Pictures finally!

I finally had a night of just relaxing around the house and I remembered to take pictures of all of my new sidesaddle "treasure".

First off, the gorgeous bar pin I got for my birthday.

The neat little box it came in.

And here it is! Isn't it pretty! I'm dying for an excuse to wear it!

And here are the gloves that I found at a used tack store on the weekend. They are buttery soft (guess they are kidskin?) and suprisingly grippy. There was a bin full of gloves so I went digging through it and found them at the very bottom for $14.

And finally, the treasure I posted about yesterday that I found at an antique store. It's a sidesaddle cane! I never would have thought that I would have found one (at least this nice anyways) up here! I love how the top flares out a bit so it won't slide out of your hand as easily. It was labelled as a "riding crop" but the end of it doesn't look like a crop at all. I managed to negotiate to store owner down on his price and once I'd paid for it, I told him I thought it was actually a sidesaddle cane.
Here's a close up of the cane, see the striping? At first I thought it looked like wood grain but the whole thing is actually wrapped in tiny strips of leather all the way down. I *think* it might be all one piece. It's really unique!


It's suprisingly heavy, I *think* it's metal underneath the leather. There's a neat brass colored button on the top and a little wrist strap, much to small for my hand to fit through though!

And the most interesting part is the little monogrammed "P" on the handle. Isn't that neat?

I'd say I'm off to a good start with my collection of sidesaddle items!

More treasure!

I made another really interesting find yesterday while I was poking around an antique store. I completely ran out of time to take any pictures yesterday so you'll just have to wait and see what it is when I post pictures later!

Can you guess!

Some of my favorite websites

I recently discovered a couple of new (to me anyways) websites that have some great pictures and articles on them.

First is this German one http://www.damensattel-duesseldorf.de/
It's all in German but the help of a free online translator (www.freetranslation.com) I was able to get the gist of what the pictures were about. It's not the best translator and I wish I understood German but it'll have to do. There are lots of great photos, old and new, of some very elegant ladies riding aside. It's fun to look through.

One of my other favorite websites is The Sidesaddle Museum http://thesidesaddlemuseum.com/ It's still a work in progress but there is some fantastic information and photos of saddles, equipment, outfits etc.

Sorry but that's about all I have time for today! I'll try and post more regularly this week!

A diamond, a pair of long underwear and a top hat! What more could a girl ask for!

It was my birthday the other day and I have to say, I got pretty spoiled.

My boyfriend got me an antique bar pin with a little diamond and 4 blue stones in the shape of a flower on it. Isn't he just the best? I think it's going to make for a PERFECT stock pin for my sidesaddle ensemble. It might not be quite "correct" (stock pins should be plain gold) but I think it'll look gorgeous!

I also got a pair of super stretchy, comfy long underwear! Perfect for the cold weather we've been having. I can't get over how warm they are and how comfy they are to wear!

And I had gotten some money for my birthday so I was doing some "shopping" on the internet when I came across an ad for a brand new Christy's of London NAVY BLUE top hat! From what I could find out, they normally sell for $400-500 new and I got this one for $150! What a fantastic deal. I can't get over how nice the lady selling it was too, it just amazes me how many fantastic people I've "met" over the internet through my sidesaddle stuff. Really really neat! Again I've been told the navy blue isn't quite "proper" (should be black) but I think it'll look really good. (And perhaps it'll give me an excuse to get a black hat too....hehe) I'm just waiting to find out about shipping costs and then it'll be on it's way to me! I'm not entirely worried about being completely correct with my ensemble considering there aren't any official sidesaddle classes in my area, so nobody will be the wiser! I think everyone is going to be so stunned to see me riding sidesaddle that they won't notice the little details anyways.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the stock pin at the moment, and nobody wants to see the long underwear lol. But I do have a picture of the top hat!

Old sidesaddle pictures

I just had to share some of the interesting pictures I've found.

This is an interesting picture, I just love the long row of trees in the background.

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Isn't this a great one! This lady looks so pretty perched up on her leaping horse

Another rearing horse or two. (I think I'd rather not ride a rearer aside or astride! but it sure makes for a great picture!)

How about this lady? The picture is kind of eerie to me. (I'm not totally sure that she's riding sidesaddle)

This one isn't sidesaddle but it was too cute not to include! Trusty little donkey!

Another girl and her horse looking quite comfortable up there.

How cute is this little girl & her pony?

That's all for me today! I have more neat pictures to share for my next post!

The Horsewomen

I found these on the ISSO website, so all credit to them. I just thought I might borrow them. They've got a super interesting "book" on their website by Alice Hayes called "The Horsewomen". It's got a ton of really good information, descriptions and some great pictures. You can definitely tell that it was written in 1903 by some of the descriptions and "expectations" of ladies back in the day. A really interesting read if you have the time or are trying to figure something out.

These two photos show the sequence of posting the trot sidesaddle. An art that I haven't quite mastered yet! I can do it for a short period of time and then my leg muscles get tired.

This lady makes it look much more graceful than I feel doing it! I was actually suprised at how high it appears she's coming out of the saddle in the second picture. (back to the gym for me to work on my leg muscles!)

Doesn't this lady & her horse look like the picture of elegance.

And this little girl is too cute!

I thought this canter sequence was really interesting.

And of course a couple of jumping pictures!

The stone wall doesn't look *all* too bad....

You surely would not catch me jumping a wire fence though!

Another interesting thought.....

Now that I've found a good tailor that I'm convinced can do just about anything.... I've come up with another interesting scheme...

A local tack store is having a sale on their black hunt coats in March. $69.95 for a ladies jacket. I happen to have a black apron but I don't have a jacket to match. Here's my thought. If I bought one of these black hunt coats and I took it to Mrs. Wong, I bet she could make it go from this.....

To this........

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And I bet it would cost a heck of a lot less than buying an actual cut-away jacket and look just as good!! BTW I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the purple vest & stock tie underneath..... I'm sure I'd get crucified by the traditionalists for wearing it though!

That brings me to the other part of my interesting thought..... I've been thinking about all of the neat things I could sew, IF I could sew. The college in the town next to ours offers a fashion program and "learn to sew" classes. They run on monday nights though. At first I didn't think it would work *but* due to some schedule changes, I'm not going to have a monday night lesson anymore.

I have the form all filled out, just have to send it in! The classes start in march and the first set of "introductory sewing" runs for 3 mondays, at 3 hours each. Then I can decide if I like sewing or not. I recall absolutely hating it when I was in high school. But then again, we were making boxer shorts.....not sidesaddle accessories!!!

Not to worry though, my expectations aren't going to be huge, I don't plan on being able to make jackets or do alterations. Hopefully I can end up making some vests, stock ties and maybe an apron.

Used tack treasures!

My favorite part of tack shopping has become looking through the used tack. You never know what kind of treasures you might find.

Recently I came across a german silver pelham bit. It's really interesting because it looks quite old and I'm pretty sure it's hand made. The german silver alloy gives it a neat "antique" patina. You can see areas where the metal was shaped by hand, it's really unique! I thought it was the perfect addition to my sidesaddle tack. And it came with two sets of plain, flat reins, all for $35!

I've been trying to keep my eye out for a hunt style bridle. A brown one with the plain flat noseband and browband. I've seen them on the internet usually starting at around $200 US and up from there. None of the tack shops that I've been too carry new hunt bridles. So I was hoping to find a used one in good condition. I figured it wouldn't be all that hard as they aren't really "in style" anymore. Surprisingly enough they are a little hard to come by! We found a couple of them but they were in really bad condition.

Finally on our last stop of the day I found a store that DID sell new hunt bridles! And nice ones too, made by Bobbies English Tack. They had just one, horse sized, brown hunt bridle. The reins didn't match on it though but since I already had a nice set of flat reins, I didn't really need to worry about the mismatched color anyways. The manager ended up giving me a discount because of the discoloration at the till which brought the price to $85! Another great deal! I can't get over how soft and supple the leather is.

I really can't wait until the day that I get to put everything on, tack & attire, and see how it all looks together! But for now, I guess I'll have to just have fun wearing it around the house!

Don't mind my messy hair! I just got back from the teaching at the barn.