Side Saddle Ladies

For MissScribbles (Elaine) ;-)

A side saddle literally is a saddle on which the rider sits on one side, both legs on the same side. The whip is used to give the aids on the side opposite the legs,

In the Middle Ages, the woman was considered to be a helpless, passive creature, submissive to and protected by, her Knight. To enable the Knights to prove their manly prowess and chivalry, battles and tournaments were organized and the popularity of hunting grew. Women wanted to see their men folk in action, and therefore had to be safely transported to various locations. In the 12th Century the “sidesaddle” was a flat saddle pad. The ladies of that time sat laterally on the horse with their feet being supported by a small platform and were led by a cavalier.

Increasingly, women became interested in riding. In 1382, Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard II, set the fashion in England of turning the body towards the front of the horse, setting only the left foot on the planchette (platform). By taking up the sport of hunting, she helped to advance the development of the side saddle.

But this seat was far away from being safe and so saddles were designed with a pommel in front, over which the rider could hook one knee, which enabled her to face the way she was going much more easily and safely. Catherine de Medici, an enthusiastic horsewoman and hunter, invented a second pommel in 1580. Like the first, it was positioned on the top of the saddle. The rider wedged her knee between them to gain a little more security. It revolutionized the
side-saddle.

Riding side-saddle became the leisure pleasure of the ladies of the upper classes. Francois de Garsault in 1770 and Federigo Mazzuchelli in 1803 wrote the first books concerning riding in side-saddle. Over two centuries the side-saddle remained unchanged, until in 1830, the French riding master Charles Pellier invented the “leaping head” – a pommel screwed into the saddle and curving over the rider’s left thigh.
It was this invention which gave the side-saddle its reputation for safety and security, and from this point on the ladies of the upper class rode exclusively in side-saddle.

Theoretically the women could also canter and jump on these new saddles with the three pommels. By the mid 1870’s the one pommel saddle had almost disappeared and the side-saddle rider was equipped to enter the hunting field. Before then, while ladies might ride to the meet to see their men folk off, it was not considered respectable to actually follow hounds.

It was the Empress Elisabeth of Austria that made riding with hounds extremely popular and fashionable ladies everywhere followed her lead. However, it was through this activity that they saw that the new saddles were not as safe as first thought. It was only with the development of the balance strap (a strap that runs from the front, near side to the offside rear of the saddle or is sometimes sewn on to the girth), plus the invention of safety stirrups with quick-release devices at the top of the stirrup leather or saddle bar, that the side saddle became safe.

Mid 1900 saw the “liberation and equality for all” and the growth of a “middle class” of people that could afford their own horses. Promenade riding became fashionable and as more people entered into the sport, riding centers, tournaments and displays developed.
Still the women continued to push for equality and started to ride astride in order not to be inferior to their cavaliers. Riding today is one of the few sports where ladies and gentlemen can be measured equally.

In England today, riding side-saddle is on the increase, possibly due to the influence of Queen Elisabeth II or because of the fact that the roots of side saddle are in England where tradition is held high. Besides England, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Germany and many countries have their own side saddle associations.