The History of Sidesaddle

I’ve been watching ladies show sidesaddle for years, and I’ve always been envious of their horses being able to do it. So it made my day when I was offered a sidesaddle to try on my horse. Incredibly, he did not have any problems with the saddle, and listened to my vocal commands perfectly. In light of our recent breakthrough, this week’s post will highlight the history of the sidesaddle, and how it came to be so popular today.

1400’s

The early form of sidesaddle was known as a “pillion”. This crude invention involved a stuffed pillow attached to the back of a man’s saddle, which caused the lady to be positioned completely sideways. The movie “The Other Boleyn Sister” features two short clips of ladies riding pillion. A short time later a saddle was created that had a footrest, back rest, and hand holds in the front and back. This saddle was called a “planchette”. It is unknown when the horn to hook the right leg around came into use.

A Lady Riding Pillion

Image From: hubpages.com

1500’s

The second horn, which supported the other side of the right leg, was credited to Catherine de Medici, who was Queen of France in 1547.

1800’s

The leaping horn was invented early in this century. This horn was positioned below the fixed original horn, which allows the left leg to rest against it. The balance strap was created around the same time. This strap attaches to the right rear of the saddle to wrap around the horse’s belly and be attached on the left front. Its purpose was to offset the weight of both legs on one side of the horse.

Second Horn Design

Image From: wikipedia.org

During the Victorian Era in the late 1800s was when Queen Victoria became the model for most equestrian women. Her wardrobe of mostly black was emulated by the ladies of her day, which is how the traditional black habit came to be.

In the 1860s, a western sidesaddle was created by Charles Goodnight, a resident of the United States. He made a saddle out a western-style tree for his wife, due to believing the English style was not sturdy enough for the western lifestyle. These saddles usually included a purse to hold the lady’s belongings.

Western Show Sidesaddle

Image From: wikipedia.org

Famous Faces

Many famous ladies rode sidesaddle, including Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II, Laura Ingles Wilder, Annie Oakley, and Sybil Luddington, who also rode to warn of the British invasion.

Check out these two videos of my first time riding Aero sidesaddle: Trotting and Cantering.