Why yes they were, and reversable too...msg
Posted by Anita/Sidesaddle on April 30, 1998 at 02:19:53:
In response to A Question, written by Caroline on April 29, 1998 at 10:08:55
When a person is right handed, they would sit with the legs down the left side of the horse (or the nearside). A lefty would have a saddle built so that they would have the legs on the right hand side (or the off side). There was a period when they thought that if a lady rode on the same side all the time, she would develop a curved spine - scoliosis. So the logical answer is to alternate riding on each side. A lady in Virginia had my mom build her a left handed sidesaddle, so it has been done recently as well. The trick was finding a treemaker who would build the tree (the frame on which the saddle is built) to her specs.
There is a saddle with reversable horns that is very rare (we only know of 5 in existance and of those, only 2 are in North America and my mom happens to own one). The horns can be taken off of one side and put on the other. It is actually quite an ingenious design. If I remember correctly, the top horn is kept in place by a set screw and the leaping horn pops in with downward curved "hooks" at the base of the horn which insert into the saddle itself. The pressure of the leg from underneath would make it all the more secure. Normally the leaping horn has a bolt at the base which screws in with a left hand thread. The amazing thing is my mom bought it dirt cheap from someone who bought it in a lot of movie props that were being auctioned off from one of the Hollywood movie studios! There are people in the sidesaddle community who wouldn't have even known what it was because it is so rare.
- Construction question Carolyn B 18:07:38 5/03/98
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- Re: Construction Anita/Sidesaddle 00:46:40 5/05/98
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- oops! what I meant by Western horns Carolyn B 18:28:20 5/05/98
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- Thanks for the clarification. I get so... Anita/Sidesaddle 02:31:16 5/08/98
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- Thanks for the clarification. I get so... Anita/Sidesaddle 02:31:16 5/08/98
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- oops! what I meant by Western horns Carolyn B 18:28:20 5/05/98
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- Re: Construction Anita/Sidesaddle 00:46:40 5/05/98
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