Part 2 (1/2)

CHAPTER IV

RIDING ASTRIDE

In these days of ”advanced” ideas the advisability of women aping men in yet another way, by riding astride, is the subject of general discussion. Many ”authorities” upon riding--”mere men,” it is needless to say--speak with enthusiasm of the day when all women will ride in this, for most of them, ungainly and unbecoming fas.h.i.+on. Personally, I deplore this tendency and believe that it is a mere pa.s.sing fad and that, except under peculiar conditions which I shall mention, most women ride best and look best in the side-saddle.

The average woman is not built for cross-saddle riding; her legs from the knee up are too short; her thighs too thick; her hips too big, and she is cus.h.i.+oned too high to enable her to keep close down with the required firmness on the saddle. The side-saddle certainly insures a stronger seat, especially in all cases of pitching forward, as, for instance, with a stumbling horse or a kicking one, or on landing after a jump. With safety skirts and safety stirrups the danger from dragging is obviated and this, the only serious danger in the use of the side-saddle, is more than offset in my judgment by the great danger of a woman being thrown because of her insecure seat in a man's saddle.

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, for, in the first place, many good men riders 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 than offset by the ability to throw the horse with safety and make him fall on the off side.

Up to the age of eleven or twelve it is a good plan for a young girl to learn to ride astride and so acquire balance and confidence, but if she is to use the side-saddle eventually she should certainly begin to use it at the age of twelve, and I would advise beginning as early as eleven. If she begins on the cross-saddle and acquires the knack at this early age, it will be easier for her to take it up again on occasion later in life, and, of course, the advantages which come from learning to ride without a saddle can best be acquired astride, though they may be acquired with a pommel and leaping horn on a surcingle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORRECT COSTUME FOR YOUNG GIRLS RIDING ASTRIDE]

In riding, women are very generally accompanied by men, and there are few occasions when a woman has it in her power to look better--or worse--than when in the saddle. It is only those women who are built like men and very young girls who look at all well astride. A woman with merely a normally developed figure looks both ridiculous and immodest in this position, and in an English saddle thoroughly ill at ease.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORRECT POSITION FOR RIDING ASTRIDE]

Much as I disapprove of most women using the cross-saddle, yet, as this book is intended to be a somewhat complete treatise on riding for women, and as many women insist on using the cross-saddle, and as in some parts of the West, and in roughing it, riding must be astride if at all, I shall make a few suggestions about the way in which a woman can best attempt to do this, though it is something in which she can rarely, if ever, attain perfection.

The saddle for cross riding generally used by women in the East is the same as a man's, although some makers are offering a cross-saddle especially adapted for women (see ill.u.s.tration, page 155). These saddles are built more on the lines of an army saddle, having more dip and a straighter flap than those for men.

Many men, and nearly all hunting men and polo players, use plain flap saddles; that is, without rolls and cut well forward so as to give plenty of room for the knees (see ill.u.s.tration, page 155). This type of saddle enables the rider to have his knees well up and forward and gives him a very firm seat for jumping. Few women, however, are long enough in the legs from the knee up to take this seat, so most women will find a roll flap saddle more comfortable.

In the West the Mexican type of saddle is generally used. This saddle has a high pommel, or even a high horn in front and a very high cantle serving as a back rest, making what is practically a ”dished out” seat, far better suited to a woman's conformation than the English saddle. The Mexican type of saddle, however, is not adapted to a horse with a square trot, but only to the loping or fox trotting horses of the West. The reason for this is that in posting or rising to the trot, the knees should be quite well up and forward, and the Mexican saddle is so built that in it one cannot take this position.

There are two distinct types of seats recognized in this country which may be called, for distinction, the military and park seats; the former is the correct seat for the saddle of the Mexican type. In this seat the rider sits upright with the legs almost straight, the knees scarcely bent, and the ball of the foot resting on the iron, with the leather very long. In fact, many military riders have their legs perfectly straight and their toes down. This seat is comfortable only on the ”five-gaited” horses; that is, horses whose gaits are the single foot, the lope, the canter, the pace, but whose trot, instead of being the smart square trot of the Eastern park hack, is more of a running walk and is known as the ”fox trot.” With a horse that has a true, square trot, it will be found, as I have said, that posting is both difficult and tiring with this military seat and it is ill adapted for jumping anything over two feet in height. In the military seat the trot is taken up from the ankles, so that the knees are slipping up and down, while in the park seat posting or rising is done from the knees, which should remain in the same position at all times.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ”COWBOY” WESTERN COSTUME AND SADDLE]

The park seat looks much smarter than the other, and suits the gaits of the types of horses used in the East far better and is the proper seat for the English or hunting saddle. In this seat the stirrups are considerably shorter and the knees are well bent and carried in front of the leathers. The feet may be carried ”home” in the irons or resting on the ball of the foot, as preferred. For hunting, the former is the position used by almost all men and equally advisable for women. Many of the best riders ride with their feet ”home” at all times because, with most saddles, particularly if the rider has long legs, with the feet ”home” the lower leg is advanced about six inches and, as it should be, carried vertically. This brings the knee well in front of the leathers.

This position gives the correct hunting seat and that seat is entirely correct for park riding. Personally, I prefer riding with the feet ”home” at all times.

To acquire a firm and balanced seat in riding astride, by far the best method for a child is to take the first lessons on a blanket and surcingle without stirrups, or on a felt pad with detachable wooden stirrups. The seat must be close and the rider should rely on balance and not on the grip of the knees, except in jumping or in emergencies, such as shying or bucking. The principle, whether with or without a saddle, is to balance at all times, with an intuition when to grip.

While women cannot be expected to go through this preliminary course without saddle or stirrups, it is unquestionably the best way to teach boys, and I see no reason why girls should not go through it as well.

The great advantage of beginning without stirrups is that it teaches a close seat at the start. Many riders who have not learned by riding at first without saddle and stirrups acquire the habit of relying altogether too much on the stirrups to keep their seats. In doing this their muscles are kept rigid, they become stiff and awkward, and they rely upon grip and strength, when they should rely on ease and balance.

This fault is especially common with women, probably because they have been used to the support of the pommel and leaping horn of the side-saddle.

In riding bareback, or on a blanket, the rider, if she is to retain her seat at all, must do so by acquiring a close seat, while in the saddle she can rely more on the stirrups.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNTING ENGLISH FAs.h.i.+ON

First position, right hand on cantle. Note that the left hand is grasping the mane instead of the pommel]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNTING ENGLISH FAs.h.i.+ON (ANOTHER WAY)

First position, left hand grasps mane instead of resting on pommel, and right hand on pommel instead of cantle. This position is good with a restive horse]