Why did women think they needed to ride horses side-saddle?

Question

Why did women think they needed to ride horses side-saddle?

Answer 1

And how old are you?

Women in the golden ages rode side saddle because of the clothing that they wore. It was well into the 20th century before women started being approved to wear pants.  In the beginning they actually wore wide legged riding skirts.  

Answer 2

Their long skirts made it impossible to ride "normally"--unless they wanted to hike their skirts all the way up to their waists and give the men a show...

Answer 3

I don't actually think it was women who thought that women needed to ride side-saddle ... rather, it was MEN and SOCIETY who thought that women needed to ride side-saddle.

The issue was modesty, of course ... and the fact that in "those days" women did not ever EVER wear pants!  So, a woman riding astride would be offering an invitation to everyone to ... um ... view her goodies?

For a woman to sit (anywhere, including on horseback) with her knees anything other than locked together (!) would have been considered quite slovenly and slatternly behavior, indeed!

Answer 4

It was more ladylike then spreading their legs open.

Answer 5

it was thought that a woman who opened her legs like that was a w***e implying that she was about to have s*x . They also said it could break her virginity. Sounds like mumbo jumbo c**p to me!! But I know this because my mother was very old fashioned!

Answer 6

Women didn't "think" they needed to ride sidesaddle- that was something which was IMPOSED on them by both men and the society they lived in at the time, as well as by the clothing they wore, which prohibited riding astride. Riding astride was considered to be very risque and unladylike, and very few women were foolish enough to do this. It was also not considered appropriate for women to ride just any horse- the animals in question had to be " ladies' mounts", or very gentle and responsive. In some cultures, such as in England during the time of the knights, ladies' horses were referred to as palfreys.

Riding sidesaddle is actually safer in some ways than riding astride is- because the rider's legs are held in place by two pommels, rather than just one, and there is a stirrup for the rider's left foot. All sidesaddle riders carry and use a whip on the right side of the horse- and any horse which is ridden sidesaddle must be taught to accept this and obey commands which are given with it. That's probably the reason behind the "ladies' mounts" rule- not all horses can be taught to do this, and it was considered risky to do it with certain animals, such as stallions, for example. It's possible to ride at all gaits in a sidesaddle- and there are people who also jump in them- in fact, it's still common in the hunt field for women riding sidesaddle to be members and to participate.

That answer your question??