Barrel v. Jumping: The Different Areas of Riding.
Riding horses will always be part of history. It has been popular, in a way, since medieval times. Since then it has become a refined sporting activity. Riding horses will give you a few different opportunities. There is Rodeo style riding, which requires barrel racing saddles. In addition, there is jumping and horse shows, for which you have to have show saddles. You have to use different types of saddles since there are such different types of movements required for each style riding.
Rodeo riding is the more rigorous of the two types. This type of riding includes barrel races. In barrel races, the rider and horse have to maneuver through a slalomed course of barrels. This is done inside a Rodeo pen. Also, there are competitions for bull and cattle herding. This is not as popular as barrel races and is much more dangerous. The rider has to control the bull or herd of cattle and try to rope them in, or steer them into a pen. If rodeo riding doesn’t seem like your style but you love riding, I advise looking into show riding.
Show riding is more structured than barrel racing and gentler. It is a genre that can include very high class individuals and everyone else. The types of shows include courses of jumps and obstacles. The biggest difference between this and barrel racing is the location. They usually are held in nice, green, show arenas. It is a big contrast to the dirty, rustic rodeo pens. Also, the horse’s appearance will be judged and scored. The riders have to groom and prepare their horses for this before hand. The horse gets scored separately for its stance, appearance, and obedience. If the horse receives significantly low marks here, it often cannot be made up for even with a perfect ride.
There are multiple reasons that different saddles are used for the two riding styles. First of all, they are very different environments. Rodeo is rough, and dirty where as show arenas are clean and well-kept. The quality of material the two are made of differs because of this. Another reason for this is because of the abuse that rodeo saddles get compared to show saddles. Rodeo saddles get ridden harder and need to be stronger than saddles for shows. In barrel racing, the rider uses the stirrups a lot for the turns so the stirrups on these saddles are also different. Therefore, make sure to know the difference before investing in a saddle.
From fighting in battles to the pony express to pulling carts across the country, people have been using horses for years. In the past hundred years, riding horses has become a competitive sport. There are lots of different stages for jumping, racing and managing horses. The most well known types of riding are Rodeo and general Show riding. Rodeo often included barrel slaloms and herding where as is show riding, there are jumps, obstacles and presentation scores. Each style of riding calls for different equipment, especially saddles, because of the change in terrains and activity level. Equestrian is a fine art, which will continue to grow in the future.
