Types of Riding

There are different types of riders out there and they all do different things. I'm going to list some types of riding and provide basic information about them so even before you start riding you have a small understanding of what type you'd like to do.

English Riding

English riding is the more popular style around Australia and can include dressage, show jumping, eventing, polo, endurance riding, horse racing, and more. English riders rise trot more than they sit trot and they hold the reins in both hands.

Dressage a form of English riding, picture from http://www.localriding.com/

Show jumping, a form of English riding, picture from http://www.thejoyofhorses.com/

Western Riding

Western Riding was developed for people working on a ranch. Riders will often be seen holding the reins in one hand (your less dominant hand) and holding a lariat in their other hand and sit trotting instead of posting. Some styles of western riding include reining, trail classes, cutting, roping, barrel racing and more.

Barrel racing, a form of Western riding, picture from http://www.rvrahinton.com/

Cutting, a form of Western riding where you herd cows away from a group, pic. from http://www.tiffanyhillsouth.com

Pleasure Riding

Pleasure riding is for the rider's personal enjoyment. Trail riding/hacking is a form of pleasure riding where ride on natural outdoor trails.

Trail riding, picture from http://ccrstables.com/

Me getting back from a trail ride.

Those are the basics of riding styles. Maybe another time I'll go into more detail about them but not right now.

Rachel.

Equipment

So now that you know more about horses you're probably thinking "When can I start riding?" But hold your horses (do you like my pun?) Before you go riding you'll need to do a bit of research about riding schools in your area. Also think- who's going to take you? Do you have enough time to take up a new hobby?
But you also need to think about equipment. Almost all riding schools provide helmets you can rent for no extra price and some even have boots that you can borrow. However, if you start doing regular lessons it is best to buy your own things.

Clothes:

When riding, you should wear long pants and a t-shirt (preferably a collared shirt). You can wear jeans, but it is good to wear jodhpurs because the denim on the jeans can leave rashes on your skin after long hours of riding.

Jodhpurs, riding pants made of soft material that are comfortable to ride in. I'd take a picture of my pairs but they're sort of old :) these ones are much better. picture from http://www.bytimbaker.com/

Helmets

Helmets are essential when riding horses. Like really. They can stop you getting seriously injured or even dying. It's very important to wear a helmet at all times. Even some dressage riders have started wearing helmets instead of the usual top hats. Remember, if you fall off a horse or your helmet gets damaged, always buy a new one.

The nicer looking helmets look like this, but there are much cheaper ones that have just as good quality. picture from http://www.thornhillusa.com/

 Boots  

You can wear any type of boots when you go horse riding, but its best to get some proper horse riding boots. There are two types of boots: Short, pull-on jodhpur boots, and long boots. Long boots are usually black and may look nicer, but they are also more expensive then jodhpur boots. Jodphur boots are short, leather and can be either black or brown. They're are the boots I own.

Jodhpur boots, picture from http://www.tacksales.co.uk/

Long boots, picture from http://www.tacksales.co.uk/

Half Chaps

Chaps are optional but they help you grip your horse better and to stop the saddle from pinching your leg. They are also a substitute for tall boots and you boot them over your jodhpur boots. I own a pair of chaps and I love them so I recommend them.

Half Chaps, picture from http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/

Gloves

I like wearing gloves when I'm riding because some reins really hurt your hands. Also they make you look classier :)

Horse riding gloves, picture from http://www.zambora-int.com/

Crop

Crops are optional and I'd advise you not to use it all the time as some horses don't need a crop and you should get along just fine with your natural aids (seat, legs, etc.) However, if you do use a crop, I just want to be clear that a crop is to ENHANCE your natural aids, not substitute them.

Horse riding crop, http://www.kaboodle.com/

If you start riding regularly, you should at least own a pair of jodhpurs, a helmet and boots. All the rest is mostly optional.

Rachel.

Horse Colours Part II

Hey guys I'm back and this time I kept my promise. I'm gonna get straight to the point cause I don't have that much time and there a still a LOT of colours I haven't talked about.

Paint:

Paint horses have a coat with two or more colours, one of them being white and the other being brown, black, red or gold. They have patches or patterns on their coats. The two main types of paint horses are tobiano and overo. Overo paint horses are a colour with white splotches, and tobiano paint horses are white with coloured splotches. I personally like tobainos better but that's just me :)

Overo and Tobiano Paint Horses, picture from the American Paint Horse Association

Pinto:

A pinto horse is mainly the same as a paint horse, except a paint horse is a breed (the American Paint Horse), while a pinto horse doesn’t have to be a particular breed.

Pinto Horse, picture from http://www.michaelwincott.org/

 Flaxen Chestnut:

A chestnut horse with a flaxen mane and tail.

Flaxen Chestnut Horse, picture from http://www.morgancolors.com/

Liver Chestnut:

Liver chestnuts (also called dark chestnuts) are a browny dark-reddish colour. They have very dark red hair with smaller amounts of lighter red hair (eg. on the legs)

A Liver Chestnut Horse, picture from http://www.bloomfieldfarm.com.au/

Palomino

Palomino horses have a golden or creamy coloured coat with a white mane or tail. (can look similar to flaxen chestnuts, except palominos are lighter and their coat is more of a creamy shade as opposed to the more red shade of chestnuts)

A Palomino Horse, picture from http://www.typesofhorses.info/

Roan

A roan horse has a coat with white hairs mixed in with other colour hairs. The most common type of roans are blue roans (black hairs mixed with white hairs) and red roans (Chestnut hairs mixed with white hairs, they are also called strawberry roans) but there can be other colours mixed with the white as well and it is still considered a roan.

Red roan, picture from http://www.equine-world.co.uk/

Blue roan, picture from http://www.horseforum.com/

Appaloosa

Appaloosas are horses with spots on their coats. There are three types: a blanket appaloosa, a leopard appaloosa and a snowflake appaloosa.
Leopard appaloosas are white with coloured spots all over their body (these can vary in size)

Leopard Appaloosas, http://horses.mediarift.com/

Blanket Appaloosas have a white area around the hip area but it can also go further up the horse's back. There are coloured spots on the blanket which are the same colour as the base colour.

A blanket appaloosa, picture from http://www.richardbealblog.com/

Lastly there are snowflake appaloosas who have small spots are flecks on their body.

A snowflake appaloosa, picture from http://horses.mediarift.com/

Duns and Buckskin

Duns and buckskins are often mixed up but they are two very different colours. They both have a coat that can range from a gold to a tan to a sandy colour, and they both have black points with a black mane and tail (like a bay horse). However, dun horses have distinctive markings that buckskins don't. Buckskins and duns also have different genes (I'm pretty sure buckskins have a cream colour gene while duns don't, but don't quote me on that)
1. The dorsal stripe. A dorsal stripe is a dark stripe that runs up a horse's back, however not all horses with dorsal stripes are duns.

dorsal stripe, picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/

2. Zebra stripes. A dun will have zebra stripes that are most commonly on their legs, but can also be on their withers or behind their ears.

Zebra stripes on a dun horse's legs, http://uthappytrails.blogspot.com.au/

A dun horse, picture from http://www.crownzquarterhorses.net/

Buckskin horse, picture from http://arkoiscute.deviantart.com/

Those are all the well-known colours, but remember, there are many more uncommon colours!

Rachel.

The Olympics

I know, I know, I said my next post would be on more horse colours, and next time it will be, I promise :) but today I had to talk about something else, and that is what everyone's watching on tv at the moment- the Olympics
It started a week ago, so really I should have posted this earlier, but a lot of things were happening including getting sick (I don't think you want to know the details). So half the equestrian has already finished, including the eventing, my favourite part. If you live in Sydney, like I do, its hard for you to watch much of the equestrian because most of it finishes at like 2am. But don't worry! If you have an IPad and Foxtel there is an amazing app I got that is completely free and doesn't use up any of your download! Its called "Foxtel Olympic Coverage" or something like that, and it's what I've been using to watch all the equestrian events. You can catch up on any sports and watch them live from your IPad. I suggest you get it now- it's awesome.
The Germans won the gold medal for both the individual and team eventing, just like the last Olympics and the Olympics before that. German's are amazing riders, everyone, especially Michael Jung on his horse Sam, who won the individual gold medal.He also set a new record as the first ever eventer to hold Olympic, world and European titles all at the same time.

Michael Jung after finishing a clear round of showjumping, picture from http://www.dressage-news.com/

He almost missed out on the prize, though, and if Sara Ostholt hadn't knocked down a pole on her home-bred horse Wega he would have only claimed a silver medal. Sara had come into the individual showjumping in first place after the team showjumping and, before the last fence, had a clear round. It was only a stroke of bad-luck that caused the pole on the last fence to drop, at the same time ruining her chances of winning gold, so she had to settle for silver instead.

You can just see the pole falling out of its cups on the very last jump, picture from http://www.dressage-news.com

 Third place was awarded to the German Sandra Auffarth on her horse Opgun Louvo.

Sandra Auffarth at cross country, picture from http://www.horsejunkiesunited.com/

For the team eventing medals, first place went to Germany, second to Great Britain (who had the Queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, riding for them) and third to New Zealand.

The medal ceremony, picture from http://www.equestrianlife.com.au/

The eventing was great to watch and if you didn't see it go download that Foxtel app now :) Or watch it on youtube or something because it was amazing.
Next time I promise I'll be posting Horse Colours prt II and after that maybe I'll post something about the different styles of riding.

Rachel