The Evolution of English Riding Apparel

English Horse Back Riding

Back in the time when we like to call ‘the olden days’ there was a sport in which miraculously still exists today, however a bit modified. English Horseback Riding used to be an only mens sport, until everybody started using it as transportation. Not just in carriages (which is a whole different topic), but individuals, too. Horseback riding required a lot of equipment, such as the saddle, bridle, martingale, breastplate, horse shoes, breeches, and boots. Like any other everyday use, technology has brought these items along a very long road, and today, these things are very very different from what they were in the 1700s.

The saddle, invented by Francois Robinchon de la Gueriniere (what a name!), was first used as a seat to be mounted on a horse for long travels. People of the higher class would mostly be seen using saddles, because they were expensive. Soon, people started using saddles for a storage compartment on mules, however those were different kinds of saddles. Back then, there was one kind of saddle. A leather one. Now, you can get a custom fit saddle, a jumper saddle, a hunter saddle, a workhorse saddle, and all these fancy things for and about your saddle, and just think about Francois Robinchon de la Gueriniere sitting there, watching these people getting custom fit saddles, when he just invented a saddle so it wouldn’t cause blisters in unwanted places.

What would you use to make your horse move? Stop? Turn? The bridle, invented by the Mesopotamians, was an invention that looked like a leather net, made to slip over the horse’s head with a metal piece that went in the horse’s mouth, connected to the reins in which the rider held. the first bridles, were made with twine and rope, with no metal piece, but just a few parts: the nose band, which was slipped around the nose (duh), in which the reins were also connected to,  the throatlatch, which was a piece connected to the crown piece, and went under the throat, the crownpiece which went behind the horse’s ears, the browband, which went in front of the horse’s ears, and the cheek pieces, which kept everything from falling apart on both sides. Now, the bridle is most commonly used with a bit, a metal piece that fits on an extension of the cheekpiece and goes into the horse’s mouth. If the rider was to ask the horse to stop, he/she/it would pull on the reins, which is connected to the horse.

On a totally different topic, what the rider wore on their legs. Breeches, britches, or simply, riding pants. In English riding, riders wore breeches, a legging-like pant which was normally made out of cotton. However, up until the late 1800s, people (mostly men) wore britches as everyday pants. They wouldn’t change out of their britches when it was time to ride, so the concept of riding in britches, breeches was more commonly followed.

A lot of things changed with the tack and attire of English riding over time, but almost all of it had to do with the current technology and how it would affect, or change the way people could ride and how to make it better. This seems to be the case with almost everything that was invented more than 200 years ago. Almost nothing stays the same on this earth. Everything changes.

Sources:
"Saddle." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 July 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
"The Saddle Evolves." EquiSearch The Saddle Evolves Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
"Riding Equipment: The English Bridle." ASPCA. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
"Breeches." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 June 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
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