Equestrians can develop a very close relationship with their horses. It makes sense that they do; these two beings have to trust each other immensely in order to literally get anywhere.

That’s probably why Sharyn chose to include her horse, Emerson, in her luxury horseback riding senior photography. This luxury horseback riding senior photography was taken near Philadelphia, PA. That’s also the place that J & J Studios calls home!

Equestrian sports are those that involve horses as major players. For example, they include activities that involve a rider on horseback or a horse pulling a vehicle. It may seem that the horse does the majority of the work in these activities. However, equestrian sports require that the humans who perform them maintain physical strength and endurance, balance, and skill. 

A History of Horses in Philadelphia, PA

Horseback riding has a long history among humans. The best guess for the first date of a rider on horseback is 3,500 BC, though horseback riding is depicted in prehistoric cave paintings, as well. Horses originated in and were native to North America until the Ice Age, after which they were reintroduced by European settlers. Some theorize that horses crossed the Bering Land Bridge from North America into other parts of the world prior to their extinction in North America after the Ice Age.

The area around Philadelphia in particular has a history with horses and equestrian sports, as well. For example, the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club continues the tradition of Black horsemanship and cowboys that dates back over a century. The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club is a nonprofit organization that maintains and cares for local horses and teaches young members of the local neighborhood to do so as well. 

The Club purchased its original horses from a sale in New Holland, Pennsylvania. When purchased, the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club gave the horses a second chance at life. The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club’s stables are located in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood in North Philadelphia, though informal stables exist throughout North and West Philadelphia as well.

Types of Horseback Riding

The style of riding you see Sharyn performing below with Emerson is called English horse riding. This term encapsulates many different styles within it, though. We’ll be discussing the two types of horseback riding that are popular in the United States. These are English, and Western, which originated here in North America. However, other styles of riding also exist and are common in other places.

English Horseback Riding

One of the differences between English and Western horseback riding includes the fact that in English riding, jockeys must use both hands on the reins, rather than one, as in Western riding. When riding Western style, the rider keeps the reins in one hand while the other relaxes at their side. In general, riders “post” or “rise” as the horse trots. This means that they rise and sit in conjunction with each of the horse’s strides on diagonal leg pairs.

An English saddle also does not feature the deep seat, high cantle, or saddle horn that a Western saddle does. English saddles allow the horse the freedom to move optimally for any given task. In short, it was made more for quick communication between horse and rider, rather than the comfort of the rider. This is due to the fact that the much bigger and heavier Western saddle was developed for the comfort of cowboys. These workers stayed for hours and hours at a time on their trusty horses. So, comfort was more of a priority for them.

Bareback Horseback Riding

The other type of riding that Sharyn and Emerson are performing in these pictures is called bareback riding. This is a type of horseback riding that doesn’t involve the use of any saddle at all. Instead, the rider sits on the horse’s bare back. That’s what gives this type of riding its name. Bareback horseback riding requires immense skill, balance, and coordination on the part of the rider. This is because the rider doesn’t have any equipment to help compensate for any errors of balance or skill that they may commit.

Bareback horseback riding also allows the rider to develop a “feel” for riding a horse. This refers to the rider’s ability to “read” the horse using its natural movements. The “feel” also refers to using the horse’s body to correct any balance problems and anticipating any change in the horse based on its body language. Bareback riding also allows the rider to use her own position on the horse to further complement their moving together. It allows both horse and rider to communicate more quickly and effectively with one another, as well.

The Horse: Emerson

Emerson is a handsome horse, isn’t he? The color of his mane and hair coat is called chestnut. The color chestnut is characterized by a lack of true black hairs. This reddish-to-brown horse coat color is typically accompanied by a similarly colored mane and tail. The mane and tail can vary from the same color as the coat to a lighter shade of chestnut. This is one of the most common horse hair coat colors. It is present in almost every horse breed.

Emerson also has a beautiful stripe of white extending from his nose to the top of his head. That marking is called a stripe, but the part at the top of his head is called a star. The two are connected on Emerson’s face. However, this isn’t the case on every horse that has these markings. This is also called a blaze, because of the width of the stripe on his face.

Contact J & J Studios Today!

We hope you loved this luxury horseback riding senior photography as much as we loved capturing it! You can contact J & J Studios using the link found here. We’re so excited to celebrate with you! Whether the occasion is a graduation, an engagement, a wedding, or any other joyous life event, we’d be thrilled to help capture the magic of life’s happiest moments with you!