From Pitchforks and Mud, To Veils and Lace’

Lead Story — By admin on August 10, 2009 2:32 pm

By Blair Braitenbach
Photos by Neville Palmer

“If I am at a cocktail party, which isn’t very often,” explains Lee McLean, “and people ask me what I do, I’ll say I am a rancher’s wife, that I had an antique shop for many years.  I tell them what we do as a guest ranch and that I’ve been a school bus driver.  I see yawns and bored looks on their faces.  Once I say I ride sidesaddle – zoom, people get interested”

Taking a break from a particularly difficult day calving, on a cold and breezy march after-noon at her family’s ranch near the Bar U National Historic Site, Lee McLean details her passion for the once common but now rapidly fading style of sidesaddle horse riding. Speaking from extensive experience gleaned by living in the well-known McLean family, this Southern Alberta gal gets her hands dirty with some of the roughest and toughest cowboys in the heart of Canada’s ranching country.  But underneath all that durability lies a lady of genteel upbringing with a yearning to keep the formal and Victorianesque style of riding alive.  “It’s very glamorous,” says McLean. “So much of owning a horse involves a pitch fork, working in the mud, fixing fences and hauling water buckets.  It’s so wonderful to be able to wear a veil, straighten your top hat and have a man put you up and say, ‘you look lovely dear, away you go.’ It’s a nice change from the rubber boots.”

Popular in Europe from the mid 18th century until the Second World War, McLean is one of only a handful of known sidesaddle riders remaining in the foothills.  Other enthusiasts include McLean’s daughter Caitlin, mother-in-law Lenore and sister-in-law Meghan; all of whom share their interest in sidesaddle riding with a large following in the Eastern U.S., England and Ireland.

Prior to the Women’s Liberation movement, it was deemed improper for a lady of status to ride astride, as women typically didn’t wear pants back then.  Sidesaddles were designed to allow a woman to sit on the side of a horse, and keep her exquisite Sunday dress from being trampled; all while maintaining a prim and proper visage.

Some might say the image of riding sidesaddle resemble floating on air, however, in contrast to its dainty appearance, those who ride in the style attest it is very secure – sometimes too much so.  McLean says, “If the horse falls while running or falls over backwards you can be hooked in there, so sometimes it’s good to fall off.”

Like any other riding style, sidesaddles come in both western and English varieties.  For the most part, they are designed exactly the same except western sidesaddles are heavier and more durable than their English counterparts.  A sidesaddle consists of two horns instead of one and only one stirrup for the foot.  A top horn allows the rider to hook his or her right leg over where it drops down on the horse’s shoulder.  Underneath is a “leaping head horn” which came abut in the 1890s to ensure women could gallop and jump while hunting hounds just like men.

The leaping head give an emergency grip when the action gets a little too intense.  One other known sidesaddle rider in the Foothills is 79-year-old Charis Cooper, from the Turner Valley area.  Cooper began riding sidesaddle about 15 years ago and joins the McLeans in every opportunity to show off the art; be it for the High River and Black Diamond parades, or on various special occasions at Spruce Medows.

“People quite often want to know how I sit up there, which is why I wear breeches and an apron so they can have a good look,” Cooper says with a chuckle.  “it especially happens when I’m as Spruce Medows – I am forever lifting up my apron.”

Both McLean and cooper agree that modern day sidesaddles cannot compete with those created a century ago.  They each ride on saddles made from the turn of the 20th century. McLean’s was made in Calgary in the early 1900s, while Cooper’s comes from London, Engaland, circ 1880.  By the 1930s, McLean explains, most sidesaddle manufacturers had gone out of business, as women took to riding astride.

McLean learned the art of sidesaddle riding from well-known Calgary horsewoman Winnie Harvey.  Winnie’s husband was Brigadier SMW Harvey, who received the Victory Cross after World War I and after whom the Harvey Barracks was named.  McLean recalls learning from the noble lady in “old school” fashion.  “We were little girls with pigtails on fat little ponies. We didn’t look very ladylike, but Mrs. Harvey tried,” McLean says with a laugh.

The art of sidesaddle riding may be fading but with McLean’s 19-year-old daughter having grown up on a sidesaddle and Cooper keen on passing on her knowledge to her daughters, the regal-like way of riding is guaranteed to live on in the foothills, for at least another generation.

Tags: Routes Magazine, Sidesaddle