Pretty Kitty Herrick

As I pass the time side saddle-less, I have delved a little deeper into old books available in online versions and found quite a treasure.  I have enjoyed reading such hunting authors as David Gray and Robert Surtees.   It is completely by chance and Google recommendation that I ran across the English author Mrs. Edward Kennard.  

Mary Kennard wrote in the end of the 19^th century and concentrated on sporting subjects such as fox hunting and fishing.  I began with her “SportingTales” (1893) a collection of romantic shorts, moved on to “A ProfessionalRider” (1903) and then struck gold in “Pretty Kitty Herrick the Horsebreaker” (1891). 

If you enjoy Jane Austen you will love “Kitty Herrick” which runs along the lines of Jane Austen’s Emma only with the strong equestrian theme.  The heroine, Lady Katherine Herrick, suffering a cruel and unexpected reversal of fortune,  opts to go “into service” as a lady horse breaker finishing and selling ladies horses for the local horse dealer to earn her way while her secret engagement to a poor but handsome (gold digging) gentleman is resolved.

The author’s use of the hunting field and horse training are accurate and enjoyable, particularly to a side saddle rider.  Unfortunately, we do not get any particulars about her saddle, but we do know that Kitty wears a brand new Busvine habit out cubbing.  Side Saddle readers can relate and any reference to riding style will catch our eye as we find that Kitty is well admired for her straight back and excellent position in the saddle and has “exquisitely light hands”.

  I will certainly be searching for more of her novels in print which are not available online so I can again be swept away into the English Countryside.  The Girl in the Brown Habit looks particularly promising.

Tiny note on saddle fit...

My taller, skinnier, younger sister was just here to have me, of all things, repair the butt seams in two pairs of her scrubs which she had split out while crouching down to handle dogs at the vet hospital where she works. I had her sit in my side saddle on the premise that she has never seen one, and she should try it and see how it feels. Secretly, I wanted to see just how big a difference 40 pounds really makes. It fits her skinny butt with inches to spare. In fact, it rather flatters her. I'm sure she would look very elegant. Grrrrr.... I did mention, while I was sewing the seams, that one thing I could safely say I had not done in awhile is split out my pants seams. But it was a hollow victory.

This past week I was reading The Art of Side-Saddle by Rosamund Owens. On page 37 she writes... "The prevalence of 17" or 17.5" saddles (American measurements 21" or 21.5")goes to show that our forebears were, on the whole, rather larger than we are. I was recently offered a Champion and Wilton side-saddle, as modern as they come, scarcely used, but when I inquired the measurements, I was told 19.5"! (23.5" American.. and where is this treasure now?) On asking how large the owner had been, I was told, 'well she was a well built girl'."

I imagine when Ms. Owens says "large" she was referring to the fact that the cultural ideal of a woman's figure has changed over the years, and in the early 20th century, curvier figures were in vogue. I seriously doubt, that in the previous generations, the women were any taller or leggier. I have looked and looked and cannot find any scientific data on the average height and weight of women. But I imagine, on the whole, the 21st century norms are far higher for both.

That outstanding tidbit aside, no pun intended, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It can often be found on used book or auction sites, and no side saddle fancier's library should be without it.

Critical Situations

No side saddle progress this week. Despite the fact that we had 3 beautiful, warm spring days... the kind where you simply cannot fathom the thought that winter will return... winter is back. Saturday morning's weather was every bit as miserable as last Saturday's. Cold, HIGH winds, blowing snow, slippery roads, poor visibility. Completely demoralised, I dragged myself out of bed and to the barn with as little baggage as possible, leaving the armloads of side saddle and gear on the rack in the living room.




After puttering around the barn for a bit while Grey thundered around the tiny indoor, I finally mustered enough interest to get out a cold bridle, and catch the wild thing for a bareback ride. It was apparent, even before I got him to the mounting block, that this was not going to be a leisurely waddle around on the fuzzy couch. As Mom put it he had "too many bats in his belfry" and she decided to linger in the barn "just in case you fall off". Thanks for the vote of confidence.




The 50 mph winds were howling in the trees outside, creaking the walls, and banging the doors. Even though we have four and a half foot solid gates in the back, the actual sliding door is hopelessly frozen open affording a clear view of fresh-snow phantasms blowing down off the roof. After a monstrous spook which didn't unseat me, but did tweak something in my right side and lower back, I decided this was one of those moments: Give up and get down, or toughen up and ride. I wiggled out of my comfy quilted barn jacket, and traded it over the gate for the dressage whip.




Deciding to avoid going past the back door, we instead did trot figure eights in the safe 2/3rds of the 50x50. Since Grey was channeling his inner park horse and could only be trusted with about 18" of rein, it did not resemble elementary dressage work, but instead a satirical farce based on a saddle seat equitation class... bareback. I tried posting (usually easy) to save my back, but that loosened the all important connection of fanny to horse so I opted instead to concentrate on which seat bone my weight was in. After awhile I finally got him settled, ahead of my leg, and listening well enough to do an elementary leg yield, amd then cantered both ways without incident. So, as it turned out, conditions were not conducive to learning to ride aside. Which, begs the question, what does a lady do when her horse misbehaves?



To bring today’s entry back to a side saddle theme, I went flipping through some pdf copies of the old books to see how ladies were expected to handle naughty horses, and I must say, I wish I had more time to devote to sitting and reading these books cover to cover because there were some real gems.

Principles of Modern Riding for Ladies by John Allen (1825)
The author refers to these as “Critical Situations” and gives the usual advice on rearing and bucking horses but also tackles some indelicate terminology… “Accordingly, when he lifts his forelegs, your breech must be thrust out behind, by which you are prepared if he rears.”

Belle Beach must have been quite the gutsy rider, as she was a professional, and certainly was put in all sorts of hairy situations. “Many claim that the cross-saddle is safer than the side saddle in case of a rearing horse falling over backward. I do not agree with this (of course she wouldn’t)for, in the first place, many good men have suffered shocking accidents in this way and, when riding in the cross-saddle, unless the rider succeeds in throwing himself clear from the horse, he is almost sure to have one leg broken. On the other hand, with a side-saddle, if the horse comes down on his off side, there is no danger of a broken leg, and when the horse starts to rear a woman can usually make him fall on the off side by pulling his head to that side with all her strength, so that on this point the ease of clearing oneself from a cross-saddle is more that offset by the ability to throw the horse with safety and make him fall on the off side.” Now, I’ve thrown a few horses over, in my rougher youth, and you should actually pull the horse’s head left, not to the off side, but I think this method falls squarely in the “do not try this at home” category.






I didn’t take the time to relate all of William Alexander Kerr’s advice in Practical Horsemanship and Riding for Ladies (1891) but I did spot this interesting illustration. The trainer looks pretty determined doesn’t he? If I ever got my legs in that position… I don’t think I’d be getting off on my own.






Ladies on Horseback by Mrs. (Nannie) Power O’Donoghue (1881) provides not only the most exhaustive advice on bad actors, but by far the most amusing. She starts with very practical advice, then ventures off into wonderful stories of personal experiences.

"You must not lose sight of the fact that a bird flitting suddenly across, a donkey’s head laid without warning against a gate, a goat’s horns appearing over a wall, or even a piece of paper blown along the ground, may cause your horse to shy, and if you are not sitting close at the time, woe betide you! "

"Should your horse show temper and attempt to back with you, leave him rein, touch him lightly with your heel, and speak encouragingly to him; should he persist, your attendant must look into the matter; but a horse who possesses this dangerous vice should never be ridden by a lady. "

"Should your horse at anytime rear with you, throw the reins loose, sit close, and bring your whip sharply across his flank. If this is not effectual, you may give him the butt end of it between the ears, which will be pretty sure to bring him down. " Oh my. How unladylike.

She then goes on to relate a runaway situation that rather amused her, but not so much as the fact that a gentleman “actually attacked my servant in the most irate manner because he had not clattered after me during the progress of the mare’s wild career. ‘How dare you sir,’ cried this irascible old gentleman, ‘how dare you attempt to neglect your young lady in this cowardly manner?’ Nor was his anger at all appeased when informed that I, as a matron was my own caretaker, and that my attendant had strict injunctions not to follow me in the event of my horse being startled or running away.”

She then goes on to relate a story of being runaway with in a hunt and of jumping a 6’ 6” wall (which she set her horse at to stop him) and landing in the middle of a farm yard, creating a “considerable disturbance”!

“Such a commotion amongst fowl was surely never witnessed.” Finding the gate locked, she did the only thing she could… led her defeated horse out through the kitchen, startling an old woman who was knitting in the chimney corner. “And she was still shrieking long after I had mounted the big bay and ridden him back to inform his owner of how charmingly he had behaved.” Who could think a lady could have such adventures?

She must have been quite the character. I'll have to spend the time to read that book more thoroughly, as well as the Riding for Ladies published in 1887. All the above books are available in their entirety in Google Books.

Vintage Side Saddle Sizing

Page from

Park Riding

with Some Comments on the Art of Horsemanship

by J. Rimmel Dunbar

circa 1859

I love the Google books function which shows complete scans of books out of Copyright. I search for "Side Saddle" or "Ladies Riding". Sometimes I only get a page or two of interest but it's well worth it. This measurement makes you wonder where he was measuring from! Or perhaps the proportions of ladies have changed over the past 150 years? According to that chart, I would need about a 20" seat. My Martin & Martin is 22.5" and it is none to big. OMG! Is my butt really that big?!?

Miss Belle Beach ~ let time not forget

Riding and Driving for Women

by Belle Beach

Published 1912

"In these days of “advanced” ideas the advisability of women aping men in yet another way, by riding astride, is the subject of general discussion. Many “authorities” upon riding – “mere men”, it is needless to say – speak with enthusiasm of the day when all women will ride in this, for most of them, ungainly and unbecoming fashion, Personally, I deplore this tendency and believe that it is a mere passing fad and that, except under peculiar conditions which I will mention, most women ride best and look best in the side-saddle.

The average woman is not built for cross-saddle riding; her legs from the knee up are too short; her thighs too thick; her hips too big, and she is cushioned too high to enable her to keep close down with the required firmness on the saddle. The side-saddle certainly insures a stronger seat, especially in the cases of pitching forward, as, for instance, with a stumbling horse or a kicking one, or on landing after the jump.

In riding, women are very generally accompanied by men, and there are few occasions when a woman has it in her power to look better – or worse – than when in the saddle. It is only those women who are built like men and very young girls who look at all well astride. A woman with merely a normally developed figure looks both ridiculous and immodest in this position, and in an English saddle thoroughly ill at ease."

Little did Belle know, within a matter of decades, the world of riding would have changed so drastically from her predicitons. I can't say I even agree with her opinions. But she was certainly entitled to them.

Born in 1875, Miss Beach spent her life riding professionally and teaching the young ladies of society's elite to ride. A search of the NY Times pdf archives reveals pages and pages of articles mentioning Belle's exploits in the show ring and the details of her society life in NY and Newport. "Mrs. Beach and Miss Belle Beach closed their Newport season to-day, and went to New York for the Winter" Oct 08, 1902.... She died in 1927, destitute and suffering from cancer, rumored a suicide, having outlived the world she made her living at.



Besides her wonderful book, which can be read in it's entirety on Google Books and even downloaded in pdf form and printed, there are few materials available on this fascinating woman. There was a book in the works, mentioned here, which has not been finished. But time has not completely forgotten her. How would she have felt if she understood that nearly a 100 years later there would be a woman, sitting at an office desk, searching this modern wonder, the Internet, for clues on how to keep her thick thighs, big hips and too high cushioning on a side-saddle although she finds a cross-saddle so much more comfortable and secure? My how the world has changed.