So you think Western riding is easy?

Western Riding

I am so fucking sick and  tired of people saying that Western is easier then English, because it isn't.

I am done with people saying that Western riders are " Uncivilized " or " Untalented wannabes", because we aren't.

We put just as much effort into our riding as any other rider, and yet people still say that it's             " Easy." 

Just because we don't jump over five foot jumps, doesn't mean that we are " Untalented."

Instead, we do 15 foot slide stops from a gallop followed by a rollback, spins so fast that they can make you dizzy, rope steers in the blink of an eye, race around barrels at up to 44 mph, jog slower than most horses can walk, transition from a gallop to a slow lope using our body language and retrieve a cow from middle of a herd without any others following.

Oh, and if we ride with two hands, than we usually get disqualified,

We do a lot more then just sit there.

Western riders have to pick up a canter or gallop from a stop without any obvious signals, kind of like in Dressage. We also have to make sure that our timing is on point, just like when you jump.

And for those of you that think English is harder because there are many different styles within the discipline, but there are many different styles of  Western as well.

Such as Reining, Cattle Sorting, Boxing, Team Penning, Fencework, Western Pleasure, Trail (not trail rides, trail courses), Roping, Cutting, Barrel Racing, Roping, Pole Bending and more.

Again, this is not meant to be offensive to any English riders out there, i'm just writing about how i feel as a Western rider. I've been riding English for five years as well and a lot of my friends ride English to, so i know that both disciplines have there own challenges, but since those challenges are different, most people just assume that one is easier then the other and i'm just sick and tired of this bullshit that i've been dealing with for the past 9 years.

                                                           Western Riding.

                                                          It's not a phase.

                                                          It's not a game.

                                                          It's not a hobby

                                                               It's power.

                                                              It's control.

                                                   Some may call us crazy

                                                                      but,

                                                        This is what we love.

                                                         This is what we live.

                                                          This is what we do.