4 THINGS THE JUDGES ARE LOOKING FOR IN SIDE-SADDLE CLASSES
1. MANNERS AND COMFORT
“Above all, the horse should be mannerly and comfortable,” says Lucinda, a panel judge for the Side Saddle Association. “They should look as if they are gliding along, to the lightest of aids, with the rider looking poised, sitting still and straight.”
2. A WELL-FITTED SADDLE
“The most important factors in a horse going nicely, other than a jockey riding well and in balance, are a well-fitted saddle and that the horse is used to plenty of different riders riding it,” adds Lucinda.
3. A HORSE THAT OWNS THE RING
“I particularly like an extravagant mover with not too much hock action,” says judge Shelley, five-time HOYS ladies’ champion.
4. MAKE THEM SMILE
“Riding a properly prepared side-saddle horse should make you, as a judge, smile,” says Anthea, vice-president of the Side Saddle Association. “It should make you wish that you could canter it forever.”
five ladies’ hunter titles at HOYS.
Anthea adds: “Too many lovely horses have any old side-saddle put on their backs twice before the show and then are expected to go well. It’s like asking a young horse to jump a course of showjumps when it has only ever jumped over a small cross pole.”
To stop this downward spiral, Shelley suggests that riders work harder.
“Be excited about the training of a ladies’ horse and take the time to understand what it takes to train one to win,” she says. “Ladies’ horses are made not born. We have to encourage riders to improve by attending clinics and engaging the help of experts, especially saddle-fitters. I was lucky enough to have some of the best help in the country to achieve my results, but there are plenty of willing and able instructors.”
Shelley also credits the help of Roger Philpot, also known as the “grandfather of side-saddle” — who has been teaching sidesaddle for more than 35 years.
“The man is a genius and has fitted and adjusted the saddle for every horse that I have competed,” Shelley says. “He believes in creating a lot of support under the rider’s right seat bone and when I judge I can always tell a saddle that has been set up by Roger the moment I am legged up. It gives the judge a lot of confidence. Much of the time ride judges are fighting the saddle just to stay secure and can’t properly assess the ride.”
TO assist in the training of riding sidesaddle, the Side Saddle Association aims to offer help and opportunities for people to compete and attend clinics.
“The association is doing a good job and is helping to raise standards,” says Lucinda. “I personally have a steady stream of enquiries and love to help people get started. Most horses will take to side-saddle, but to achieve at the highest level it takes time and regular practice. I have taught many novice combinations, who with regular short sessions have become proficient enough to compete successfully in their first season riding sidesaddle. Doing too much in one go can tire both horse and rider and lead to soreness.”
Anthea agrees: “A horse and rider, regardless of type of class entered, needs mileage with a side-saddle in the weeks before a show. This is not necessarily schooling or training, just being ridden for up to 30 minutes a session.
“The horse needs to feel totally at home, and they must be able to trot at least three circuits of a main ring at a county show without the rider getting a stitch or either of them getting a tired back. If they cannot, either the saddle is wrong or they have not practised enough,” adds Anthea.
Shelley suggests training of the horse should focus on straightness, cadence, rhythm and balance.
“[It should involve] building the muscles and suppleness of the horse’s back and being strict on the stillness of the horse’s head. Ignore the advice of anyone telling you to work a horse laterally,” adds Shelley.
She advises riders to work on their fitness, riding clockwise (left shoulder over the right knee), pushing down into the back of the right knee, so connecting with the right seat bone.
“I also suggest riding a horse in a straight line [out in the open] at home rather than in the school to encourage them forward and to keep straight,” she says. “There is no substitute for riding an experienced, forgiving schoolmaster initially. A bad and uncomfortable experience can put a rider off for life and teach them bad habits. I also train the horse and rider in a bumpy sitting trot astride which helps them both when it comes to putting on the side-saddle,” adds Shelley.
Lucinda says: “If you ride astride competently and the horse is schooled to a reasonable standard, certainly to novice level dressage and above, and you have some lessons, there’s no reason why you can’t crack on. I don’t feel there is any specified time limit. I always recommend riders doing some classes at local shows to practise before launching forth into ladies’ classes.”
Anthea adds: “A competent astride rider will have no problem in rapidly adapting to side-saddle riding, but confidence and ability will increase with the mileage ridden. Learning to jump side-saddle is fun, but it needs an instructor who totally understands how side-saddle jumping works. Some horses are naturally good and some saddles are impossible to jump in.
“The length of training required for a successful side-saddle horse and rider depends on many factors, but the more effort put in, the luckier that combination becomes.”
What are the pitfalls and misconceptions when starting out?
“Not building up the horse’s back muscles first,” says Shelley. “And having the horse too fresh. Riders need to understand how their position can affect their horse’s way of going. A backward seat is akin to putting the handbrake on a car, if you want the horse to go faster (extend) the rider needs to roll forward onto their right knee. A backward seat inhibits many horses that won’t go forward,because it’s like braking.”
“My criticism of most riders in the ring is crookedness,” says Lucinda. “Their left hip and shoulder drifts back with their left leg clamped to their horse’s side.”
“There’s also a misconception that any horse will take a side-saddle,” adds Shelley.
“We traditionally did not introduce a sidesaddle until a horse was around the age of eight. A horse needs to be strong in his back and well established in his schooling astride. Short-coupled horses often do not take well to a side-saddle while more scopey horses seem to find it more acceptable and prefer the even distribution of weight.”