Horse Riding or Horseback Riding?

What do you call it? Horse riding or horseback riding?

Sometimes the differences in pronunciations or words in British and American English are subtle. Sometimes they are blatantly obvious.

I teach Chinese children who are learning British English. Sometimes as an American, it can take me a few seconds to remember the extra U, the different word used, or the difference in pronunciation.

Tomato is always a favorite one. Brits say to-MA-to and Americans say to-MAY-to.

I had one class period who I used to word apartment. My kids had no idea what I was talking about so as I was explaining what an apartment was, using drawings and what little Chinese words I could think of (not apartment though because I don't know that word in Chinese), one of them asked if it was a flat. So flat has become a common word in my vocabulary.

I went horse riding today. Horse riding or horseback riding? I've grown up calling it horseback riding. When I first heard the term, horse riding sounds strange and incomplete.

But like the word flat, it's another British word that's slowly working it's way into my vocabulary.