The morning call., 1892-12-25
SIDE OR CROSS.
Which Saddle Is the Safest
for Women !?
IS RUSSELL'S OPINION.
MISS
Something About the Different Sad
dies in USe-The Best Costume
for Riding. Astride.
Written for THE MORNING CALI.

Some one has sent me an article from
The Rider and Driver on "a Woman's
Seat In the Saddle" asking me if there Is
anything in it," On perusal find there
Is a good deal in it-principally nonsense.
The writer. woman by the way, says:
1T seems TO me that a woman would be
very foolish to abandon her side saddle for
the cross seat of the man, IL for no other
reason than that she is far safer as she Is.
So long as her pommel knee does not give
out and she retains her GOODNESS it is almost
impossible for any ordinary event to throw
her Off the sde-saddle, while in a mans
saddle she would be far more easily
dislodged, having only the pressure of the
legs to hold her.
THIS is, in nutshell, the whole argument
In favor of the side-saddle. unless one con-
siders seriously the objection of an English
man visltin in San Francisco who seeing
for the first time riding astride remarked
that be considered 1t "Ddelicate in the ex-
IRENE" lie, however, is the only man
ever heard OF who raised such objection, so
we won't consider him here.
But my correspondent wishes 90 know
about the superior safety OF woman's seat
In the saddle. / think 1 am in position
to tell her something on the subject, having
ridden many miles both in the side-sadde
and the cross seat.
Any novice on a side-saddle is liable to be
unseated even by ordinary events. have
seen good rider unseated by so trifliDg an
accident as her horse making a Slight
stumble in coming down after taking low
fence.~ L was once unseated myself by the
plunging of my horse. frightened by cow
that rose suddenly by the ROADSIDE where
she mad been lying. 1 was badly hurt on
that occasion. Another time. while riding
along the shore by Lake Merritt my horses
tnHl NH -.
the shoulder. iii mudhole lurking be-
meath the sun-baked surface. She could
not help herself with the lopsided load
she carried on her shoulders, and caught as
l was, on the left side, my LETT knee snugly
tucked under the third horn, IL was impos-
sible fer me to get my foot from the stirrup
or throw my right leg over the horse and
thus dismOunt ana was finally forced to
pitch forward and execute a somersault
over her right shoulder, landing or my back
In the mud. from which | picked myself up
aud went TO the rescue of my struggling
steed. Had l been astride her / could have
slipped of instantly, as she went down, and
she could have freed herself at once, anil
escaped the badly cut knee that left a mark
on her for nearly year,
just as the tyro feels insecure and uncer-
tain in the side-saddle, so does the expert
rider, who has never been in a crOss-saddle,
md herself unpleasaDtly at odds with her
seat, and feeling very liable TO fall off at any
ing good side seat, as says the Old scribe,
HE that shall be goode horsman hit
music come IF vsage and eXercyse." II is
nonsense TO talk of the pressure of the legs
on the horse being all one has 10 hold her
on cross-saddle. 1t is not pressure but
balance that gives secure seat astride, for
man as well as for a woman. The man who
sits calmly upon rearing. plunging. buck
Ing horse maintains his seat, not SO much
by gripping the animal with his legs as by
ha he w ~ ha ssi
rups, the reins. and the possession of that
skill and lat homeness" in the saddle that
comes from the "vsage and exercyse" that
Mallory recommends. When i first es-
sayed the cToss-saddie, SO little pleased was
with the result of the experiment that
did not Try IL again for year. L know now
that made a most unfortunate selection of
saddle. for my first trial. The next time l
rode as;ride did so TO prepare for a long,
severe journey, where j knew would have
to ride in that fashion. After experiment
lag with several saddles j at last found one
that for comfort ana style suited me ex-
setly, and since finding 1t have no further
use for side-saddie, although sometimes
use one, TO keep in practice for the oeca-
sions when i wish 10 90 10 ride with some
fastidous friend. or am unable TO secure
good cross-saddle.
The writer of tie article that has been
sent me advises women, whenever possible
TO have two side-saddles, one of the custom
airy make and one of the sort called a left
handed saddle" By using these alternately
she can avoid becoming lnp- sided, or I'M
equally developed by the awkward position
In tbs saddle. Her article contains this re-
markable paragraph: with a growing
girl this practice is really almost essential
TO prevent the twist which comes from a
side seat. but even grown woman will find
great physical pleasure through the activity
OF the muscles unused the day before"
This reads very like an argument against
the side-saddle. although it is not intended
as such.
know a number Of women In California
who ride with no saddle ut ALL l have in
mind now young girl who will seat her.
self on the back OF famous buck Jumper
equipped only with bride, blanket and sur
clDgle, and defy his efforts TO unseat her.
AS she sits sideways II certainly is no leg
grip or arrangement of saddle horns that
enables her 10 stay on.
woman has a securer seat than man
Tor leaptng, but her danger il any accident
occurs is much greater. She has closer
grip on the side-saddie when all goes WELL
but IN the event of their getting thrown
women often lind, too late, that those cum
ming pommels on which they relied have
death grip on them. The abominable Slip
per stirrup which Is almost always put on
woman's saddle is another element of dan
ger, l have known ii TO clutch the foot like
wise. and hold the riders foot. in case of
accident, until she was dragged 10 her
death.
Aside from the dangers 10 the rider OF the
side-saddle, the suffering entaied upon q
horse by It's use is known TO everybody.
To begin with, the saddle must be cinched,
or girthed, so tightly, that there may be no
possibility of its slipping, as frequently to
cause horse great agony. The animal can
travel while girthed pretty tight, but he
suffers terribly on standing still. They
cannot, however, go any distance. cinched
up as some ladies' saddie-horses must be,
without great pain. i have seen such a
saddle-norse brought into the stable after
galiop rush to his stall without waiting to
be unsaddled and throw himself headlong
on the floor in his agony, and i have had
stablemen and r.ding-teachers tell me
this often occurs. Ii any one wants an
object lesson in the tortures of the side
saddle let him go to two or three stables
where ladies' sadde-hors are kept and
look at the backs of the animals. Ii he
does not find sores, and bad ones on all Of
them. he will fnd the places where the sores
have been. The spots OF white hairs, to be
seen on the back of nearly every horse that
has been ridden by a woman. are eloquent
witnesses that at some time or other saddle
gals have been there. Another point may
bo observed in studying the horses used In
riding-schools. Every one of them will be
found to be lopsided, unequally developed
through the strain constantly put upon the
muscles OF one side.
woman's saddle-horse almost always
bears down FIRST in the right knee. The
reason for this is that under the side-saddle,
In order that his rider may have q secure