Talk:English riding

More elaboration...?

I was just wondering if perhaps you wanted more elaboration on the types of English riding and how you are judged while at a horse show. I could add some of this.

Hi! Please remember to sign your posts!  ;-)

This English riding article is a short summary piece intended as general info. If you note the wiki links, there are extensive, detailed articles on dressage, hunt seat, saddle seat, show hunter, show jumping, eventing, classical dressage, and equitation and equestrianism generally, as well as a short article on horse shows. It is possible that those articles could use some additions, but look them over first before editing.

Your message does also suggest that the links to the main articles should be more clear so people can find them, however, and I can make that tweak. I think there may also be room for a new article on judging criteria or maybe an expansion within the horse show article, though, as you will see in the show jumping and pony club articles, Wikipedia is worldwide and once we start talking about rules, people get confused. Usually it's better to just reference judging standards with a link to the United States Equestrian Federation, the FEI, the USDF or whomever... Montanabw 06:02, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Classical dressage

This article includes classical dressage as a form of English riding. But doesn't classical dressage largely predate the English riding tradition, or at least its rise to prominence? As the classical dressage article itself suggests, this discipline has firm roots in famed riding traditions such as the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Isn't English riding more closely associated with contemporary dressage? Steinbach (talk) 23:08, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

This is English wikipedia, the contrasting style is western riding. Broadly speaking, ALL the Olympic disciplines are forms of "English" riding in that they are not, basically, cattle herding styles of riding... Montanabw^(talk) 23:26, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I, too, usually call all riding that looks a bit classy 'English riding'. However, I don't see what that has to do with this being the English Wikipedia (that being merely a matter of language). Also, the definition of 'classical dressage' seems a bit murky to me. In this article, it is contrasted with contemporary dressage; on the other hand, your comment suggests it includes much of contemporary dressage. The classical dressage article doesn't make clear either whether there is a distinction, but it focuses on the long history of dressage, saying that "Modern dressage evolved from the classical school" (italics added), and calling High School riding the highest form of classical dressage. So while it is true that contemporary dressage (as seen on, yes, the Olympics) is a form of English riding, I'm not sure whether classical dressage is. Steinbach (talk) 13:12, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

Well the question of defining "classical" Dressage is for the Classical dressage article so we can move that conversation over there. Most people consider "modern" dressage to be basically the competitive styles developed post-WWII and particularly in the last 20-30 years; with "classical" being the styles up until about WWII, but dating back to people like François Robichon de La Guérinière. (FWIW, I've long thought we need a history of horsemanship article here and we don't have one, maybe the Classical dressage article could be a place this could be done) Feel free to work on cleaning up this article if you want to. But yes, classical dressage is going to be grouped into "English" riding as the "family of styles. It may be able to best be described as the "parent" to all other forms of "English" riding, but the point is that this article is about the "family" or "genre" or whatever you want to call it, based primarily on style of saddle, method of holding reins (in both hands, with contact) and so on. This "family" includes hunt seat, saddle seat, eventing, show jumping, show hunter, field hunter, etc. It excludes western riding and and other "stock" seats, most of which use dramatically different equipment, one hand reining and so on. Montanabw^(talk) 06:57, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Okay, I think we basically agree. However, I don't feel qualified to improve either article. I'm a novice rider (started 2 years ago in my late 20s) and quite as knowledgable about horses as many other people here... When it comes to horses, I'm here at Wikipedia to learn rather than to teach. Steinbach (talk) 20:13, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Well, if you want to work on some articles, heavens knows we need more footnotes and sourcing. Anything of particular interest to you? Montanabw^(talk) 01:01, 11 August 2014 (UTC)