Swapping Saddles : PART 2 (English vs Western) 

We all love horses so why should we even argue about the stile? Still.. I'm an english rider but I don't judge western.. Ride like you want, just don' t be rude, please

whatt she got so many cross poles.. o.O' it's almost impossible to knock over the cross poles lol

Those jumps were too low for this to be a fair competition, and to truly be fair, the jumping course should be timed just like the barrel racing competition. True jumping shows are timed. Is that English rider serious? She thinks Western horses are clunky? o_O A horse is a horse; any riding breed can be ridden in either saddle. I would have liked it if they interviewed the girls after the competition and asked them if their opinions changed about the opposing discipline. I hope they did.

We don't constantly wear show clothes. We wear the same thing you would. English riders in the USA are just as good as whatever country you're from. The only reason they made them wear show clothes in this video was to show what we have to deal with on scorching summer days.

Raise the fences. Even though I understand you don't want anyone who hasn't jumped before jumping over two feet, at least make them all 18 inches or something. I know 8 year-olds who could do that course no problem with better eq than she had. I'm not saying she's a bad rider, I'm just saying I don't think the challenges were equal...

When you lower time in barrel racing you're just giving her the opportunity to go slower and watch her form. When you lower the jumps, you're giving the rider the ability to ignore form (yes, she got into 2-point and yes, she looked fine, but only for that height). The cross rails were the height we use to teach kids (6, 7, 8, years old) what a canter feels like. I think a better handicap for the jumping was making the course simpler; simple lines, plenty of room before the jump.

im glad there's something like this puts riders that don't appreciate others disciplines in their places. i ride english and i love it, but i respect western riders, and would love to try it. i think english riders get a bad rep for being stuffy, spoiled, and mean, their are always people who will be like that no matter what your doing.there i know when i ride i usually look pretty serious, and not to happy but I'm consitrating, and i am having a lot of fun:) i love riding and horses :D

This video was really good, but I don't like how the English rider at the end was like "English is so much harder, I would get bored running barrels" I think they are just as hard as each other, but in different ways. It's like playing two different instruments. They are both hard to learn, but require different techniques. The English girl was kind of snobby. She didn't even run the barrels well. Her turns were way to wide

do one with dressage please :-) it would pair great eith reining!

"Is not as sweet and fancy as our horses are" Really? That surely assists in making us show jumpers look like snobs. That was a bit of a bummer ...

MY god how rude was the "English" girl! My mum rides western and I ride English. And not once has my mum complained about taking me to my English shows. I felt that the English girl was nasty and had nothing nice to say.

i really dont think the handicap for jumping was fair.. a horse can always clear a cross rail unless they are being really lazy or just walking.

Love the idea of this little show, but it's not fair.. The English rider had to do the EXACT same barrel course, while the Western rider got it SO easy. If she had been thrown at the fences when they were higher than 1'6, she would have been off that horse in SECONDS. No hate towards western though, I've barrel raced myself, I just prefer English because I think it's much harder. I ride western when I want to kick back and relax.

A Barrel is always a barrel, jumps are constantly changing heights. This is just stupid when the jumps are that low. They should put each of them on each other's horses in the same exact circumstances that they would normally be in and see if the english rider can run barrels better than the western rider can jump the height that the english girl constantly does

Although this was entertaining, it wasn't fair. For starters it was supposed to be a Show Jumping course but you had a HJ rider. That rider should have been going for speed in that course not barely making the time limit. SJ is based on the fastest time with fewest faults. So the E rider should have been going a lot faster. If it was HJ the it should have been based on style in which case the W rider would have lost points for tapping poles and bad position. IMO the E rider should have won.

Notice also that the Western rider was complaining about the English rider's flaws during her barrel run, but the English rider gave nothing but compliments during her jumping round.

I also do not think the handicaps were fair ;) it is easier to jump fences that small than gallop around barrels even with a 3 second advantage, they should have done a course of small straights

Why can't we just get along...? I do English and Western, and I love both disciplines equally. Although, I must admit, unless you are a top level barrel racer or the like, English is a lot harder on the muscles. But that course was crap, and that was an unfair 'swapping saddles'

everyone just needs to calm down. why is it so important to you to have your sport be "better" or "more advanced"? isn't that what all riders stand against. When someone says horse riding is not a real sport any one of you would stand up and say yes it is. So why not feel that way about every discipline. What you ride, is not the important part. It's important to enjoy ourselves and have respect for both disciplines, and respect for the sport as a whole.

I like the concept but I (just my opinion) think it would be better if the girls were cheering each other on (and the coaches as well). Don't make it so serious, have fun with it and make it positive encouragement instead, more of an opportunity to learn and try something new instead of looking for someone to mess up(-: Love the horses as always. I will spread the word!

Great series! To those of you saying the western rider had a "huge advantage" with the jumps being so low, the English rider also had a huge advantage with 3 seconds taken off her barrel time. In barrel racing, 3 seconds is everything. It's the difference between running winning times and running one of the slowest times at the race. It's hard to understand if you have never barrel raced competitively. Both riders had an equal handicap. For the future: "Reining and Dressage", "Gymkana and Polo"?

The western rider showed more appreciation for the other riders discipline while letting her own ridding speak for itself. The english rider sounded a bit uptight, might want to loosen that hairnet

I would love to be on this series, although I live on the other side of the country. I am a barrel racer, and I've been riding for 15 years. I didn't try english until about 10 years in. Since then I have exercised jumpers, been told I should show english, I've been around fox hunts, hunter and jumper shows, and paces. All of my closest friends are even english riders! I've met snotty riders in BOTH, but also very nice riders in both. I just wish people would realize we're all equestrians. :)

Those jumps were no where near 2ft! They're like maybe 1ft at most! Although Gracyn did a very good job for only riding English a few times

The jumping course wasn't really fair, I mean you can just trot over them not really jumping. I think the english rider won.

Exactly, tackless and bareback...I favour them over anything.

This is so unfair! I have done jumping and barrels and jumping is much harder. This isn't fair because the english rider has to do the exact challenge as the western rider and beat the time, yet for the western rider they change the jumps to like 1 foot? If she was jumping the size the Enlgish rider was jumping it would be a lot more fair, or even if the jumps were 2 feet... The English rider should have won.

Omg english riders in the usa have no idea of the meaning of english riding, it is not about fancy horses it is about having fun and the freedom of movement and wearing normal colourful jodpurs and a hoodie or something not show gear all the time -_-

thats a jumping course for a 5 year old...

I forgot to say this earlier. If this series takes off it could be a great promoter of safety. I would have riders riding in helmets all the time no matter the discipline. It would be like Allison Springer wearing the first helmet in dressage at Rolex. Great things could come from this!

I love this series. I hope they do more. It was very entertaining to watch.

I think you should make an episode of Western Pleasure Vs Hunter Under Saddle!

i don't think you can compare them, who's the better rider, but I'm glad they get to ride in each others boots:D and just saying in the first part they said the english would be show jumping, it wasn't very fast or tight? idk

Thank you for your feedback. Safety was at the top of our priority list when filming this pilot episode, so we focused on technique with the jumper and speed with the barrel racer. Moving forward we will be putting a great deal of emphasis on the judging and comparing of the disciplines to make it as fair as possible. Thank you again and stay tuned for more!

What a great concept for a reality show. I can't wait for the next episode!

at least have both english riders jump the same, oh i dont know, height!

i began riding english started western at age 11 i am 18 now and tried english again about a year ago. and it was such a huge change! i am starting my morgan mare english because of HER passion for jumping lol. i love it too. but we BOTH love rodeo. barrels and poles are our thing. =) i am excited and nervous to start english again. because i know hoe different it is. i have a good horse whom i trust. i look forward to doing both styles of riding though =)

I tend to agree with what has all been said here. Maybe giving the riders more time to prepare. I know safety is the first priority here but perfect horses don't show the sports for all they are worth. Anybody can stay on a horse, it's when one refuses to jump or becomes hard to steer around a barrel that true ability becomes apparent. The jumping should be judged equitation style because it is really easy to just hang on! Really nice idea, love it! I can't wait to see the next one!

that english horse was such a pro. it went on the bit with loopy reins! i'm jealous!

Can I just say the western rider was always gonna win. (I wanted the English to win) The jumps were WAY to low. The horse would never knock them or refuse!! And she wouldn't really have fallen of. The jumps should have be higher AND/OR they should have had a jump off!!!

I think the course wasn't fair for english, jumping that height is like stepping over the poles and there was no difference for barrel racing other than time which wasn't that bad considering the other rider had been going western for years. I've been western and english and english is by far harder than western.

They both did well. But it would be interesting to see the horses complete in opposing disciplines as well. Often a well trained horse can compensate for rider error, which is what I saw in this video.

i ride english. i'm not snotty (or atleast i hope i'm not xD) and all my friends ride english and none of them are snotty. i just wish people woudn't stereotype english riders so much, we're not all the same. -.-

You're supposed to go into a "two point" when going up to a barrel, and sit around. It helps give the horse speed. But I think in English they do half seat or something, so it's probably habit that makes it seem she's 'bouncing'/

Cutting VS Polo that would make for an interesting show!! am I right??

that is because we are concentrating

I have to agree, i've seen new riders jump cross rails like that, nevermind someone who has been riding for years (even if its western)

I love this! You definitely need to make more!

You pretty much cannot knock down a cross rail.....

sorry if i sound like a know it all but in the vid it says the jumps will be no higher than 2 ft. and i do agree with you because i barrel race and i can about jump 2 ft, so she probably could've at least tried 2 ft.

Thank you for putting safety first! Maybe you could also convince the western riders to wear helmets for future shows, just to set an example for younger riders?

So glad that English rider got put in her place! She was kind of a snob.

I don't think its fair, because Lauren has jumped high jumps, and the western girl just did 3 barrels. When they swapped saddles, The western girl did little jumps!! I just think it isn't as fair

Wow, I think they both did rather nicely. Sure they had things they could work on, but this was just a fun experiment, nothing to take too seriously. Plus, this was just one pair of people. It doesn't prove which dicsipline is better. I ride both Western and English and they are both difficult in their own way, but the point is they are both fun and amazing sports. I know that when I get tired of one, I can just switch to the other and have the exact same amount of fun every time. :)

I'm glad to see safety was a priority, and was relieved the western rider didn't do a bigger course (two feet would have probably unseated her). With that said, I don't think it was an equal competition. I also think it's pretty sad when people ride for years and years and don't play outside their disciplines. I train horses for a living and emphasize cross training in my program. It cracks me up to watch this series.

You do need to realize that barrel horses memorize their course and are almost automatic as well so you only need to set up a good barrel horse and hold on so i believe its fair :)

@Anna Carpenter you are right!

Seriously? I've done barrels, you have to be able to stay on, but that's about it. If you have a good horse, it would be possible to literally just hang on, not even having to steer. Even if you have a push button jumping horse, the human has to do the mental work. If all you did in English was have balance, you'd never even get over a single jump.

Well done. I enjoyed it so much. Both disciplines are very difficult to perform. Seeing as neither had done the other before I thought it was great. They did a good job. I have riden both and have found for myself that I like both equally the same. They take different skills. My idea is if you can ride and ride well the saddle doesn't make a lot of difference, it's all in the balance. When you trail ride you do come across jumps that have to be made.

I appreciate your eye to safety for both riders. Fun video to watch.

I don't know if I totally agree with you on the height. You're taking a girl who has never jumped in her life and asking her to go do a course. I ride both so please dont tell me I dont know what Im talking about. Jumping takes a lot of skill, so do barrels, but jumping usually needs more skill from the rider, whereas in barrels if you have a good barrel horse who knows the pattern you're pretty much set as long as you dont ask it to turn to tight.

3 seconds can determine whether the rider will place or not, it is a huge advantage. 2-foot jumps are small, but if you can jump the smaller jumps you can easily graduate to larger ones.

Not really. And you dont really know. I jumped at just my third english lesson. Yes, its hard. But seriously?? Make her jump 3 foot!

Riding both and riding many types of horses and learning how to do all these things and applying them to your riding, I think is the best way to ride. Both these girls did great, there are some imperfections in this series of course. Both they both learned a lot for it I think. When you try both disciplines and ride all kinds of different horses the experience you get is fantastic. :) I've met rude people in both and nice people in both and both require their fair share of talent.

It just goes to show that those english horses know what they are doing, if they can take a greenie around like that!

They are both so cute!!

Thinking about it now, I say they should have done a different western discipline vs. hunt seat equitation. Like team penning or maybe even roping. I think THOSE are hard.

that english girl is mean

I ride both, but more English than Western. I don't think it was necessarily fair because those jumps were very low. I understand why they were low, they're not going to send a novice over four foot fences, but I don't think barrel racing matched up to show jumping. I think they should have done reining or roping, or something that had more to it. Not saying that barrel racing is easy, but I don't think it matched up with show jumping.

I'd love to be on this series! I've been riding for nearly 20 years - mostly western style from Barrel racing to pleasure to cutting cows to roping. I originally started english, but took much quicker to Western - which is what I now train horses in. I'd love to see the riders of each discipline swap horses (ie. English rider rides Western horse for western discipline, and vice versa)I'd love to see a Canadian version of this as well - And other disciplines like Dressage, western pleasure, etc.

lol barrel racing is so easy...could do that within 2 weeks of learning to ride. Love jumping and dressage.

thats what i said .i totaly agree. this contest was not fair at all.

I love riding both western and english riding but western riding and barrel racing is my passion for life.

Agreed. & the fault of half seconds & knocking down a barrel vs. knocking down a rail...

I agree that we could have had a bit more drama in here, but do see where safety was important. Either way I thought it was a great first effort. So, what "swap" is next? And when? I looked on your website and don't see anything about the next episode. Thanks for show and I am looking forward to the next. (If there will be one).

The English rider wasn't on a horse that's run barrels before. So she didn't have much of a challenge either. Like the western rider said, it's a whole new ball game when you're going fast. I think it was pretty fair that way.

I couldn't agree more....

Next episode! dressage and reining? anyone?

The point of this video wasn't to start an argument. It's trying to sow that both English and Western have their up-sides and down-sides. The riders summed up everything well at the end. It's not about you choose to ride but how your feel doing it. The excitement and the passion are what make it worth while in the end.

I would like to see a western pleasure rider verses a saddle seat rider.

I think you guys should do a western pleasure vs. dressage segment.

i love english!i prefure it much better!

i can sit on my horses back when cantering and all of my friends can too we dont bounce

Your feedback and suggestions matter! This episode of "Swapping Saddles" is just the pilot, so each and every comment is taken into consideration as we move forward. Remember to share this video with as many people as possible. More views means more episodes for you!

You seem to have forgotten that they only had a WEEK to learn the opposite sport. I haven't done English riding ever in my life, but when you're not used to jumping, cross rails seems hard, even if they are easy to the average jumper. Barrel Racing.. she was cut half a second and still got 20 seconds over the 19 seconds without half the time cut. Barrel Racing is JUST as hard as Show Jumping. so cross rails is perfectly fair.

The only thing about western rider was that she kept pointing out the wrong thins the English rider was doing she seemed a little jealous but she still deserved to win

EXACTLY what I was thinking.

you should have a dressage rider and a western pleasure/trail or horsemanship rider switch!

hehehe :) yeahhh us western riders have big clunky horses. Yeah we cant do delicate on a ranch! but as for sweet.. you should come meet my horse sometime... she is a doll

I hate riding in jeans, I would rather have my breeches any day! I have ridden and competed in both disciplines, but I prefer english since I love the thrill of jumping :] I love the concept of the series, and overall, job well done! I wish the english rider could tone down the arrogance and catty remarks though; riders like that are the reason many western riders think we are all snotty. There are good and bad people in both.

Jumping to Barrels should have had a helmet! I believe the Barrel gal did in the 1st part right? Overall I think this is a great idea and it's very interesting to see how each one does out of their field but what I don't like is the "one is better than the other" mentality.

I think they should do Dressage vs. Reining.

Lovin' this! Hope to see more in the future! Subscribed!

oh my god i feel bad for the western rider... she is being dissed so much, but then again she did win!!!!

That was interesting and I ride both diciplins but I kinda wanted the english rider to win because the handicap wasn't fair:(

For someone who never jumped, 2ft verticle is very dangerous for horse and rider! I'm a western rider, and I've ridden western for 7 years, but a majority of my friends are English riders, and if they land wrong, they can ruin a horse's back. That's why they start with poles laying on the ground, and slowly move up to bigger jumps. Plus, if the rider doesn't have a good seat coming out of the jump, they could fall and seriously hurt themselves.

Reining and Dressage

As someone who spent three years barrel racing, and then switched to jumping, the handicaps were ridiculously unfair. The english rider had to run the SAME pattern as the western rider with only a 3 second margin. The english rider had to jump a much smaller course. The only way she couldve got penalties is if she trotted the course and knocked rails. It would be a very special talent to knock 18" crossrails. I'm not saying that the english rider should've won, but it was an unfair competition.

I just love the english rider because she KNOWS that the western girl is bound to fall off without a horn and a big chunky saddle to hold her on! Watch 1:31! I like that Lauren unlike Gracyn, can admit the other did good, so props to Lauren she is way better in sportsmanship! Lauren is the real winner!

No I'm not saying that at all. I started out riding western and still ride western on clients horses that they want exercised. Western is hard in and of itself, and I'm actually teaching my english horse some western moves because it's good for her to be well rounded. All I was saying was that anyone could have cantered over those "jumps" with no problem, and that they should have raised them to at least 2ft to make the competition a little more fair. I still think the western rider did well.