jumping side saddle!

After having tried it (not jumping I hasten to add!) on a riding holiday, I am in awe of those photos! I didn't quite realise how different side saddle would be to riding astride until I tried it, I constantly felt like I was leaning forwards when in fact I wasn't. I just about managed a canter (with instructor chasing me with a lunge whip as hadn't quite learned how to use my leg and the whip together :rolleyes:). Would love to have more lessons though, although it was a strange feeling I did really enjoy it.
 
Nowadays we women are not as brave or, perhaps, as foolhardy ...

Delamere Forest Riding Club

Bodelwyddan068.jpg


Aside in the US:

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oh wow these are amazing! really scary looking at them though, i have enough trouble jumping not side saddle! wow , some balance, and loving the horses name? jane, similar type name to my annies :D
 
vichop99 said:
Wow, love looking at pics of people riding side-saddle, especially jumping.

I am just starting to learn to ride side saddle with Roger Philpot - i love it. Had a bit of a confidence knock last week but just had a great lesson again today.
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hi vichop99 roger knows both of us and he comes up to give us lessons.:D
 
Midori said:
Hi Horsychick,

Love the first picture, and particularly like the outside girthing on the saddle. Would it by any chance be a Mayhew? I used to ride on one very similar.

Cheers, Midori
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Hi midori
it very might well be but i'm not sure what jane's saddle is,i've got a champion & wilton & a mayhew,but these's don't have outside girthing.:D
 
Does this count? lol :D I should stop hanging out with the kids they're a bad influence on me (5 minutes late I was trying to do 'scissors'.......poor pony)

 
old_woman said:
Nowadays we women are not as brave or, perhaps, as foolhardy ...

Delamere Forest Riding Club

Bodelwyddan068.jpg
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Hey Delamere is my riding club! :p The SS are doing another display next weekend up here - going to go have a look. :)

Some of those pictures though! :eek: I wouldn't try some of those jumps astride let alone aside! :eek::D
 
Kis Vihar said:
I would LOVE to try that! I was meant to visit the Hungarian Side-Saddle Association lady for a side-saddle 'tryout' but I haven't been well enough. :( Just DESPERATE for a go! The only problem is the cost of the side-saddles....Ouch!! :eek:

Is there a 'rule' of how tall a horse can carry how tall a rider, if you know what I mean?! I'm nearly 5'11" tall, I ride a 14.3 chunky cob and a 16hh big solid mare. Would I be able to ride either of these side-saddle?
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The thing to remember is that the side saddle lifts you about 4 inches and habit and saddle can add up to as much as another stone to your weight. Also, as you are very tall, you might look more in proportion on the 16 hander than on the cob.

In theory, it might be easier to find a saddle for the mare than the cob. A horse with a fairly well-defined wither is the ideal side saddle carrier but in real life I've successfully ridden cobs in s/saddle. There could be difficulties too in finding a saddle long enough to accomodate your height but short enough to be suitable for your horse. Generally (to simplify the issue) you measure the length of your upper leg to decide the length of s/saddle you need. In this you may be lucky as there is a school of thought that says mares are better for s'sadle as they have longer backs.
 
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old_woman said:
It was the invention of the 'leaping head' around 1820-30 - a specific addition/adaptation to the pommels of the sidesaddle - that enabled ladies (respectable ones, anyway) several decades later to jump safely, gallop across country and ride actively and energetically. They could even hunt on something approaching an equal basis, once actually mounted of course, with men.

The sidesaddle seat is so very secure that the security itself can cause danger, albeit not commonly.

The heyday of the sidesaddle was a short one, though, as riding astride started to become acceptable for women on the approach of WW1, and after it had ended, so, largely, did the teaching and development of side-saddle riding and sidesaddle riding soon became to very large extent the preserve of the elderly, the disabled and those who might be described by some as 'eccentric' ( but who I would describe as 'interesting').

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that the invention of the leaping head was one of the early steps towards women's suffrage and the supposed equality women are said to enjoy in the present day.
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<<the invention of the leaping head was one of the early steps towards women's suffrage and the supposed equality women are said to enjoy in the present day>> Now that is a VERY interesting train of thought!

And it knocks on the head a very irritating article which keeps appearing when side saddle is written about and which puts forward the theory that side saddle was invented by men to subjugate women (a load of trip IMO!!)
 
Midori said:
Hi Horsychick,

Love the first picture, and particularly like the outside girthing on the saddle. Would it by any chance be a Mayhew? I used to ride on one very similar.

Cheers, Midori
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I have a 1909 Mayhew with outside girthing which I'm waiting to have renovated. My saddler says that it's a show saddle and quite rare as Mayhew didn't make many of them. It has a safety stirrup leather and fitting but the original owner clearly had little trust in such new-fangled flummery as she rode with an old-fashioned (even in those days) Cope safety stirrup iron which came with the saddle. The iron is so tiny her foot must have been too.
 
Goodness me that's impressive! Fascinating too.

I know the photos are only mili-second snap shots in time, but they really do look so precarious! I have watched a side saddle class before, but it was only on the flat. After seeing these photos I would love to see them jumping!

Huge respect to anyone who is brave enough to do it! :)
 
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