Sidesaddle riders have always fascinated me. As a little girl I would imagine galloping over fields and fences with my hair and skirts flowing. It's possible I was born in the wrong century! So, when our local riding club - Cherwell Valley - started to put on sidesaddle taster session with the amazing Ginny Oakley, I leapt at the chance.
Before these taster sessions Ginny asks about your horse type and shape, and your own shape and height, and takes along a saddle that may suit you and your horse. To start, you ride astride to warm up. This is important for your muscles and for your pony's muscles and state of mind. You don't want to be getting on wonky for the first time on a whirling dervish. Once warmed up, Ginny takes you to one side and fits a saddle to your horse.
Because sidesaddles have a balance strap coming behind the girth, it's important to make sure your horse will accept this before getting on. So, once the saddle is in place you lead your horse round in hand, in very small circles, to make sure they're comfortable and not a ticking bomb. (Can you tell I hacked there?)
Then comes getting on. The most experienced and elegant lady riders can mount from a gentleman's leg up and land softly straight into the aside position. I am not among them. My way is to find a high mounting block/fence, or twist Simon's arm into legging me up, and sit down astride. This is not comfortable because the seat is flat and has a hard edge, so once my hips are square with Beau's I then swing my right leg into position over the fixed pommel.
At this stage everything is pretty comfy. Your shoulders stay square with your horse's and your hips square with his. This sounds easy.
You will by now have realised that only your left leg is in contact with your horse. If you do lateral work regularly he will obligingly move off right when you put it on. The idea is that your whip or cane replaces your right leg so you have to move this onto your horse's side at the same time as applying your leg. This annoys Beau but he gets it and moves off.
I don't know the right approach being no expert here, but i have found that if Beau is a bit keen to move sideways if i lift my left leg and push with the cane he straightens up. The cane is also pretty handy applied gently to the shoulder on right handed turns, otherwise he cuts corners and falls in because there is no inside leg supporting him on the turn.
It turned out on our first session that Beau took to sidesaddle pretty well. We had no fuss at all and he made the whole thing pretty easy. We had not been a partnership for long so i didn't canter, but everything we did try was fine.
After two goes I realised i was addicted. I had received my PPI claim (no word of a lie) and decided to buy a saddle with it. Talk about impulse purchasing! However I did it properly. I asked Ginny to keep her eyes peeled for one that might fit, we found one.
I very patiently carried it round for a week until I could get myself, Ginny and Beau in the same place at the same time, and we tried it.
It fit! I was so chuffed!
After a few hacks practising bringing my right shoulder back (so important to staying straight in the saddle) and a few lessons, we decided to enter our first comp, despite the difficulties I seem to have with getting off.
Beau is excellent in traffic, and i never go out alone - because he does have an occasional nap and I do not want to deal with that with only one leg
Ginny held a show practise day, and we had to ride on our habits for the first time.
Panic ensued as I did not actually own a habit, so I bought a cutaway jacket from eBay, and made an apron to match. That was a saga in itself, it took me 2 goes because the first version turned out to be for an offside saddle. I still cannot believe i managed that!
Anyway, eventually it was done and off we went. The class was huge and i have to say full of amazing horses and riders.
I admit to being pretty unfit so the 30 mins trot round practically did for me. This made me wobbly and in turn made Beau tired. Despite that we still pulled in 6th, which i was chuffed to bits with!
Later in the year we also attempted an intro dressage test wonky. I forget the score but it was mid 60s so not so bad. I think we'd have been better off doing a prelim though, canter is the easiest pace to ride wonky by far.
This year's plan is to try a prelim test aside, and keep hacking. I am not so fussed about showing - Beau is an angel in show classes but i find the prep very stressful and the class itself hard work. Plus it's difficult to get ready by yourself aside, and nobody wants to groom for me showing because it takes longer than a quick dressage test so they get bored ;)
For me sidesaddle is a childhood dream, and something i had always wanted to do but never thought I would. If you get the chance, try it. With a saddle that fits you and your horse it's easy (though very difficult to do well) and you will have fun! I love it, the feeling of temporary elegance and feeling so ladylike whilst doing what I love - playing ponies.
Because sidesaddles have a balance strap coming behind the girth, it's important to make sure your horse will accept this before getting on. So, once the saddle is in place you lead your horse round in hand, in very small circles, to make sure they're comfortable and not a ticking bomb. (Can you tell I hacked there?)
You will by now have realised that only your left leg is in contact with your horse. If you do lateral work regularly he will obligingly move off right when you put it on. The idea is that your whip or cane replaces your right leg so you have to move this onto your horse's side at the same time as applying your leg. This annoys Beau but he gets it and moves off.
After two goes I realised i was addicted. I had received my PPI claim (no word of a lie) and decided to buy a saddle with it. Talk about impulse purchasing! However I did it properly. I asked Ginny to keep her eyes peeled for one that might fit, we found one. I very patiently carried it round for a week until I could get myself, Ginny and Beau in the same place at the same time, and we tried it.
It fit! I was so chuffed!
After a few hacks practising bringing my right shoulder back (so important to staying straight in the saddle) and a few lessons, we decided to enter our first comp, despite the difficulties I seem to have with getting off. Beau is excellent in traffic, and i never go out alone - because he does have an occasional nap and I do not want to deal with that with only one leg
Ginny held a show practise day, and we had to ride on our habits for the first time.
Panic ensued as I did not actually own a habit, so I bought a cutaway jacket from eBay, and made an apron to match. That was a saga in itself, it took me 2 goes because the first version turned out to be for an offside saddle. I still cannot believe i managed that! 
Anyway, eventually it was done and off we went. The class was huge and i have to say full of amazing horses and riders.
I admit to being pretty unfit so the 30 mins trot round practically did for me. This made me wobbly and in turn made Beau tired. Despite that we still pulled in 6th, which i was chuffed to bits with!
Later in the year we also attempted an intro dressage test wonky. I forget the score but it was mid 60s so not so bad. I think we'd have been better off doing a prelim though, canter is the easiest pace to ride wonky by far.
This year's plan is to try a prelim test aside, and keep hacking. I am not so fussed about showing - Beau is an angel in show classes but i find the prep very stressful and the class itself hard work. Plus it's difficult to get ready by yourself aside, and nobody wants to groom for me showing because it takes longer than a quick dressage test so they get bored ;)
For me sidesaddle is a childhood dream, and something i had always wanted to do but never thought I would. If you get the chance, try it. With a saddle that fits you and your horse it's easy (though very difficult to do well) and you will have fun! I love it, the feeling of temporary elegance and feeling so ladylike whilst doing what I love - playing ponies.
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