Holding Pattern

I 'spose I should blog an update so you all don't think I have either lost interest or become bogged down in a mud puddle somewhere. Actually, the later is a possibility.

I have not ridden aside lately for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I went on a fox hunting excursion a month ago. So, my time, energies, and spare cash were taken up with getting fit, getting packed, and getting outfitted to do that. I had a blast, and one of these days I will take the time to blog about it. Here is a photo my husband snapped of the CotH Hunting Princesses. He was too surprised to take a picture of the fox, which ran within 30 yards of him just minutes before. Then the hounds came blasting through, and as he put it "the cavalry" thundered past, and he realised it might be a good time to take some pictures. Imagine, being surprised at seeing a fox.... we were fox hunting. That's me, upon a white horse, as usual. A very large white horse. The fox led the hounds on a very merry chase that day. I've never seen such chaos. I did see the fox though. Twice. It was a good day.

While I was in Virginia I spent a glorious afternoon shopping at the Horse Country tack shop, and I bought some nice saddle shims to put in the side saddle pad that I am sewing. That should increase my shimming options. The sewing project is at a standstill because I want to put the pad under the saddle, ON the horse before I edge it to check the shape. The reason that hasn't happened is that....

Secondly, I am simply dealing with too much mud and white hair right now to even think about bringing my precious antique out of the living room. Let me know when shedding season is over and the mud has dried up. I'll come out of hiding. Seriously. I wipe my tack down after each ride but still.... Where does all this dirt come from? And why won't it come out of the stitching? Why is my horse's head so dirty? They just don't make a properly shaped toothbrush to clean all the nooks and crannies. I am a meticulous person. I like all my stuff to look new and shiny like it just came out of the box. Even my mud boots. Do you realise how much extra time that takes in March and April? About 10 minutes a day, plus an extra hour a week.

Thirdly, my horse has Spring Fever. Is it really fair to deny him the roadside gallops? No. Is it wise to attempt these aside? NO! I can't even lead him down the barn aisle without due caution. But don't you worry. We will be right back at it before too long.

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.

That's why they call it a Horse SHOW

I've been day dreaming about showing aside, and thinking what I would wear. My horse is a Saddlebred Country Pleasure hunter. Basically, a hack horse, no jumps. He could also be a nice lower level saddle seat pleasure horse if shod a little longer and if I get him into a double bridle (not his favorite). We've only gone to a show once in the 6 years we've owned him, since I'm just not that competetive anymore. But, the country fair in the next county over is a very nice show. When I can be bothered to show, it will be that one. It's lovely with lots of big shade trees, and tons of country atmosphere. It is part of a tri-state circuit for Saddlebreds and Morgans, and last year it was voted people's choice best show for that circuit.










This show has a lot of "open" pleasure classes, so rather than show aside in the breed hunt seat division, I would probably target the Open Ladies Pleasure class. Open Road Hack would also be an option, but I'm not going to assume at this point that either an extended trot or a hand gallop will be in my repetoire, especially in a ring full of horses since Road Hack is a pretty popular class. What could be more appropriate than Ladies Pleasure aside? The best part is that I wouldn't have to look the part of either a modern hunter or a saddle seat horse. I could go a little vintage and stick to the broader style of "english" show hack or what we would have called a "bridle path hack" 30 years ago.

Whether I am showing under hunt seat rules or saddle seat rules, I have the choice of either a pelham bit or a double bridle. I can also use a derby (bowler) under either division. So I was thinking a nice cutaway habit in dark grey with a grey derby and a canary vest and a men's tie. I'd use a flat leather bridle with a pelham, and then add a little bling with a retro ribbon browband in a conservative color, maybe something like this in charcoal and creamy yellow to match my habit and vest.

So as not to offend officianados of hunt seat style by adding "bling", I would probably lean a little towards saddle seat style and not braid his mane or trim his tail, turning him out instead, like a country pleasure Saddlebred. A ribbon browband might be a little out of date in saddle seat, but still acceptable by traditional standards. You buy one, or get a kit to make your own at the linked website.

But if I am feeling very stylish, I can also shoot for a costume class, and go completely vintaage. I loved Michelle's linen habit seen here . Which is very similar to one of my very favorite linen habits.

I mean, why dress up like everyone else? That's why they call it a Horse Show!

Although I am a big fan of the discipline, I've never been a big fan of Saddle Seat attire. I do love formal 3 gaited with the top hats and ribboned pants, but unless you spend more money on your habit than I usually do on my horse, you usually look like you're wearing your Daddy's hand me down Sunday suit.

Above I am showing a Walk Trot horse for a friend in a suit Mom made for me. I loved that chestnut top hat, and recently sold it to Julie from Riding Aside for her outfit.

I've always said if I had a really nice horse, so I wouldn't look like a dork, I'd go retro and show in flared johdpurs and a straw hat. Now that looks elegant....

Hot to Trot

The weather took enough of a break for my side saddle enthusiasm to renew. I loaded the car, did my stretches and headed out. I think I've found a new muscle. As far as I can tell, it's called the gluteus medius. It's not used to stretching, and it's not happy. It ached and cramped all night, but is limbering up pretty well now. My abductors and adductors are a little sore, but they have nothing to complain about since they have to work at the gym almost daily and should be prepared. I also have a sore rectus femoris. In other words, the back of my right thigh burns right above my knee. I'm editing to add a bit, as the day wears on... my right seat bone made a tender mooshy spot in my fat, and my right calf is tight.

The good news is, my balance, hips, and shoulders seem to be taking care of themselves fairly naturally. Apparently, I'm not at immediate risk of falling off. The bad news is, I have no more control over my lower legs than usual, and it has been decades since I worried about equitation. I think I did much better with my right leg, but it required about 80% of my concentration.

I started out with a little walking, but that is getting boring and my horse needs some exercise. The saddle still feels like it is twisting left. I kept tightening the balance strap, and it took three tries to get it back to the hole it belongs on. I put a weight tape on Grey last week, and he is up at least 50 pounds since Christmas, but he took the balance strap with no complaints. Once I felt confident that the saddle was staying put, albeit a little wonky feeling, we moved on to the trot.

I concentrated on pulling my right ankle back and pointing my toe, and it's amazing how that secures you to the saddle. I feel pretty easy as far as balance, and began asking Grey to move out more. He was a little startled to actually feel the whip for a change.

But, as you see in the above photo where I snapped him and he scooted, my left leg doesn't stay under me well. This is NOT an issue exclusive to aside riding. I also concentrated on not sitting back on my pockets, which helps with the overall saddle fit. In fact, I've been practicing that during the day at my office. The difference in square foot coverage of a fanny when you straighten your back and tip your hips is remarkable.

Kathie, who sold me the saddle, recommended before she even shipped it that I find a corset to ride in. I've been shopping the internet for them a bit (actually kind of fun) and figured I might as well get something I might use even if it doesn't help my riding. So, since I don't have a corset to ride in yet, I dug out my old lower back support and wore that. I do think it helps.

Also, I feel more secure circling right than left. I don't know if this is my balance or my horse's. I am really looking forward to spring so I can get outside and ride in a straight line.

Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown

If I get too discouraged with the challenges of saddle fit, and never achieve a level of proficiency aside, I suppose I could take the route of the elderly, mourning Queen Victoria, so aptly played by Dame Judy Dench in the movie Her Majesty Mrs. Brown..

... and simply be led about on a pony. In the movie, we are treated to scenes of the Queen being led out each day by her cheeky Scottish servant Mr. Brown, when she would sit aside on a horse and read her daily letters. I watched this movie when it was first released back in 1997. I thought of it again just this past weekend while creating the Critical Situations post. In light of it's side saddle references, I think it deserves some attention. And, if side saddle isn't enough, I found that it was Gerard Butler's first movie appearance. I don't remember his character at all. I think this demands rewatching!

In the movie, John Brown gets quite familiar with the Queen and quite cheekily coaxes her out of her mourning and insists she get out and ride each day. In fact, their relationship was quite well known, even scandalous as rumors abounded that they were in fact secretly married. The Queen looks rather dowdy in the photograph below...

... but leave it up to Landseer to class up the scene with this lovely painting.

Of course, the Queen did not always have to be led out on a pony. The drawing below shows her schooling a horse over jumps in a riding school at Windsor.






And below is a statue of her in front of St. George's Hall in Liverpool

Naturally, a Queen would have a well trained and prepared mount and would not likely encounter a Critical Situation. Somewhere I read that when Queen Elizabeth II was still riding aside in ceremonial functions, her horse was taken out and galloped for several miles in the morning before appearing in the parade or other ceremony.

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.

Ladies of Comfortable Porportions

I drifted off to sleep last night dreaming of a 24” off side saddle… and that if such a gem were to surface, I would have the cash sitting around to purchase it’s rareness. Ha! Don't be fooled! If I found it, I’d charge it! In a heartbeat.

I also drifted off with these elusive questions rattling about in my head…
Would half an inch of seat even make a difference?

When I save the thousand plus dollars difference between these scarce 23” saddles and my own 22.5” will it be worth it? Should I give up on the old masters and buy a less expensive 23" Elan to try?

Why do they use the word “generous” when describing a piddling 13” wide seat? Are they trying to be insulting?

Does the flatness of the seat make a difference?

Will I just have to sit in it to find out?

Why does it have to be my right knee that hurts all the time? Couldn’t it be the left that just hangs there? Why is it aching now just thinking about it?

What if my seat bones fit my saddle just fine, but the size of my caboose will always make me look like a saddle measuring moron?

Why does it seem like I gain 10 pounds every time I have a birthday with a zero in it? And if that is really true, why do I weigh less now than when I graduated college?

How can I gain back a whole pound by adding 3 ounces of salad dressing and a chick pea to my usual salad? OK, it was more than one. Chick pea that is.

Is it possible I am getting taller?

What if I were truly tall and fat instead of tallish and plumpish? Would I never be able to ride aside? Where are the tall side saddle riders? Are they hoarding the larger saddles?

Was it some cruel twist of fate which made the bathroom scale crack?

Yes, I broke the bathroom scale! My husband just shakes his head and says “I can’t believe you cracked it.” Yeah, neither can I. The good news is it now reads consistently 10 pounds lighter. I haven’t had the heart to throw it out yet even though I know it’s not true.

I think I may have gained some insight on the old (1890 and earlier) standards of measurement which say I should fit into a 20" seat. Of course, my upright head is a modern shape, and so is impossible to measure this way for a comparison. But it makes much more sense now.

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On a positive and progressive note, I’m working on my saddle pads.

Not that the dressage pads are really lacking in anything. I just love the shape of a side saddle. Don’t you?