Side saddle

[Appaloosa]

Hi their does anyone know what makes a good side saddle horse?

X - A - X

[floppy]

I have ridden an icelandic side saddle... :D

you need a horse that repsonds good to leg aids and a whip.

because you sit with your leggies on the same side and all you have to encorage the horse on the other side is a whip.

but as for breed i wouldnt know exactly...maybe a cob of some sort? not too small not to big..as the one and only stirrup on the side saddle is shorter than normal and you have to get up on the horse somehow...but then i believe you usually get a leg up :)

[tarkia]

Theres a woman at my riding center that rides some type of Welsh Cob gelding, hes really well behaved. I don't know what he would be like to ride though because I don't ride side saddle so Im not too much help there :D

[Zingy]

Most horses can be ridden side saddle, but to be good they've got to be fairly responsive and straight - your cane is much weaker than your leg so they've got to learn to move away from it otherwise you just go round in circles!!! Having said that they've got to be comfy as well - you have no choice other than to do sitting trot. Once rode a freisian x welsh cob and he was like sitting on a sofa - you just didn't move, which was such a change from the arab x welsh who you had to really work to sit to.
Think a lot of old side saddles were built for thoroughbred types though as ladies didn't ride cobs!!!!! So it can be quite difficult to get a very wide saddle, but they are around.

As for getting on, usually you'd get a leg up, particularly if you're wearing a habit, but you can use a mounting block. Your stirrup is considerably shorter than if you're riding astride so it's not possible to get on from the ground (unless you're very tall riding a very small pony!)

[Jamey]

I ride at a yard near Banbury and the kind of horses they use there for sidesaddle are dramatically different. There's a 18hh ex-Hunter (crane fitted as standard), several Welsh and arabs, and a rather bad tempered (but lovely) Cob. Some are forward going, others are quite sluggish but they are all level-headed and sensible horses. The only definate no-nos are horses who are whipshy or rear.
I once heard a rumour that the best way to cure a horse that persistently bucks is to ride it side-saddle. This is presumably because you ride with your weight on your right knee and when the horse bucks he's throwing the weight even further onto it (?) but don't quote me on that!
:)

[Beth T]

Size doesn't matter, as long as the horse isn't too small for you, for side-saddle you may have to look slightly taller than you would normally get away with. I could get away with a 14.2hh but as I want to do side-saddle my instructor has told me to look for a horse 15hh+.

I ride my husband's horse side-saddle, I am only 5'2" & he is 16.3hh! You have to be fairly agile to get up on him though...If you are learning to ride side-saddle a calm, responsive horse is important, preferable one without ridden vices such as bucking & definitely not rearing. Some horses object to the balance strap & buck, but most horses adapt very quickly. A horse/pony with a good front helps & you have to be careful if the horse is short in the back because the saddle sits further back than a nornal saddle. It is good if he is not too bouncy ie. not too high a knee action, but it doesn't matter if he is bouncy - it just doesn't look as elegant & isn't as comfy.

Hope that helps, let me know how you get on!

Beth T

[Sidesaddlelady]

ANY horse will make a good side saddle horse.

I have ridden s/s for about 7 years and belong to the Side Saddle Association (in the UK) and I have yet to hear of a horse which didn't take to side saddle - in fact a lot of horses go better in a side saddle than astride. It's always better to have side saddle lessons from an expert and I would recommend a Side Saddle Association qualified instructress (I use the feminine advisably as my experience of both male and female instructors leads me to think that women teach this discipline better). I would also recommend that your horse has at least some professional schooling. It saves a lot of bother in the long run

Obviously good manners are essential but we should be looking for this in a horse anyway. The only horse which you should NEVER ride side saddle (or at all, IMO!) is a persistent rearer. Because your weight is further back it can pull the horse over backwards when it rears. Bucking is bad manners but not anything to be afraid of side saddle. Because you have a very secure seat the horse gets tired before you do - I know from whence I speak as I have sat out a bucking session on 18 hands of very naughty horse which took me twice round the menage before he gave it up as a bad job! I've also had a frightened horse bolt with me and I didn't part company with him.

As for size, it is commonly recommended that a reasonable size for a s/s horse is 15.2 hh give or take an inch but I feel that it is more important that you look right on the animal. I am a some- what statuesque lady of above average height and my horse is a 16hh Irish Draught, so we suit one another's size. Bear in mind that the saddle can add up to another hand to your height above ground.

Cobs and arabs can be difficult to fit a side-saddle to because of their conformation but this isn't insurmountable. You may read in older books, and books by modern authors who don't really know what they are talking about, that only mares should be ridden side-saddle because "mares have longer backs". You may ignore this advice as it is rubbish. It comes from an era when mares were considered the only "proper" mounts for women.

Suggest you read "Riding Side-Saddle" by Janet W. MacDonald and Mrs Houblon's "Side-Saddle" if you can get hold of a copy.
Contact the Side-Saddle Association for details of your local area branch and see if they are doing a Have-A-Go-Day in the near future.

Enjoy!

[JackiAH]

Wow, a thread on side-saddle. ^_^

I recently had my second ever side-saddle lesson on my Half-Arab/Half-Saddlebred mare, who had never seen a side-saddle in her life before. The lesson was *great*, she took to it like a duck to water, and actually? She stayed in the bridle far better than she does when I'm riding astride, because riding side-saddle clears up my most obvious riding flaw: back stiffening. Side-saddle almost forces you to relax your back!

I wish I had a photo on here of her side-saddle, but unfortunately, I don't. I'd like to add, though, that seemingly uncomfortable horses aren't really that terrible to ride side-saddle. My mare is a true saddle-seat English Pleasure horse {think Saddlebred 3-gaited classes}, and it was very easy to sit her trot side-saddle. ^_^

Ahh, my advice is to never be afraid to try any horse side-saddle, as long as it has manners and you're confident. It's awfully fun.

[Waikato Valuta]

how do you get into side saddle. SOunds fun but i dont think they have any instructors in Australia.

[Sidesaddlelady]

For side-saddle info in Victoria contact

Mrs Jeannett Downs - Secretary Side-Saddle Association Victoria
"Glen Elgin"
Gisbourne Rd
Toolern Vale
3337

Ph 03 9746 1210

Or email Rosemary Garoni on
Rosemarygaroni@bigpond.com

Do have a go I'm sure you'll love it.

[Sidesaddlelady]

Hmm. I always thought the saddlebred had an "interesting" trot and assumed that this would make it (trotting) uncomfortable to sit to. My boy has a very bouncy trot so I try to avoid it in side-saddle - I don't like having to dismount to pick up my teeth :)
In days of yore ladies' horses were schooled to go from walk into canter and back to walk avoiding the trot but modern showing/equitation class rules don't allow this. All I can suggest is a good, solidly constructed bra! (Having ended up with extensive bruising to the chest area after a half hour lesson trotting in side-saddle wearing an ordinary bra!)

We all seem to be agreed that the answer to the question of what makes a good side saddle horse is "Four legs, a head and a tail"! Schooling is all.

[Appaloosa]

Hi Side Saddle Lady,

Did tyou get my private message about lessons and qualified instructors? I sent it a while back you may not have got round to replying. I have been bitten by the side saddle bug and i'd really appreciate your help in finding somewhere to learn.

X - A - X

[Sidesaddlelady]

Sorry Appaloosa - I didn't get your message - what address did you send it to?

Try again on sidesaddlelady@hotmail.com but put "Appaloosa to Henrietta" as the title so I won't think it's junk mail

Henrietta

[Sidesaddlelady]

Appaloosa - I found your message. See PM for reply