Global Horse Culture

New film explores Escaramuza

A new film, currently in production, takes an inside look at the world of Escaramuza. Escaramuza means "skirmish", and the riding combines an unsettling blend of pretty girls in fancy clothes riding sidesaddle with fast-paced, heart-pounding drill team maneuvers. It is really a unique tradition!

I spoke to filmmaker Robin Rosenthal about the making of the film - read on below to see what she had to say about how she got into the world of Escaramuza and some of the challenges she and her husband faced in making the film.

Escaramuza: Riding From the Heart is looking for financial support to complete the editing and marketing of the documentary. The deadline for pledging your support is July 16th! Even small amounts are helpful. You can view the trailer and find out more about pledging to help support the completion of this unique documentary by using the widget below:

Recreating a Historic Russian Hunt

With fabulous costumes and Borzoi hounds! What a scene. Thanks to Mike for the tip!

New Sidesaddle Blog

This new blog, Riding Aside, look very interesting. There are lots of details about clothing, saddles and technique, illustrated with lots of photos. Take a look!

Aside...or Astride

Another display at the horse fair in Texcoco, Mexico was offered by the Women's Mounted Police unit. Take a close look at their saddles! Although they are designed to be ridden sidesaddle, they also have a stirrup on the off side, allowing the rider to swing a leg over and ride astride. In the last picture you can see that the first rider in line is riding astride, while the rest are riding aside.

This group did a lovely drill-team performance, and also gave lots of rides to children from the audience. The kids were handed over the railing by their parents, and perched on the rumps of the horses for a spin around the arena, before being handed back again.

Mexican Drill Teams

Escaramuza Charra is a popular women's sport at Mexican rodeos, similar in format to US Drill Teams, which likewise are popular at US rodeos and exhibitions. In Escaramuza, teams, typically of 8, perform fast, complex, coordinated patterns in the ring, and are judged not only on precision but also on turnout. Normally the women wear a traditional, old-fashioned costumes with layers of petticoats (they are riding sidesaddle), but some teams dress in breeches and jackets similar to traditional men's costumes. Escaramuza teams are also found in the southwestern USA, especially California, where there are large Mexican populations. This site, and this one, offer personal accounts of preparing for competition.

This video shows a very well-trained team - in this case 16 participants instead of the usual 8.

Ladies Aside

Here is a video of a sidesaddle class at an Arabian horse show. There are a number of sidesaddle clubs and organizations in the US. Popular especially among people who participate in historic recreation groups, sidesaddle riding is not as insecure as it might look. The right leg is draped over a special hook, to help the rider balance, and a whip is carried in the right hand to replace the cues the right leg would otherwise give.  Elegant traditional dress is pretty much required, as you'd look silly riding sidesaddle in breeches.

Update: a new national sidesaddle organization has just been launched in the US - take a look at their site.

Beautiful Baroque Horses

Dressageworld.de hosts a beautiful photo gallery of Baroque horses, shot by Cristiane Slawik. The horses are posed in the grounds and gardens of a fabulous estate - does anyone know where? - and the riders are in historic costumes. There are a lot of photos of women in historic sidesaddle costume included in this set.

Site is in German, but the captions on the photos mostly name the rider, the horse, and the movement they are doing, in that order, so you can enjoy anyway.