Western Riding & English Writing

It's been a long time since I've last posted.  Hello, blogosphere and you so very few readers and thanks for coming back. :)

To catch you up-  a few months ago I quit taking lessons at that terrific stable I started at (which I still very much like) and started taking them at a new place!  This new stable teaches Western riding, however, where before I was doing English.

What's the difference, you ask?

Well...

This in English riding! :)

Notice theeee-

• Joined reins (the reins are the things the rider is holding to control the horse.)  In English, the reins are connected.
• The relatively short stirrup length (the stirrups are the metal ring-type things the rider's feet are in.)  In English, they are usually closer to the rider's torso than in Western.
• The small saddle (the object the rider is sitting on [not the horse, the thing between the horse and rider :) ] )
• The many many straps on the bridle. (There are just more straps on the thing on the horses head.) In English you have such pieces as the crownpiece, cheekstrap, noseband, and such.

This is Western! :)

Compare it to the English above and notice theeee...

• Longer and unconnected reins, also sometimes held in a single hand.
• Simpler looking bridle
• Bigger saddle, complete with a saddle horn in front of the rider, originally used to hold a lasso loop, and the higher cantle (the back part of the saddle).
• Relatively longer stirrups.



And so, let me say, that the switch was not amazingly simple, nor was it amazingly hard.  I do like that at my current Western stable, there is no pressure to show and we work on new things just about every week.  I recently started loping (the Western term for canter- trot is jog, as well) and am still trying to get my footing with this new gait in the Western style.  Tonight, my instructor even had me and my classmate try barrel racing- though at a jog.

Barrel racing at a gallop! :O

 I'm having fun with my new lessons and can't wait to see what happens next.  I might even join the local 4H club! :D

Meanwhile, since summer is now upon us, I have been trying to write more.  Only thing is, I feel like everything I'm trying has already been done.  I'm not completely awesome at being original. 

I really want to try writing a boarding school type thing, because I'm not too great at writing adult characters, and a boarding school would be more focused around teenagers.  But I can't think of any spectacular plot or anything.  I mean, a boarding school with a horseback riding focus would be cool, but that has already been done by quite a few people.  So I continue to struggle with finding new and interesting plots and trying to make dialogue sound as if it hasn't been forced out of a character's mouth against their will. 

I hope summer's longer than it looks.  This could take a while.