English or Western? Not your only choice.

It is usually the first question out of someones mouth after they find out you ride. "Do you ride English or Western"? It is the majority that think you have to be one or the other but that simply is not true. You are only limited by your willingness to try new disciplines. Over the next couple of weeks I hope to talk about the variety of riding styles and disciplines available to use. I hope to talk about everything from Buckaroo and Florida Cracker horseman to the riding styles of the Charros and Gauchos of the pampas.
I personally find learning about different horseman from all reaches of the world very interesting and always seem to find some useful tidbit of info to help me improve my horsemanship. People often say my horse goes English but not Western. For the majority of us horse owners we don't have the option of having an English horse or a Western horse. In my case my horse had to learn to fox hunt, team rope, trail ride, play polo and do skijoring. He had to learn this because I wanted to try all these things but only had the one horse. Some people might say well my horse isn't suited for that and there is some merit to it. Not every horse has the mental or physical capability to be a three day eventer then turn around and rope a steer but I have never met a horse that could not figure out neck reining and direct reining or pop over a little jump or do a rollback. If you find a riding discipline you think looks interesting read up on it and give it a try, I am sure if you give our horse the chance they will put in an honest effort and appreciate the change of scenery.
Thanks
Steve