Working Equitation – The Beauty of Working Riding in a Perfectly Fitting Saddle

For centuries, herders on horseback in Portugal, Spain, Italy and southern France watched over large herds of cattle that were driven across the grassy expanses of certain regions. From the everyday necessities of such a life arose casual, unpretentious, thoroughly purposeful riding styles that nevertheless demand a very high degree of skill, cooperation and mutual trust from horse and rider. Today, these local traditions, handed down from generation to generation, are increasingly being displaced by modernisation, industrialisation and globalisation, as is so often the case. In the modern sport of Working Equitation, they are meant to live on across Europe.

Working Equitation is an equestrian discipline that combines elements of dressage, trail course and cattle work. It draws on traditional Southern European working riding styles and focuses on practical challenges in handling large herds of cattle. In Germany, Working Equitation has been recognised as a competitive discipline since 2008.

In Working Equitation, the "abstract" skills acquired in dressage by horse and rider are put to use in concrete tasks. When bridges are crossed, pole slaloms or gates ridden through, or bells rung on the Working Equitation trail, this refers in stylised form to situations from the everyday life of a mounted cattle herder. Since one hand is needed for such tasks – or to hold the Garrocha, a long pole originally used to drive cattle – the goal in Working Equitation is one-handed riding. However, it is only mandatory in the highest performance class.
 
For "normal" leisure riders, the biggest challenge in Working Equitation is certainly the cattle work: here a small herd of cattle comes into play, and the aim is to separate individual animals from the others and drive them into a pen. In Germany in particular, you can easily "work" without ever coming into contact with cattle. Sometimes even tournaments take place without this test element. Here, the trail work is the heart of the sport. 

The riding style is upright, composed and calm. Beginners and novices must demonstrate walk, trot and canter in the dressage test, plus reining back. Novices additionally show turns and simple changes of lead. In the lower classes, a snaffle bridle is used as standard; later a curb bit with a bridoon can also be chosen. Riding two-handed (with both hands on the reins) is permitted.

At the masterful level, however, Working Equitation is ridden one-handed and with a plain curb bit (i.e. without a bridoon). Ideally, weight aids play the central role in giving the aids, with leg aids playing a subordinate role.

In the dressage tests of the higher classes, riders must demonstrate reining back, changes of lead, halts from the canter, turns, half-passes and pirouettes at the walk and canter.

On the trail, the dressage elements combine into a choreography that still shows a hint of its agricultural origins: bridges must be crossed, barrels negotiated in a slalom, fences jumped, a clay jug lifted and set down again, gates opened and closed from horseback. In the higher classes, all of this is required again at speed in the speed trail.

In cattle work, the most extraordinary part of the competition, the aim is to work together with three helpers to separate a head of cattle from the herd and drive it into a pen – as quickly, smoothly and stylishly as possible.

There is no dress code for Working Equitation competitions. Muted colours and plain clothing are required – very pleasant. The Garrocha, the roughly three-and-a-half-metre-long driving pole of the Vaqueros, is part of Doma Vaquera. The driving pole is not part of Working Equitation competitions – but many workers have at least completed a course on it once, or use the Garrocha to add variety to their training.

The original Vaquero saddle is a saddle with a large, wide bearing surface. Iberosattel® saddles are rooted in this tradition:
 

• They give the rider a deep, relaxed and comfortable seat, allow the horse freedom of movement, and give both unimpeded contact.

• Thanks to the Comfort Pad, available only from Iberosattel®, even the finest weight aids are transmitted precisely to the horse's back.

• The Mià Working Comfort, the Alpha Vaquero and the Doma Classica with its large, soft Vaquero cantle are perfectly suited to Working Equitation.

• And the Ibero Amazona Comfort also has everything a worker's saddle needs.

All four saddles offer the firm, deep seat riders need for tight turns and for one-handed or hands-free riding.

This saddle gives you the freedom to fully focus on your performance in Working Equitation – without compromising on the feel of the seat.

Generous proportions meet a unique design, proving that a large saddle can be not only functional, but also beautiful.

Whether long training sessions or demanding tests – this saddle gives you the room you need and supports you with perfect balance.

Built on a dressage tree, the Alpha Vaquero is, despite its soft, flat seat, an optimal saddle for dressage work too.

Thanks to its large, soft Vaquero cantle, which also serves as a front skirt, it is equally suited to riding out and, for example, as a Working Equitation saddle.

The Comfort Compact pads allow us to fit the saddle to almost any horse.

It is particularly well suited to square-built horses, Lusitanos or ponies.

The Doma Classica is a combination of the Escuela school saddle and the popular Alpha Vaquero saddle. Its large, soft cantle makes it perfectly suited to Working Equitation.

The rear skirt, shaped from the seat, gently encloses the rider and gives a secure feel in the saddle. Dressage riding is no problem either. You sit deep in the saddle and can transmit the aids directly.

As standard, it comes fitted with the short Comfort Compact pad.

The leisure saddle Ibero Amazona Comfort is a saddle designed especially for dressage riders who don't want to give up riding out and Working Equitation, even with their familiar saddle. Thanks to the removable cantle, the Ibero Amazona Comfort is ideally suited to daily dressage work, and there is nothing standing in the way of taking part in FN tournaments with this saddle either.

The deep dressage seat and the continuous saddle flap, and thus the closeness to the horse, allow for the finest aids even in the dressage arena. The Comfort Pad available only from Iberosattel® distributes the rider's weight evenly across the horse's back while still allowing the finest aids to be given.

Find your perfectly fitting saddle for Working Equitation. We would be happy to visit you for advice and fitting. Write to us via our contact form or call us directly: