Would any of you who share/loan out your horses object to sidesaddle?

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LittleNemo

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I share a lovely warmblood gelding and ride him twice a week. Having done a lot of sidesaddle for years with my own horses before going to uni, I thought it would be nice to give it a try on this horse and know somebody (judge and certified instructor) who might have a saddle which might fit.

Obviously I will need to check that this is ok with the owner, especially as it is a fairly young (seven year old) horse. However, he has a very calm, sensible temperament and I can't imagine him minding the saddle. As we have no transport, it would only be for the odd ride at home for a bit of practice and I wouldn't ride him in it all the time (too lazy to bother with all the girths everytime for one thing!
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I'm a bit scared of asking so I wondered if there were any reason why any of you might object?
 
No - I don't think I would object. Increasing the range of a horse's ability can only be a good thing I would think. I don't really know much about sidesaddle, so would be interested to know more about it, but if it doesn't affect the horse's normal way of going, then I wouldn't forsee it being a problem at all.
 
I would be delighted to cooperate if someone suggested it who knew what they were doing wh,ich you sound like you do. I would consider it another accomplishment for my horse...
 
I wouldnt have a problem with it either. As others have said, i would want to make sure the saddle fitted first but i'd be all for it. If for any reason the horse ever has to be sold in the future being broken to sidesaddle would surely be a bonus. Bite the bullet and ask her, i bet she'll be fine with it.
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I'd want an assurance that you were going to have a few lessons first, and that the instructor was going to sit on the horse the first time it carried the side saddle.
Very few horses object or have any difficulty carrying a side saddle, but there's always the odd one.
You need regular lessons when you start side saddle as the position takes a bit of getting used to and if you don't sit correctly you can easily pull the saddle over which can make the horse sore.
 
Back when I was in Spain a lady came on holiday and brought her SS with her. She rode at our yard and asked if she could try riding my SJer with her SS as she deemed him to be the best type for it. I duly obliged and he absolutely loved it and went like a dream - even better, she let me ride in it too and it was absolutely fantastic, I jumped him in it too! I certainly would be more than happy to allow you to try, don't be scared to ask, if you don't ask, you don't get!
 
Definitely think you should ask. Weezy is right when she says if you don't ask you don't get. I would so love someone to ride one of my horses sidesaddle, think it looks so elegant and it's another way of getting them used to different things.
 
I would love if a sharer asked me, providing they knew what they were doing, I could be there the first few times and the saddle fitted
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I would ask first but Im sure that the owner would be delighted for you to add another string to their horses bow. I would lead the horse around in it first and lunge or long reined in it first as sometimes they object to the balance strap to begin with, but most horses take really well to side saddle. Good luck!
 
Thank you for your replies! Unfortunately she did say no as we are working on some specific things in dressage at the moment and she did say it might be a bit much too soon. She said perhaps next year though so I am glad I asked and know that I might be able to in the future.
 
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