racing on now is fourteen and he is good, but he is not fast enough to get me where I want to be. So I want to train a colt to barrel race and while I am waiting for the colt to be finished with its training I will continue riding Rockett. I have a good idea on how to train a young horse, but this will be my first time to train one, so I was just wondering if anybody had any tips for me?? Thanks!

Mesa Leavitt

*katherine* — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:35:38 GMT

i was just wondering if any people out there know her. she has won all american youth and a bunch of other stuff. she went to martha josey's ranch and won some competition. she lives in iowa but one day i was practicing in my arena[in alabama] and her and my neigh rode rode up, so i actually got to ride in my arena with mesa leavitt! my neighbor moved up to iowa and married mesa's dad. i was soooo sad [about her moving] well anyways i just want to know if anybody else knows mesa leavitt! [if you didnt know she is a barrel racer]

Howabout a new Hot Or Not

**HorseBug** — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:28:27 GMT

Lets start with... Mustangs?

Favorite barrel racers

farmchick — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:21:07 GMT

yep so whose your favorite barrel racer? Have you met any of them?

Have you trained your own barrel horse?

♥Barrel Queen♥ — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:09:24 GMT

Please let me know if any of you have trained your own barrel horse, because if so, I have questions.

How many times during a week do your work on barrels.

How many times in a day should you take the horse around the barrels?

How long before the horse is ready to be competed?

I know how to go about training the horse, I am just wondering about those three things.

Thanks!

Black Chaps

horsinaround911 — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:32:49 GMT

Would black chaps be a good or bad idea in the show ring??

Comformation Classes

Horses4ever — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:37:22 GMT

I'm going to a show in a few weeks and I'd like to show in confirmation, but last time it went awful. I couldn't get my horse to stand still and we both were very frustrated by the end of the class. I'd be taking her again so, should I go for it? Are there any eaasy things I can practice before my lesson to help me? She not my horse so I don't have much time besides my lesson with her, but I can practice some before my lesson, but she'll be in her bridle, not her halter. HELP ME!

Toughest thing...

Hawk — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:09:49 GMT

about showing western. Mine is being in a class where it feels like your going 25mph and everyone else is going 5mph.

How the Heck Do You Do Lead Changes????!!

~RiderForever~ — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:33:34 GMT

This is something I've been working on with my mare for a while. I can easily tell which lead she is on, but I have no idea how to switch her to the right lead. I can switch her to the left lead by adjusting my leg and shifting my weight a little. Thanks for any suggestions.[center][/center]

Curb Bit ://

Allegro Vivace — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:49:19 GMT

For OHSET, ima be doing WP in addition to my other events. The rule book states that you must use a curb bit, no hackamore, or snaffle. Today, my trainer told me to put a curb on the western bridle, just to make sure he doesn't flip out with it. So I did.
It made me nervous. Really nervous. Although I felt like I had more control in it then I did his regular snaffle, or hackamore, It felt like I couldn't have any proper connection with his mouth without starting to freak out a little about his mouth. No, I am not a western rider, I'm one of those people who will put a western saddle on a week before fair and hope I live. So, I don't really have much experience with western bits and fun stuff like that. Other than my concerns, I was pleasantly suprised with his reaction to the curb, it's not a large curb, it's on the small side. I felt like I had a ton of power through his mouth, didn't really like that part so much though. Made me feel like a dictator. xD
My question would now be, how much pressure is acceptable on his mouth, before I need to check myself? Spencer slightly neck reins, not much, but is generally good about moving nicely off your leg.

Pleasure question

SummerMaiden — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:15:40 GMT

What colors go good with a 15.1 hand sorrel and white paint horse mare?

Western Horse Shows

SummerMaiden — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:57:57 GMT

Talk about your experiences in the western show ring.

Dressage to Western...

SandandSableRKR — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:20:00 GMT

I joined my high school equestrian team, and they want me to ride western (also hunt seat, but that I can figure out pretty easily). Great. I've ridden Dressage and Saddleseat but never western, and would like some tips from you, seeing as though you know a heck of a lot more about it then I do.

I will be riding a Paint, who was ridden Dressage by its owner. She is naturally very forward and not a western type horse. Also, I will be competing in Showmanship, and she has a lot of trouble learning to pivot and set up quickly. She also loves to look around when you lead her, and nudge you for treats. I have just told her owner to not hand feed her treats any more to hopefully stop this issue. Any suggestions on these issues? Also, any more tips to train her would be lovely. Thanks!

getting left behind in lope

Horses4ever — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:57:21 GMT

Whenever I lope I get thrown backwards. My trainer says I just am leaning too far back, how do I solve this? I'll upload a picture

Western Pleasure question

cowgirl22222 — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:23:50 GMT

Does speed matter or if the head is held high at a trot and lope for arabians? I don't care if I do the big horse shows or anything. Thanks!

Pole Bending

cowgirl22222 — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:21:12 GMT

I want to make my own poles I know I need six so what is the best to make them out of? Also what can you use to stand them up?

Slowing Down?

cowgirl22222 — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:31:55 GMT

I need to work with my horse on slowing down so what is the best way to do that?

Western lope

ride2live — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:11:25 GMT

Hey, I show my horse Izzy in western shows. As hard as I try, i can not get him to slow down when he lopes. He uses his natural lope instead of the western lope judges look for. He used to do it nicely, but we havent loped at shows in a while and Im not sure how to get it back. Does anyone know how I can get his western lope back?

Sitting trot

Horses4ever — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:13:22 GMT

I always want to post to the slow sitting western trot. When I don't I ounce a lot. How do I stop this problem?

HOT OR NOT

Cowboys_Gurl — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:34:08 GMT

KGO

Pink saddle seat?

Moving with horse????

cowgirl22222 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:40:49 GMT

This is probably a stupid question but how and what is the easiest way to move with the horse? Because my horse Baby is an arabian and she has very bumpy gaits especially her trot and her canter, her canter feels like she hops and her trot feels really bumpy.

western or english???

Annika — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:20:00 GMT

I love western but I actually like a mix of both. I hate english saddles but I like riding with two hands and posting. I show western (though I have only bin in one show!) I like western kind of breeds Appaloosas Paints Quarter Horses. and I like western sports reining barrel racing cutting.

National Finals Rodeo

farmchick — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:07:13 GMT

Anyone been watching the National Finals Rodeo??