For Lady Horse Riders

Thanks for posting! Here are my two cents bc it is January, I did my stall cleaning and chicken tending chores already this morning, used the snow blower this weekend and will need to use it starting Friday for a whole week. MEANING, stuck inside at the computer at DH's office.
I would NEVER buy an antique saddle on Ebay or any place else online! If the tree (skeleton) is shot, then this is a barn ornament and nothing else. If it had a solid tree, this single fork side-saddle would need to be stripped and remade. I do know an Amish shop less than an hour away that does such things...as long as you are in no hurry to get it back!
My preference would be for a double fork SS bc you have to use your legs to grip the saddle to stay on and the secondary fork enables you to do so. You press the outside of your right leg against the lower fork and you keep your body twisted as you sit back in the saddle. It is a workout.
https://springwillowequestrian.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
You HAVE to have the correctly rigged girth and I would prefer BOTH a breast strap and crupper to secure this saddle to my horse. If I ever get around to buying one I do have a very safe mare to ride SS, and you HAVE to have a safe mount bc you cannot balance as you could astride should your horse shy, rear, bolt or buck. I have been on horses that have done all of these things before. If you lose your one stirrup SS you are off and I have not seen a SS with a breakaway stirrup leather, so you could be dragged.
One more thing. My mare is a Mountain Horse, gaited and VERY smooth to ride. She can't jump worth a pile of silver dollars. Horses not built to jump well have NO SCOPE, and many scopey horses aren't trained to be babysitters. I think jumping astride is an exercise in balance and faith.
Yeah...I have thought a LOT about SS's.
 
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I looked at the lady jumping the 5' + wall (it breaks away and isn't solid, for those who don't know), and her SS seat is not helping the horse to balance. Her horse Needs to stretch out his neck to balance and she isn't letting him do so. See how she hits the horse in the mouth over the vertical jump (the one with 3 rails), and her horse is pulling on the reins as she approaches the 5' jump bc he wants to rush the jump and get it over with. The fun of riding a horse is that they have a brain and can make decisions yet will submit to your demands. When you and your horse are thinking the same, it becomes pure joy.
Last night my QH wanted me to open the gate next to the shelter (back of the barn) after my other 2 horses had walked in to their stalls by the gate next to the front of the barn. I said, "no", bc their was slickened snow by the shelter and I didn't want to slip and fall in front of him, so I took my whip through the window of the shelter and smacked his bum. He came in the open gate that I wanted him to, trotting, trotted around the horse trailer before walking into his stall, which is WHAT WE DO during the winter. When you cannot explain Why to your critters you have to think for them. Considering that I clean stalls everyday, keep them stalled at night to dry out their feet and become their slaves, I figure that I can call the shots as I see fit.
If you can stomach watching jumping--some people think it is slightly less boring than watching Dressage OR watching cement set--you will see the top riders have trained their horses to jump really difficult jumps with a slack rein. Although I am not a fan of hackamores, you see them a LOT in international show jumping.
Current jumping practice gets the rider off of the saddle's seat to balance and not interfere, AND the top riders train their horses to learn to jump obstacles without a rider in the arena before you add the rider. Also, many of the best riders practice jumping smaller obstacles with their eyes closed so as to learn to feel the balance and help their horses as much as possible.
She should stick to 3' verticals or cross bars, IMHO.
 
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https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=international+show+jumping&fr=yhs-sz-001&hspart=sz&hsimp=yhs-001&imgurl=http://www.jumpmediallc.com/images/newsmanager/large/2016-11-02-596-nick_skelton_and_big_star_3_by_cealy_tetley.jpg#id=97&iurl=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Ellen_whitaker.jpg/1200px-Ellen_whitaker.jpg&action=click
Notice the horse is frowning? That means that the rider's hands are super light and the horse is very responsive. IMHO there is no good reason to show that your horse CAN do something just bc You want to do it. more...
 
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A good example of years of proper training is the famous pair of "Rugged Lark" (QH) and his trainer Lynn Palm, who said:
"You have to trust your horse. You learn to communicate with him, and when things don't go right, you get off and try to figure out where you went wrong. You don't intimidate, you don't bully. You don't snatch or jerk, or you risk losing trust. And you let the horse remain an individual."
Palm inadvertently started the "Bridle-less" phenomenon.
https://www.equisearch.com/articles/ruggedlark_120804
I once rode my QH "Ro Go Bar", (1982-2009, RIP) from the camp to the parking lot and back again with just his halter and lead. I had used him for lessons for a good 8 years, thousands of hours under saddle and he knew his job and trusted me. Didn't want to bother bridling up.
 
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