Short Stories
Showing Sidesaddle: The First Year
Piedy and I practicing at home.
This past summer was my first trip into showing sidesaddle. Prior to this, I spent my time riding sidesaddle on the trail and training other horses how to be ridden sidesaddle. Life was simple, the pace slow, the accruements few.
That all changed this year when Jennifer Lowery-Kamentz, the owner of the Arabian gelding I was training, and I decided that it was time to start showing the gelding, Piedmont. Some of you may know him better as a stallion. He was gelded this past April. Piedy, as we call him, is a good boy. He has a nice floating trot, beautiful collection, nice headset, and is a drop dead gorgeous Arab. He has been shown extensively in Arab Halter and has numerous championships to his credit, both as a stallion and a gelding. (He was 12th in the Nationals in 1992 as a stallion) Like I said real pretty.... Problem is, that until this year, he was never show performance. Add to the mix that he was barely green broke when I started working with him astride in June of '98, and you can see how things might get just a bit interesting, especially since Piedy gets a little excited when he enters the show ring
Piedy at the Nationals in 1992.
The original plan for showing Piedmont was to train him as a Western Pleasure horse. He is so laid back, and has a very good, steady jog. Unfortunately, the show season started before he got the neck reining down, so Jennifer and I had to show him English. Neither of us wanted Piedmont's first performance experience to be aside, as the idea of showing him sidesaddle the first time out was not wise. We were not sure how he'd respond to the ring, to the other horses, or to the concept of being shown performance, so we took the conservative route and showed him exclusively astride for the first show in April at the State Fair Grounds in Raleigh, NC.
Showing at the State Fair
It turned out to be a wise idea. Our slow, dependable, mellow gelding turned into a speed demon in the ring! Every time a horse passed him, he wanted to race the other horse! Jennifer had her hands full, and Piedy got a new nickname, Speedy Piedy. However, after some additional schooling at the show, he behaved much better in the second class. Because of this behavior, Jenny and I decided not to show him sidesaddle unless there was one class before the sidesaddle class where Jenny could show him astride. The idea being that he would get rid of his silliness before I got on him. It was and is a good plan, but often the best plans go awry
The second show we went to was in August, the Piedmont All Arab, again at the State Fair Grounds. Piedy and I had been preparing for the event since April. I'd made my costume, a period piece circa 1890's, and had practiced on Piedy with a "practice" apron (the trial run w/ the apron pattern). He was very well behaved with it, and we looked good. The most difficult part of the whole thing was sitting Piedy's trot. His working trot is very springy and very hard. He bounces up high and lands hard with his rear. He has always done this at a working trot. When one is riding astride, sitting or posting, it is really not that big of deal, but it does get a bit interesting aside because he bounces so hard he can bounce you off. (Personally, I'd rather ride his jog.) Posting in my side saddle is not an option because it is an older sidesaddle that naturally rides a little uphill. So, I must sit Piedy's trot. (bummer) Fortunately, Piedy and I had figured it all out by the show and had the whole thing together.
At the show, we ran into some interesting things, the first was that we realized that Jenny did not really know how to girth up my sidesaddle. I had always done it. Since she was to groom for me while I was showing Piedy (a role reversal for us), we decided it was prudent to teach her how to do this before the class (in this case the night before). She is a quick study and soon figured out where all of the straps, loops and ties go. The biggest problem she had with saddling up the sidesaddle was that she could not figure out how tight the girth has to be on this saddle. You see, Piedy is round. He has no discernible withers, and unless you tighten the girth really tight, the saddle will slip or roll. When a rider rides astride, this is not a big deal, one can balance oneself on the horse. As most of you know, balancing oneself side saddle is not really an option. I hoped on the horse the first time Jenny had saddled up Piedy, and the saddle nearly dumped me off. We tightened the girth a little bit more, and I went for a ride around the ring. All was well till we started trotting, and the saddle started moving. We stopped, had the saddle tightened even more, and off we went. The saddle stayed in place, and Jenny was instructed to tighten the girth as tight as it would go.
Warming up before the state fair
The next night, I got into my little costume, Jenny and the gang did up Piedy (which included a tape weave in his mane, a nice French braid in his tail, and a touch of makeup) and we were ready to go. The saddle was adjusted one last time, it wasn't square on his back the first try, the girth was nice and tight, and I felt very secure and confident in myself, my horse and my tack. I knew we would look good. As the class was called, we started into the ring, and three strides before I went into the gate, someone set off fireworks in the neighborhood behind the Fairgrounds. Suddenly, the class which is to be the smoothest and the most elegant of them all became a romping rip that resembled a rodeo ride more than a sidesaddle class. I had no clue what was happening with the other rider, I was simply trying to stay on my horse as he refused to take leads, wouldn't walk, bucked, and in general was a pain in the arse. My goal for the class quickly became surviving it and making the horse keep his head set. We finished the class, came in second in a two entry class, and praised the Lord for a good, tight girth and the leaping horn! I was told later that the other rider had as many problems with her horse as I had had, but she got him under control before the end of the class. I really did not accomplish that feat. At least we got a second place, and we qualified (barely) for Regionals. We also impressed Jenny. As she put it, "when he was doing what he was supposed to be doing, you look sooo goood!" So we picked up the book for the State Fair, and made plans to come back and show again in October.
When the NC State Fair came, and we were set. Piedy was one of six horses we were showing this year, so we had a lot of work cut out for us. The plan was to repeat the class order of the last show, and have Jenny ride Piedy astride in a class before we rode aside. Good plan, worked like a charm. Jenny and Piedy rode in Open Hunter Pleasure, and won the blue. (Ye Haw!) Piedy behaved himself, sort of, and seemed to have the insanity worked out of him.
What it feels like when someone sets off fireworks as one is riding your average showhorse.
The first sidesaddle class was on Monday evening, so I got in my little costume, and the gang duded up Piedy. He was beautiful, and we made a pretty pair. As is our custom, Jenny warmed up Piedy before the class. She rode his sidesaddle in the practice apron. He looked great and was responding well to her signals. She hopped off, and I climbed on, and felt the saddle move. This was not a good sign. I knew Jenny had learned her lesson, and was tightening the cinch as tight as it would go. Since this was the same girth we'd used at the last show, we figured it would fit. The problem was that the elastic had stretched out, and it was longer than the 44 inches it claimed to be. So, the saddle was not on tight enough. Jenny, who does not regularly ride sidesaddle, just figured that the saddle was OK and that the rider was supposed to "perch" herself up there. (I think I need to work with her a little bit more) I did not agree, but we did not have enough time to send someone down to the barn to get a different girth. Fortunately, my saddle's overgirth bullet used to be the only bullet, and I had her tighten the overgirth in an effort to give me some stability. We went around the practice ring once or twice, and I decided it was going to have to be good enough. (By this time I was very glad that my first exposure to sidesaddle was bareback on my bony old mare. I knew how to balance myself on a moving horse sidesaddle.)
We went into the class, this time with no fireworks, but with great momentum. Piedy's working trot quickly became an extended trot with more bounce than usual. Unfortunately, the girth was lose enough that if I tried to use the saddle to balance my self, and therefore, slowdown the horse, the saddle moved to the left.... ..a lot! By the time we got to the end of the ring, the saddle was a bout 5-4 inches off center, and I was wondering how in the world I was going to stay on this horses back. I checked for the judge to see if he was looking, slowed Piedy down to a jog, jerked the saddle way over to the right to compensate for the lose girth and then increased is speed to a slow working trot. I also said a bunch of prayers! Fortunately, they soon asked for a canter, which gave me a chance to straighten the saddle again, and life was good. I can balance myself easily at a a canter and a walk. So all I had to do was survive the trots. Some how we did, though everyone in the gang said I had a "sour" expression on my face. Truth be told, that expression was a combination of stark terror and grim determination. I needed to finish the class cleanly so that we could compete in the Championships the next afternoon. My mantras during the class became, "we're using a different girth tomorrow, Piedy", and "I'm never riding sidesaddle again with a lose girth!"
The goal: to make it look this effortless.
We finished last, but we finished! Piedy picked up all of his leads, and except when I was trying to regain my balance, he kept his head set. Piedy and I were getting better at this show thing, all we had to do was get rid of the tack problems and pray that no one set off firecrackers!
The next day, we scrounged up the girth I had been using to practice. It was a white girth, and therefore inappropriate for the class, but I made a black slip cover for it, and used black electrical tape to hide the white. It looked good, and more importantly, did not slip!! Jenny warmed Piedy up again, and then I hoped up. The saddle was much more comfortable, and it was easier for me to relax and enjoy the ride. We went into the class with much confidence, and Piedy did exactly what I asked him to do, when I asked him to do it. The only two problems were that Piedy wouldn't keep his head set properly, and my hat kept threatening to blow off! (you know, if it ain't one thing, it is another!) We did well, and we finally placed! Yea! We got third out of four in the Championship. Life is good.
Now all we have to do is use the fall and winter to get his head set right, and find a hat pin for my hat that looks appropriate with my costume.... ....and, definitely, a 40 inch girth.
Piedy and I back at the farm practicing again.
