Sideways

Olive was a superstar on Sidesaddle Day, but she wasn't the only superstar. 

Although none of them had worn a sidesaddle previously, all five of the participating horses handled the sidesaddles like seasoned pros.

The same could not be said for the riders. We need help tacking.

We needed help mounting.

We even needed help riding.

Thankfully, Fabian was there to walk us through every step.

He was even able to help Mary Jo with her skirt.

I was tending to Olive during this time, but Mary Jo explained the process to me later.

She writes: You roll it up around your waist, mount up and then do the draping. 

There's a lot of draping!

The final result. Her mount is Linda's wonderful old man, Gambler. Like Olive, he was a real workhorse on Sunday, giving rides to Linda, Diana and Mary Jo.

No surprise, Therese's wonderful little Thunder was also a multi-person horse.

He was ridden by Therese, 

Fabian...

and me.

Because it was so hot, mostly we walked, but no one could resist asking for a few steps of gait.

He is so fun to ride.

Don't tell Olive I said this, but he might actually be the best pony.

I also rode Therese's other horse, Delilah. She was a challenge, but not because of the sidesaddle. She's just a lot of horse in the arena.

She was much better for Therese.

Good girl, Delilah!

The last horse and rider pair was Claire and Doodle.

Claire is twenty, and unlike the rest of us, she didn't need much in the way of handholding. She got on, walked a few steps, and went right to trot.

Then she asked Doodle to canter.

No fear.

Nope, none at all.

This was such a fun day.

Thank you, Fabian.

I'm so glad we were able to do that. I hope we can do it again.