Side Saddle Repressed Women Athletes

Side Saddle Repressed Women Athletes

Susan Allen
Susan Allen

 

A bohemian is considered a  non-conformist sort but the root of the word used in context with riding restricted  women equestrians for generations. I’m Susan Allen stay tuned for Open Range. We call non-conformists Bohemians when in reality they caused  women to remain second class equestrians for hundreds of years.  It started with a very misguided effort to protect the virginity of royalty. Princess Anne of Bohemia was the first bride to ride side saddle in 1382 across Europe to wed Richard II. Thanks to Ms. Bohemia, females would be physically and socially repressed forced to ride side saddle well into the late 19th century. Riding is all about being balanced, it’s amazing that women not only rode with both legs and a long dress on one side but they even jumped competitively straddling a pommel.  Eventually a second horn was added and in the 19th century a third horn called the “leaping head” designed for more saddle  security. That didn’t equate to safety, unlike the small jumping saddle men used that freed a falling rider, in a cumbersome sidesaddle women fox hunters could easily become trapped under the horse many becoming invalids by breaking their backs. Horses also suffered dearly under side saddles because of the misbalanced riders weight . You can’t keep women off horses and as we’ll discover tomorrow we have the  vaqueros to thank for equality in the saddle and... split skirts.   
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