­taken to Mexico by the Spanish conquistadores and from there spread into the United States of America. I had heard that Leo Ritters, an ­internationally ­acclaimed Western trainer from Germany, was here and I decided to take a Western riding lesson with him to see what Western is all about.

Internationally, as well as here in South ­Africa, the preferred horse for Western ­riding is the Quarter Horse. However, this does not mean that no other breed can be or is used. Thoroughbreds, Anglos, Boerperde, ­Nooitgedachts – any breed can be used, ­depending on the horse. What is required, is a stable temperament and athletic ability.

As the lesson was to be at the Thornhill Quarter Horse Stud, owned by Wolfgang Stroppel and his wife, Katja, the horse I rode was a Quarter Horse.

Beautiful tack
The Western tack is in one word, ­breathtaking. There are different saddles for different uses – reining, cutting and roping saddles that have a higher and much stronger horn, where the cow (steer) that is roped, can be tied to. The saddles are the epitome of craftsmanship – unique works of art, carved by hand with leather ­inlays and even silver-plated in the case of show saddles. But they are heavy – a roping saddle can weigh as much as 15 kg!

The bridles are simple, without nosebands and some even without browbands, but only an ear strap for easy fitting. The working ­bridles are extremely plain. The show bridles though, are absolutely magnificent. Initially all horses are ridden in a bosal, a very gentle bitless bridle or a snaffle, but any horse older than six, has to be in a curb bit at shows.

I was a little daunted about having to sit in one of these enormous saddles. I had ­sat in one or two Western saddles in the past and found them hard and uncomfortable, ­sitting miles above the horse, with no contact to his back whatsoever. This time it was the real ­McCoy – an imported reining saddle.

Being used to a dressage saddle, I did not find the seat in this saddle strange at all. It was close contact and my position and the feeling I got was no different to what I am used to. The way the saddles fit onto the horse’s backs, also distributes the weight evenly over a much larger area than most English saddles, making it very comfortable for the horse too.

Riding Western
The basics of Western riding are almost ­identical to the English way of riding, with one major difference. In English riding, one rides with contact (however light) on the horse’s mouth at all times. In Western, there is NO contact. Only when collecting, does one take contact, but as soon as the horse gives, the rider must release completely.

For a while I constantly found myself trying to sneak contact with the horse’s mouth, only to hear Leo shout: “Verlängern die Zügeln!” ­(release the reins!). But once achieved, it makes for such a wonderfully relaxed horse and rider, that one can keep going forever.

A difference in the way of thinking between Western and English: In English the rider wants to anticipate the horse, correcting a mistake ­before it occurs. In Western, they actually want the horse to make a mistake, so that it can be corrected in order for the horse to learn. ­Western horses are worked very deep and low (as in the early stages of dressage training).

The poll may never be raised above the whither. This is obtained by collecting the horse with the rein and pressure from the leg, but the moment the horse is down (and here one has to be quick – the timing is of utmost importance), the pressure (and rein) is released totally to zero contact. Only when the horse lifts his head, is contact taken up. In ­dressage, taking and releasing can be measured in ­centimetres, but in Western, literally in feet!

The Western way of riding is very relaxed for the rider too. The basic position on the horse is the same – shoulder, hip and heel in a straight line, the legs only moving forward in the downward transitions and the halt. This is for practical reasons. When doing a sliding halt in Western, if the rider has not kicked his legs forwards with the heel down, sitting well back in the saddle (on the pockets of his jeans) he would literally fly between his horse’s ears.

The hands are allowed much more freedom in Western riding. In the initial stages of ­riding, both hands are used as in English and only later in the horse’s training, will only one hand be used, combined with neck-reining. When collecting, the hands can move right back to the hips and when releasing, the hands are pushed far forward in front of the horn and the rein allowed to slide through the fingers.

Voice commands are used all the time, with “Whooaa!” bringing the horse to a dead halt, from whatever gait and like I said, if the rider is not ­sitting well back, he may just kiss his horse’s ears.

The movements
Like in dressage, Western has movements such as leg-yields, quarters in and quarters out, turns on the fore and turns on the haunches – the precursor to the spectacular spin, which ­unlike the dressage pirouette, is done at great speed, with the horse pivoting on the inside hind leg. The reign back is a very important part of ­Western training and is used to get horses thinking backwards, in order to be able to teach them the sliding halt.

There are also side passes, where, unlike a half pass, the horse doesn’t move forward at all, but only sideways – like a crab, ­crossing front and back. Then there are roll-backs, where the horse will come to a sliding halt (again very spectacular), turn 180 degrees on his haunches at great speed and immediately take off at the lope (canter) on the other lead.

All in all, Western riding is absolutely ­spectacular when done at speed, with dust and adrenalin flying. The most amazing thing is that all of this is achieved, not by yanking on the horse’s mouth, but merely with legs, seat and voice and a very willing and eager horse!

I am a convert. In my opinion, Western reining is a lot of fun – for both horse and rider. It is both horse and rider-friendly and it will not take an English-trained horse/rider long to adapt to this way of riding. There are many ­different levels of riding and ­competing and even beginner or nervous riders will find something in which they will be able to ­compete with quiet confidence.

I have since ridden a few more Western ­horses and have started some Western training on my own English-trained Thoroughbred. He has taken to it like a duck to water. The only thing he has had a problem with, which I think most English-trained horses will, is the jog. As it is somewhere between a walk and a trot, he can’t quite get his head around the slowness of the pace, but he is trying and it is coming, albeit slowly. Like Leo said, patience, patience, patience ...