【DE】PARTNER HORSE GOES WESTERN |

The world of horses and its different facets – this is what visitors experience from the 19th to the 22nd. January 2023 also to the 25th. PARTNER HORSE at the Leipzig exhibition center. While the top international athletes compete in the disciplines of show jumping, driving and vaulting at the FEI World CupsTM, the area of western riding is mainly presented in the popular action ring. Various clubs, associations and top instructors want to inform about the special features of the riding style and explain what horsemanship means to them.

“Western riding is not only like in the movie, where the cowboys ride after the moving train – it’s also a nice ride!” This is what Dorothea Ehrlich from the Saxon National Association of the First Western EMU says. With one hand on the horn, loose and casual on the horse – this is how the western riders conquer the action ring in Hall 3 at PARTNER PFERD this year. EMU wants to show visitors what makes up this riding style and prove once again that the horses keep calm even with loose reins. “This fascinates people every time,” as Dorothea Ehrlich noted on the past editions of PARTNER PFERD. Especially in the leisure sector, the offer of riding stables that are dedicated to western riding is growing.

Learning from the professionals

An established name in German western riding is Erich Busch. The instructor from North Rhine-Westphalia is in the partner HORSE action ring for the first time and presents the so-called Buckaroo style – “a philosophy of life for horse-friendly riding and good horsemanship,” explains Busch. While adapting the riding technique to the leisure sector, his colleague Jan Zweers shows the versatility of tournament sport in western riding. The Dutchman learned the basics directly at the source, in a sense, when he attended an agricultural high school in the USA.

Reining, Pleasure and Trail – these Western disciplines can also be learned by beginners and advanced players at the Horses & Western Life Riding Club in Gleisberg. The association understands horsemanship as a meaningful mix of empathy and consistency and builds the training on this communication between horse and rider. The club chairman Uwe Lindner will also show what the interaction between the two looks like after completing their training in the action ring this year.

Diverse program on 600 square meters

In addition to the offers of the Western riders, the popular action ring of the PARTNER HORSE offers a thrilling program daily from 9 a.m. The coaches Josef Kmoch and Lucia Ebert show very different approaches to the training of horses and riders. While Kmoch traces the path to tournament sports, Ebert focuses on the coexistence of horse and rider – according to Monty Roberts, who has become known for dealing with traumatized horses. In addition, wooden back horses and Icelanders show their talents, experts explain how fascial therapy sustainably improves the health of horses and even donkeys are included. The entire program of the action ring, the demonstration times as well as the offers of our exhibitors in the field of western riding can be found on the website of PARTNER PFERD.

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