One thing leads to another....

Last year I was determined to learn how to ride sidesaddle and I did! This year I'm going to continue to ride sidesaddle and hopefully make it to a few shows and other events. I've discovered that I absolutely love all of the different riding habits I've seen but wow are they expensive!
So one thing leads to another..... I bought a used sewing machine last week. It was a heck of a deal and came with a sewing table and manual. I'm going to attemtp to learn to sew so I can *hopefully* make all kinds of neat things! We shall see! Thus far I've managed to spool the bobbin, thread the machine and do some basic sewing. It seems to be a really straightforward machine and has the option of straight or zig zag stitches.
Sunday I went to the fabric store and bought myself some nice yellow material and a pattern for a vest that said "Easy!" on the package. Well I'm not sure who's idea of "easy!" it is! LOL Actually it's not too bad once I figured out which pieces I actually needed and which lines to cut along. The tricky part was decipering all of the little symbols on the pattern. I must say I think it's going to take me more time to cut the pattern out and all of the fabric than it will to actually sew!

I thought perhaps it might be a little easier if I took a basic sewing course to help myself along. Might not be so much of an uphill battle that way. So I start on monday night at the local college.

I've also contacted a few people about starting up a sidesaddle club in Alberta. I think it will be a lot of fun! From what I've seen there are quite a few ladies that are interested in riding sidesaddle but don't know where to start or who to talk to. From my experience it was tough finding anyone that rode sidesaddle in Alberta. I think a club would make sidesaddle riding a lot more accesible to those interested. Stay tuned!

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!