Riding horse

A Riding horse or a saddle horse is a horse used by mounted horse riders for sport, recreation or transportation.

It is unclear exactly when horses were first ridden because early domestication did not create noticeable physical changes in the horse. However, there is strong circumstantial evidence that horse were ridden by people of the Botai culture during the copper age, circa 3600-3100 BCE. The earliest evidence suggesting horses were ridden dates to about 3500 BCE, where evidence from horse skills found at site in Kazakhstan indicated that they had worn some type of bit. Wear facets of 3 mm or more were found on seven horse premolars in two sites, Botai and Kozhai 1, dated about 3500–3000 BCE. It is theorized that people herding animals first rode horses for this purpose, presumably bareback, and probably used soft materials such as rope or possibly bone to create rudimentary bridles and hackamores. However, the earliest definitive evidence of horses being ridden dates to art and textual evidence dating to about 2000-1500 BCE.

Riding Horse

The Riding Horse is a type of show horse in the UK. Riding horses can be any breed, but are generally warmbloods or Thoroughbred crosses.

The breeding and showing of riding horses is overseen by the British Show Horse Association.

Showing the riding horse

The ideal riding horse should be somewhere between a hack and a hunter and should show quality, substance, good bone, correct conformation, presence and true action.

Division of classes

Riding horses are divided into two sections:

Show

Classes are judged on type, ride, manners and conformation. Horses in the class are asked to perform a walk, trot, canter and (conditions permitting) gallop together.

The judge will then ride the horses and then may require individual performances, called "shows," from the competitors. Individual shows should not exceed 1¹⁄₂ minutes, and should include walk, trot, canter, gallop, rein back, stand still and demonstrate obedience to the leg.