Concerning an Informal Side Saddle Lesson

I mentioned that I am in the midst of a bit of a Victorian Era obsession. It started last year with my participation in the Queen's Scullery, where I wrote a few posts about Victorian Horsemanship- more specifically as it related to Victorian women. Posts can be found here.

The Queen's Scullery was a year long project which began as a way for  SJ Alexander (of I, Asshole fame) to work her way through Mrs. Beeton's Cookbook. (Her posts on cooking in the Victorian way are thoroughly entertaining- and educational!- if you have any interest in Victorian life at all, do read them).

After my participation in the Queen's Scullery ended, I got distracted by other things, but renewed my obsession this fall when I finally finished reading Black Beauty. 

One of the things I continue to be interested in, beyond just Victorian life in general, is Victorian horse(wo)manship. Take a look at the illustration below:

As you may notice in the picture of the proper Victorian horsewoman above, there is no leg visible on this side of the saddle. That is because all good Victorian Ladies rode 'aside' in a sidesaddle, as not to (GASP! the impropriety of it all) spread their legs in a visible way.

Because of this continuing interest in sidesaddle riding, when I made plans to visit the Horse World Expo today, I made sure to stop by the booth for the International Side Saddle Association, where I hoped to pick up some literature and talk to someone about the association.

Well, much to my excitement and surprise the booth contained a sidesaddle...

 

...that you could sit on! SQUEEEE!!!!

So I sat on it, and because I was lucky enough to show up between waves of people, I got an impromtu sidesaddle lesson from the lady running the booth. 

It was super informative and awesome and really renewed my interest in learning how to ride this way. Not right away, as I currently don't have the funds to devote to any new equipment, not to mention my hands full with my horse's training issues, but in the future I look forward to learning. In the meantime, as the lady (wo)manning the booth at the Expo helpfully suggested, I can audit some workshops in my area. Whee!