..Looks Hard..

[~alison~*]

Hi-
To those of you who ride sidesaddle, it looks like it would be really hard to do...Is it? I was just wondering!

[Heather]

No, it isn't harder to ride sidesaddle, than astride. I would reccomend learning to ride really well astride first, and establish a quiet seat. Nothing looks worse than an inelegant sidesaddle rider! However, nothing looks more pleasing than a really good one.

I was lucky enough to have a great teacher of the old school, brought up to hunt sidesaddle, in fact I never knewher to ride astride.

One word of warning! It is expensive. A good, properly balanced sidesaddle costa a lot of money, and so does a well tailored habit. Top hats cost the earth these days, and not even a bowler is cheap! By all means have a go if you can find someone to teach you, but start saving up if you want to take it seriously!

Heather

[Sidesaddle]

Hello Alison,
Sorry I haven't signed on recently otherwise I would have replied sooner.
I agree with most of what Heather has said and that side saddle is not harder just different.
The only bit I disagree with is learning to ride astride really well first. I know several ladies who have learn't to ride side saddle without ever having ridden astride. If you have a good instructor who will lunge you for your first few lessons to enable you to get a good position in the saddle first, without having to worry about controlling the horse, you shouldn't have any problems.
Side saddle gives you an independent seat which means you should be able to use your hands correctly and so not spoil a horses' mouth. This happens quite often when some riders are learning to ride astride and use the reins to keep their balance.
The other thing about riding side saddle is that you only ride a sitting trot and do not rise, therefore it helps to have a horse with a smooth trot.

I also agree with Heather about the expense. I have recently bought a new habit which cost just under £500. That's not including the bowler, waistcoat, boots, etc. It is also possible to hire and buy secondhand, so it depends on your budget and what you want to do !

If you want to contact someone in America from a sidesaddle association have a look at the Sidesaddle Association web page;
www.equiworld.com/ssa/

Sandra