He is DEFINITELY a keeper!

My significant other recently started a new job (ok not so recently, almost a month ago) and he's on shift work a few hours away. On one of his trips home, he stopped in a litttle town that is very well known for their antique shops. There's this one store that is just HUGE, 3 stories full of antiques of all sorts. And every once in awhile a little gem will pop up. He stopped in there, looked around for awhile and then asked the clerk if they happened to have anything related to sidesaddle riding.

And what do you know! The clerk says "Why yes actually! We just got this in the other day!" and pulls out this absolutely gorgeous ladies hunt whip.

Bamboo shaft, antler handle and an absolutely gorgeous engraved silver collar. What a find!

And being the good man he is, he brought it home for me!

Here's a close up of the handle & collar.

The other end was missing the waxed cord that's usually wound around to help secure the "snapper" (I can't think of the actual name for that little bit of leather on the end right now... duh!) and I was worried that it might come off if I ever tried to use it, even just for demo purposes. So I figured I'd stop by the local leather repair place and see what they could suggest. Turns out they had just what the doctor ordered. Though I'm wondering if I should have used a darker color?
Here's the end all fixed up.

Into orbit we go! Well...hopefully not anyways!

So tomorrow is the big day. It's our first official "hunter-jumper" over fences show....sidesaddle.

I think I'm prepared.... at least I hope I am! I jumped again last night and things seemed to be going really well, so hopefully when we get to the show we can pull off a few nice rounds (or at the very least, not make a gigantic idiot out of ourselves lol).

I even tried out my new apron last night.... Yes that's what I've been making with all that fancy fabric. A Christmas sidesaddle outfit. Apron, vest & stock tie. I was really impressed by how well the apron fit & it hangs just about perfectly level, pretty good for my second try at making one!

The stock tie took me awhile to figure out how to tie the darned thing (probably longer than it took me to make it), I've only ever had the fake, pre-tied ones. I sat in the bathroom, in front of the mirror with my laptop on the counter, trying to follow along with the a youtube video. It was a bit funny but I think I've got it down pat now! (btw, these are extremely easy to make).
Here's the video if anyone wants to learn how to tie a proper stock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9-ypyBARQU

Tonight will be a busy one with all of the prep... Ride, bath Brigit, clean tack, swap bits to different bridles, clean boots, iron clothes, make sure everything is in the trailer and hopefully get some sleep!

Oh and I've got to finish my vest... Turns out the sizing on the package of the pattern and the sizing on the actual pattern itself... were different. i.e. the vest is MUCH too big for me and needs some major alterations. Just hoping I can get it done tonight!!

Navy Side Saddle Habit for Sale!

I have listed my navy side-saddle habit for sale on Ebay. There was no need for me to keep it since I've recently gotten a new navy wool one made to fit me.

Here is the link to it but I'll also post the details below.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220818082193&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Great starter habit for someone just getting into sidesaddle and not wanting to order a custom habit just yet or for someone looking for a lighter weight habit for the summer. This was my first habit but I've since upgraded, otherwise I'd be keeping it! Has been to many shows and demonstrations and always gets lots of compliments! This is a proper sidesaddle habit, not just a jacket made to match an existing apron. Please note with the photos, the habit does not have any funny spots on it or stains/discoloration. There are a few that show up in the photos but these are simply dust in the air reflecting light. The habit may look slightly "shiny" in the photos, however, it is not actually shiny material at all. Just a nice navy blue habit.

Material is a polyester blend, thus lighter weight than wool and a bit cooler in the summertime. Fully lined jacket & apron. The apron is weighted to keep it lying down and straight. Apron closes with a button at the top and velcro the rest of the way down for safety. The jacket has 2 buttons and elegantly tapers down at the bottom. Made by Jaffera's Tailoring in Old Forge, PA. I am 5'6" and the habit fits me well in terms of height. Usually I wear a "Medium" size shirt (I believe that equates to size 36 or 8-10 depending on where you are and what system of measurement you use) and size 30 (9-10) jeans.

Someone slightly taller or shorter could easily wear this habit too. There is some wear & tear on the bottom of the apron where it tucks under your right foot but it is not noticeable when you are riding.

Measurements are as follows:

Jacket:

Waist - 31.5" (measured from the outside of the jacket. I measure a 30" and it fits me well.

Sleeve Length - 23" (measured from point of shoulder to cuff)

Length of jacket - 26" (measured from bottom of collar to bottom of jacket)

Bust - 36"

Shoulder - 17 1/4" (measured from point of shoulder to point of shoulder)

Apron:

Waistline to back of apron (short part) - 11 3/4"

Length of Apron - 30"

****A note on measurements - there is room with this habit to take it in further or let it out. There is also room to drop the hem of the apron for a slightly taller rider. It shouldn't be hard to have it tailored to fit you perfectly****

The Calgary Stampede!

Well we survived and had a great time!

The day started out by POURING rain, I was glad I had the wool habits now! On my way to the Stampede grounds I got cut off on the freeway and missed the turn-off I was supposed to take. I got turned around and managed to get back to where I needed to be on time. By the time I got into Calgary the rain had stopped and it was nice out.

It was really neat going in the back entrance and getting to see all the behind the scenes stuff. I got a pass with my picture on it (that gets me into anywhere!) and I drove past hundreds of trailers, motor homes and the barns full of the chuckwagon horses. Twice I got directed into the wrong area and had to back the trailer up (eeek!) but I managed it with no issues! Good thing I've gotten some practice! I ended up parking right next to the area where all the singers have their giant, fancy motorhomes.

I got tacked up & dressed and we headed over to the arena. I have to say, I think my tweed habit is my new favorite! I got a new green tie & shirt with a collar, I think it looks a lot better than a stock tie and from reading one of the other blogs, it also wasn't correct! Brigit was a tad lookie at things to start with but soon she was taking it all in stride. There was a LOT going on. We were right next to a bunch of draft horses with wagons and the military tanks plus lots of people, kids & strollers. Not to mention the donkeys & mules with their carts & wagons were in behind me.

We had a great demo and showed off our stuff while the announcer read a script I wrote. Brigit was fantastic! They set up a little jump for us and boy did that open some eyes! I think we've finally got this jumping aside business figured out! We went over it a bunch of times (carefully because the footing was really deep & wet) and the crowd really enjoyed it. Afterwards we had some fun answering questions. Brigit even let a whole bunch of kids climb up on the fence and pet her (normally she's not too sure what to think of wee people). I was really pleased with her.

The cutest comment came from a little girl who was quite concerned when she saw me ride in, she asked her mom "Did that lady break her leg?". Too funny!

People of all ages came over and were just fascinated. It was really fun! We even had some people there for the cutting competition from Texas come over and ask to take photos. I have to say, riding sidesaddle seems to be the ultimate ice-breaker!

Another fantastic show!!!

Boy do I feel like we are on a roll!

I did get my new habits in time for the show. Although it invovled me driving an hour down to the distribution centre because they "Don't ship to a PO box", which would have been great to know prior to using them for shipping! But oh well. I got them and they are absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I really couldn't be more pleased. The quality of the materials and the workmanship are just amazing. The navy habit fits so much better than my previous one does and the tweed is just to die for!

If anyone is interested, I HIGHLY recommend Trish Daly at Showtime Supplies for any of your show needs. http://www.showtimesupplies.co.uk/side-saddle.html Her prices are reasonable and she went above & beyond!

Anyways on to the show!

I was entered in 3 jumping divisions but only got to compete in one because they ran later than planned and ended up going at the same time as the flat classes. We really didn't have the best rounds so I decided we'd just scratch out of the rest and do the flat classes inside. I was surprised that we got a 1st and 2nd place in the jumping division we were in because we were a tad rushy through the whole thing.

Perhaps Brigit just wanted more of a challenge! lol

We had to do hunt seat equitation astride, which we got 3rd place in. We absolutely nailed out pattern except I looked down for my diagonals and the judge dinged me for it.

Then we did a quick swap to our sidesaddle gear and tried out the new navy habit! It fit so nicely! But BOY was I ever HOT! The wool sure takes some getting used to!

We did Road Hack, Show Hack, Low Hunter Hack, English Pleasure, Ladies Sidesaddle and Pleasure Pairs. We were definitely having an "on" day because we won everything but English Pleasure where we got 2nd place! We were getting all of our transitions quickly and nicely and everything just seemed to fall into place!

(I really need to get the hem in the navy apron lengthened because it was too short and you could see my right foot most of the time.)

I changed into my tweed habit for Low Hunter Hack and English Pleasure but unfortunately don't have any pictures of it yet. The hunter hack class was so much fun! Now I really want to do more jumping aside!

It's too bad these two pictures were blurry! They'd be good ones!

Brigit really HATES standing in the lineup though. At the end of one class she refused to stand still and just kept shaking her head.
This is what Brigit thinks of having to stand still... lol

In total we came home with 6 - 1sts, 2 - 2nd's, a third and we earned our entry fees back and then some! Definitely a good day's work!

Please be here today!!!

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my habits from the UK. I'm absolutely DYING to see them and of course try them on!!! They were *supposed* to be here yesterday but must have gotten caught up in Calgary or taken longer to get through the sorting facility. Hopefully today!!! I'm going to run to the post office on my lunch break to check & see!

Fingers crossed!!!!

I'm off to another show tomorrow. It's a local one so only about 5 minutes from home. It will be such a treat not to have to drive all over to get there.

We are entered in the 2'6" hunter division and 2'9" & 3'0" jumper divisions. (and no, I'm not doing it sidesaddle! haha) I was wondering the other day what the heck I was thinking entering in the 3'0" class because I just haven't been jumping enough. So wednesday night I decided I was going to jump and see how comfortable I felt. Well we had a beyond fantastic schooling session. Everything was just coming together and we had no issues. Definitely feeling good about it tomorrow!

There are also the standard english pleasure classes, hunt seat equitation etc. They are also having a "Ladies Side Saddle Class" which I am really excited for! Thus far I think there are only a few people entered but I hope some more people come out of the woodwork for it! I've also bravely entered the 18" hunter hack division and am going to attempt it sidesaddle!!! Could be good, could end in a sore back! haha (for me that is). A friend of mine is coming up to ride sidesaddle and we're also going to do the pleasure pairs class aside, should be fun!

Guess what's in the mail.......

My new riding habits!! Let me tell you I am SOOOO EXCITED! I can't wait for them to come and you know I'll be tearing open the packaging as soon as it gets here and trying everything on!

I've always loved the look of a tweed habit and decided to spoil myself with a new habit. I figured it would look sharp on more informal occassions or if showing in hunter classes. Aaaaand since the price was right, I figured since I was really getting into this showing sidesaddle business it was time to upgrade my navy habit. It required a TON of alterations to make it fit halfway decent and it's just never been quite right. Lovely habit but just not as well fitted to me as it could be. So yes, I have both a tweed AND a navy habit coming! Yay!! They should be here just in time for my show this weekend. Double Yay!!

So...... Do you want to see a picture of them???


Really?



Are you suuuuuure?




Ok, ok, I'll quit teasing, here they are!

Here's the navy one...

And the tweed one...

They should be here Thurs! I can't wait!!!

All bathed & braided up & ready to show again!

Spent about 3 hours at the barn prepping for our show tomorrow. Bathed both horses (one my riding students is coming to the show with me), braided, cleaned tack and got everything loaded up.

It's not a very big show and sometimes I really wonder why I go to all the effort to bath & braid but I think the extra effort really shows. And if we're going to be riding sidesaddle and look spectacular, I'd better not do it on a dirty pony!

Habit has been dry cleaned yet again, seems like it needs to get cleaned after every time I use it (I can't get over how fast it gets absolutely FILTHY). Saddle pads are in the wash, shirt is starched and ironed and I think we're pretty much set.

Just hoping we have decent weather tomorrow. It's been super rainy and they're predicting more rain again. Blah. It won't be fun trying to stay clean if it's really muddy & rainy all day. I guess I should suck it up though; after looking at Leila's pictures of them showing in the pouring rain! THAT is dedication!

Wish us luck! Will return with more pictures tomorrow!

The Mane Event 2011

I'm back and I survived! Actually I did more than just survive, I had a great time! But I'm not going to lie, I was exhaused last night!

Thursday evening involved a lot of this...

But our booth was looking pretty good when we were done. Now to wait for everyone else to arrive with their saddles.

Friday morning I got up good & early (watched a few royal wedding highlights of course!), went to the barn and decided against giving Brigit a full bath. It was ROTTEN outside, rain which turned to snow a little later on. Poor Brigit was soaked and shaking when I brought her in. So I just washed her legs with warm water and left her to dry in a stall with a nice pile of hay. Ran home to pack & finish ironing and then we were back to the barn to grab Brigit and my tack and we were off!

The Expo opened at 11:00 am so we had to be there before then to finish getting the booth set up. I was initially worried that we wouldn't have enough stuff for our booth but it ended up turning out really well, don't you think?

The two lovely ladies in this pic are Betty-Lynn and Amanda. I really don't think I could have pulled this off without them! Betty-Lynn makes sidesaddles and Amanda is a newcomer to the world of riding aside. We had saddles dating back to the 1700's.... Now that I think of it... Why didn't I take more photos of the saddles!! Darn.

Actually, after looking at the photos my camera took, I'm going to be purchasing a new camera very soon. This one seems to be wearing out and as you'll notice, most pictures are out of focus. How frustrating!

Anyways, we had a lot of fun answering questions and showing people what an apron was and how we wore it. It was great to have a saddle for people to try sitting in. We started a tally sheet on friday to count how many people tried sitting in the saddle. I believe we ended up with well over 200 people and probably 1/4 of those (ok maybe a tiny bit less) were men!

Friday involved a LOT of running around here and there to grab things we'd forgotten, man the booth and in the afternoon Betty-Lynn (who did the talking), Charis and I (we did the riding) had a demonstration in the round pen. I wasn't sure what Brigit would think of it but she did well.
On our way to the demo a friend of mine snapped this pic.

Betty-Lynn brought a bunch of saddles over to the round pen to use them in her talk about the progression of sidesaddles.

Then it was back to the barn to untack, change and man the booth some more. I have to say, I wish the hours weren't quite as late, we were exhausted by the end of each day. Friday the tradeshow ended at 9pm, Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 6pm. All that time and we barely even got to do any shopping! (ok I did some... hellooooo plaid breeches! hehe). I think I watched maybe 5 minutes of the Greg Best clinic, wish I could have seen more!

Saturday was another busy day but we had reinforcements come in!

From left to right is Jim, me, Betty-Lynn, Lee, Karen and Caitlin. Missing from the photo is Matt (our picture taker), Charis and Holly.

There was so many people on saturday! I couldn't get over how busy it was. On one of my trips in and out, I walked by a booth that had gloves for 50% off. I've been looking for a pair of nice brown gloves for FOREVER and finally found some here! What a deal!

In the afternoon we had another demo but this time it was in the big ring. Lee had done a write up and she graciously read it while we rode. Betty-Lynn let me wear her black habit, isn't it nice?

Here we are, headed for our afternoon demo. Charis on Peppy, Caitlin on Eddie and me on Brigit.

Pardon the blurry pics, I'm so annoyed with my camera! I hope some better pics turn up.
Caitlin went in her western outfit.

Charis rode in her queen's outfit.

And me in the black formal habit.

We tried to add some humor to our demo, so Charis & I rode in, while Caitlin ran in on foot leading her horse. When she went to try to mount by herself, Lee said "Ladies never mount from the ground!", so Caitlin whistled and her boyfriend came running in to put her up. It was definitely a crowd pleaser! We had a lot of fun showing off (especially our leg yields and lead changes). It was so hot in there that we were all out of breath after 8 minutes of riding!

Saturday night we had another demonstration during the "Saturday Night Equine Experience" as they call it. They put on a big show about 1.5 hrs long to show off different horses and ways of riding etc and the stands & floor space is usually packed. There had to be over 1000 people there watching! This was our 3 minutes of fame! It was just Caitlin and I so we devised a bit of a pattern and rode to "The Twist" by Chubby Checker. Everyone was impressed by our flying lead changes and we really got the crowd going when we let our horses gallop around the ring. It was really neat to hear that many people cheering as we raced around!

Unfortunately ALL of the pictures from my camera our evening performance were blurry.

We had so many people come by the booth the next day and comment on how impressed they were and how much they enjoyed watching us ride! I think the funniest comment was from one lady who said "That was really neat to watch... They didn't even look scared!". LOL

I think we did incredibly well for this being our first time having a booth, it definitely caught people's eye and generated a lot of interest.

Sunday we got to sit back and just watch the booth and do a little bit of shopping here and there. It was nice not to have to ride, we were all tuckered right out.

A happy birthday to me present??

Perhaps if I find a briefcase full of money in the near future... lol Otherwise I'll have to dream (and pretend I can suck my tummy in to a 24" waist...).

I found this stunning victorian sidesaddle habit on Ebay today. Listed to start at $999.00.








It's an orignal Victorian era, 3 peice riding habit. Breeches and all. Made by Delury, N.Y. The seller says "Helping to date this habit, the New York City directories of both 1885 and 1890 list John F. Delury, Tailor, at 214 Sixth Avenue. Furthermore, the name John F. Delury turns up twice in NY Times Archives. Once on Jan 17th, 1883, when the NY Times denouced an allegedly frivolous indictment for his arrest , and again on April 16, 1897, making reference to an "assignment of assets" by John F. Delury on Jan 25, 1894, when Delury seemingly lost his business. In the Census of 1910, John F. Delury shows up as working in insurance. It therefore seems reasonable to conclude that this riding habit dates to the years 1883 ~ 1894, the 11 year span when it can be certain JF Delury was working as a tailor in New York City."Isn't that neat that the seller took the time to look into it's history a bit. If only we knew who it was made for!

I love the seller's description of the habit, you can tell they appreciate the fine quality of it.
"The habit itself is a thing of hardy beauty. It is exquisitely tailored. The lines of the jacket make for a stunningly curvaceous silhouette. Wide shoulders taper to give the illusion of a tiny waist, accentuated by two perky tails. The voluminous skirt swells out over curving hip lines."

And now the sizing... "The jacket is lightly boned in the center back and sides, and three pieces on either front. It is approximately 38 inches when buttoned across the chest, and 25 inches at the narrowest part of the waist." I would fit the bust measurement of this but certainly not the waist! I think you'd have to corset me in so tight I wouldn't have a hope of being able to ride & breathe! LOL

Apparently the skirt is asymmetrical, which I'm guessing is a "knee pocket" style skirt and not a safety apron. It measures 60" at it's longest point over the right hip seam.
The skirt had "Three fabric covered weights at the base of the 42" left hip seam hold the skirts demurely in place."
The seller says that the hem is approx. 81 inches around. Or 6 3/4 feet of material. That's a LOT of material! "It has a 33 inch total waist, with perhaps two inches taken up by the overlap: however the eye for the hook is now gone. Still present are two stretchy straps on the inside of the skirt, probably used to hook th" Oh oh! That would fit me!

The description of the pants "The pants measure approx. 32 inches at the waist. 44 inches at the outseam, and 29 inches at the inseam. They have two straps to go around riding boots, each with two brass buttons marked Delury. There is a brass buckle to take in the rear waist strap: the buckle is marked "Paris"." (Yup, they'd fit too!)

The seller says that it's a deep navy blue and has a hook & eye closure belt along the inside that was used to keep the jacket to the skirt. The breeches also have a chamois seat-reinforcement (victorian full seats?) that was partially replaced at some point. The jacket had a total of 14 buttons on the front, 3 on each cuff and two on the tails. They were replaced at one point but the originals retained and will go with the habit.

This habit appears to be in immaculate shape for it's age. What a find! I hope a museum or sidesaddle connosieur ends up with it so it can be properly appreciated and taken care of!

Sandwich case, here it is!

I finally have one! Since I started acquiring my sidesaddle collection I've always drooled over sandwich cases, they're just so interesting. But my cheap side has always prevented me from buying one. My boyfriend found an antique one that matches the color of my saddle in England and had it sent over for Christmas. As soon as I pulled back the wrapping paper I knew it had to be something sidesaddle related because it was in the box it had been shipped from and it was posted from England.

I was really suprised at how heavy it is! It's lined in doeskin and appears to have brass fittings.




The sandwich box folds and I believe it's silver. It's in very good condition. What a tiny sandwich that would have been! And the flask, just enough for a few sips of sherry.



It is definitely something that I will treasure, I'm almost afraid to use it for fear that it might get damaged. It will have to be saved for special occassions.

A nice new chapeau!

Sorry again for the lapse in posts, I have been super busy with my new job (which I LOVE), teaching lots of riding lessons and to tell you the truth, I haven't been riding much at all. I haven't ridden sidesaddle since my last post which is part of why I haven't had much to post about.

I did FINALLY get a proper top hat to go with my habit though! It's 6" tall and quite old. Gotta love Ebay! I've been kind of looking for one for awhile, they're so elegant looking! The only ones I've found in antique shops in my area have been horribly overpriced and in bad shape. This one is in pretty good shape and was a good price! Perfect!


I was soooo excited to get it! Although when I tried it on I laughed at how silly I looked! LOL I definitely think you need the whole outfit on for it to look good! So no pictures of it on me yet!

Bar U Ranch Sidesaddle Clinic 2010

We had a great time yet again this year! There was 8 participants including myself, I was actually quite shocked that the clinic wasn't totally full. I guess there aren't that many people that are wanting to try it.

Anyways, saturday we had our lessons and did some touring around the ranch. It was a gorgeous day with a nice breeze and no bugs! Last year the horse flies were terrible.


So I decided since it was such a nice day, I'd break out my linen habit. It turned out so well and it was soooooo much cooler! The material breathes so well. I think I need to find a different hat though.

As you can see Brigit wasn't too impressed about having to stand.


Overnight the clouds blew in and it started to rain. We all did our lessons in long slickers to help keep us and our saddles dry. It was very wet but we still had fun!

It rained most of the morning and we almost cancelled our parade around the site. Nobody wanted to get their expensive clothes soaking wet. Luckily around 1:00 the clouds cleared up and we were able to get dressed up in our finery and go for a tour of the ranch. This was also the first chance I've had to wear my fancy purple & burgundy outfit. I think it's my favorite!




After touring the ranch we went back to the arena and did our quadrille. We were pleased to see that there was actually a fairly decent crowd in the stands that had come to watch. We didn't think there would be anybody with the way the weather had been in the morning. It went really well, nobody forgot where they were going (aka me!). I changed into my blue outfit for the quadrille.


And here's the whole group at the end of the day.


If anybody sends me some other pictures I'll upload those as well. I know there was lots of people taking pics so hopefully there will be some more good ones!