Riding English

At Rockbrook, our camp Equestrian Program teaches “English Riding” as opposed to “Western Riding.” But what is the difference between these two forms of horseback riding?

One difference you’ll notice right away, even before mounting your horse, is in the saddles. Western saddles are wider and deeper, with a very prominent horn toward the front. These are stable, comfortable seats designed for the cowboy (or girl!) who needs to spend a long time in the saddle. English saddles are smaller and lighter to allow the horse the greater freedom of movement required for the different hunter jumper gaits. And again, they don’t have a horn.

Other parts of the tack are different too. The reins are closed (left and right sides connected), the stirrups are shorter, and the bit is softer in the horse’s mouth in English Riding.

With these differences, naturally how you ride English is different from Western riding. As opposed to Western riding’s use of the reins, English horseback riding relies much more on balance and the rider’s legs to control the horse. In English riding, the rider is often up and out of the seat (two point, posting and jumping for example), as opposed to the seated position in Western riding.

Add to that learning to walk, trot, canter, dressage and jumping techniques, and you can see that learning English horseback riding is a wonderful sport.

Meet Snowflake

Do you remember Cool Beans from last summer? He was the white Welsh Pony who quickly became a star of the barn, well-loved particularly by the horseback riding juniors. Such a wonderful horse! Well, we have great news to pass along. Beans is coming back to Rockbrook this summer! And even more exciting, he’s bringing along his friend Snowflake, another sweet Welsh Pony.

Here’s Snowflake, who is also known as Cloud Nine, at a horse show where he was the Leadline champion (see that blue ribbon?). A “Leadline” competition is where children ride (usually walk or trot) while an adult leads their horse in-hand. The judging varies, but usually focuses on the child’s overall position— seat, leg and hand. Of course appearance is important too!

We can’t wait for you all to meet Snowflake and to say Hi to Cool Beans again this summer. Who do you want to ride?

Horse Girls of all Ages

One common question about our horseback riding program is whether all the girls at camp, from the smallest kindergartners to the oldest teenagers, can ride while attending Rockbrook. The answer is yes! We are very careful to tailor our riding lessons to accommodate both absolute beginners as well as those teen horse girls who want to spend as much time as possible at the equestrian center.

For those girls who are brand new to riding, camp is a perfect place to develop their interest and take their very first ride. They will learn important safety rules, how to mount, riding positions, how to communicate with their horse, and so much more. They will get to know some of the experienced, gentle ponies Rockbrook has especially suited for beginning horseback riders.

For older, and more advanced horse girls, there are special mounted lessons to match their ability as well. The Rockbrook horseback riding program is ready to teach more difficult riding techniques and likewise has great, well-schooled horses for skilled riders.

There’s horseback riding for everyone at Rockbrook!

RBC Equestrian Program Profiled

Rockbrook has recently been added to the “all things horse” web site infohorse.com. With information and articles about horse care, horse breeds, horse careers, horse training, and of course horse camps, it is a fantastic Internet resource. Since 1997, infohorse.com has been a great place for every horse enthusiast to find out about horse related products and services.

Rockbrook is proud to now be included. Our equestrian program has a very nice detailed profile on the site.

Want to learn more about horses and horseback riding? Head on over to infohorse.com!

Riding Lessons at RBC

The typical lesson at Rockbrook’s riding camps match up girls with similar horseback riding experience and skills. This allows the equestrian instructors to tailor each lesson to the right level for the young girls in that class. Even though our youth riding camp lessons happen every day except Sunday, and even though campers tend to have the same 2-4 other girls in their class, it’s also possible for each rider’s assigned horse to change over the course of their camp riding lessons. The instructors make those changes based on how a young rider is doing in the lessons.

Each lesson also focuses on a specific forward seat (English Hunter Jumper) riding skill, generally. Everyone in the class might work on learning to post at a trot, to canter, or even jump their horse, for example. This is great because the riding instructors can coach each girl individually but also make suggestions that may benefits all of the riders in the class. It’s an ideal way to teach youth riding.

Like for all the activities at Rockbrook, when girls take horseback riding they learn a lot and improve their skills, but they have tons of fun doing it.

Horseback Riding Videos

Let’s say you love horseback riding, and you spent just about everyday at the Rockbrook Stables when you were at camp this summer. Certifiably “horse crazy” —that’s you! OK, but now that you’re back at home and not riding as much (if at all), what can you do to keep up with what you learned over the summer? Horseback riding at Rockbrook is great, but what can you do now that you’re back at school?

One thing you can do is watch the instructional horseback riding videos over on www.videojug.com. There are several really cool short videos about English horse riding with titles like How to Improve Your Classical Seat, How to Canter, and How to Tack a Horse. Several were filmed at Wimbleton Village Stables in London, and are very well done. Click on over and have a look at a few of these videos. You’ll really enjoy it!

Rockbrook Profiled in Horse Magazine

Great news! Rockbrook has been selected by Horsemen’s Yankee Peddler for the cover story of their current edition. Located in the Northeast (as you might guess), HYP is a print magazine covering “all aspects of the equine industry, from dressage to hunt seat to reining and barrel racing.” Given all the other horse camps in the country, it’s quite an honor for Rockbrook to be selected and profiled.

There is a short digital version of the magazine available online. Go check it out and read the spread about Rockbrook’s equestrian program (on pages 14 and 15). It’s an excellent article!

Ready to Ride!

Everything is coming together down at the Rockbrook equestrian center in preparation for this summer. Here’s a quick note from Cara, the Equestrian Director.

Many of the most popular horses are back like Gordon, Annie, Woody, Reagan, Buddy and Fritz. We have some new horses that we think you’ll love. Happy is a 16 hand Warmblood mare that has been a successful show hunter. Tobie is a Halflinger pony that does therapeutic riding during the school year. He is so fat and adorable! We can’t wait to show him off to everyone!

The Barn Staff has many surprises for riders this summer and is ready for campers to arrive!

Campers arrive at camp this weekend and we’re ready to ride!