Western Riding

Western riding is a style of horseback riding which evolved from the ranching and warfare traditions brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors, and both equipment and riding style evolved to meet the working needs of the cowboy in the American West. American cowboys needed to work long hours in the saddle over rough terrain, sometimes needing to rope cattle with a lariat (or lasso). Because of the necessity to control the horse with one hand and use a lariat with the other, western horses were trained to neck rein, that is, to change direction with light pressure of a rein against the horse's neck. Horses were also trained to exercise a certain degree of independence in using their natural instincts to follow the movements of a cow, thus a riding style developed that emphasized a deep, secure seat, and training methods encouraged a horse to be responsive on very light rein contact.



The following links provide websites where you can obtain more information.

AQHA

This is the only Quarter Horse Association in the UK affiliated to AQHA. The number of members is now over 850 and rising fast.
www.aqha.uk.com

Brendon Saddlery

Offering horse riding equipment and horse riding clothing which includes saddles, horse tack, horse bits, horse bridles, horse bandages, riding jackets, riding shirts, horse riding boots, horse rugs, body protectors, whips, riding hats, collar, etc at Brendon Saddlery, Equestrian Shop in UK


www.brendonsaddlery.co.uk

Dartmoor Cattle Drives

We do riding holidays and cattle drives from our farm on Dartmoor, Devon.
Guests are asked to bring their own horses to sample our fascinating way of life.


www.dartmoorcattledrives.co.uk

Dartmoor Riding Holidays

We do riding holidays and cattle drives from our farm on Dartmoor, Devon.
Guests are asked to bring their own horses to sample our fascinating way of life.


http://dartmoorridingholidays.co.uk/

Dragonfly Saddlery

Saddlery Shop shop in UK offers horse equipment, horse riding wear, and equestrian clothing, like horse bridles, horse riding shirts, body protectors, jumping bridles, showing bridles, horse bandages, horse riding boots, horse rugs and riding hats. Also we provide wide range of horse saddles and saddle accessories like jumping saddles and pony saddles along with saddle fitting at our equestrian shop in Australia, equestrian shop in America, equestrian shop in Europe, UK.


www.dragonflysaddlery.co.uk

Equiworld

The internet's most extensive equestrian resource
http://www.equiworld.net/

Hästvärld Ridsport

Hästvärld Ridsport is a warehouse shop on internet. The way off shopping at home with all the service and garanties of a normal shop. You can order 24 hours a day , 7 days a week.

www.hastvarld.se

Southern Schoolmasters Ltd.

Western riding schoolmasters - private/semi private trail rides and lessons. Horses steady for novices but also good for experienced riders.

http://southernschoolmasters.co.uk

The Mendip Stud

www.themendipstud.com

The Western Equestrian Society

The Western Equestrian Society was formed in 1985 to promote the Discipline of Western Riding to the standard as practised in the United States.
http://www.wes-uk.com/

Where to find Western Riding near you

This whole Western riding thing sounds great but where do I go from here? Well, there are several governing bodies that will be more than happy to give you guidance and point you in the right direction. There are also some very good facilities where you can try Western riding for the first time to see how much you enjoy it.

http://www.westernriding.org

Link to our site

If you would like to link to our website please send a copy of your URL, image and short description to info@westernwear.co.uk
and we would be happy to oblige on the basis that you would be willing to recipricate the goodwill by linking our site to yours