Side saddle is back in demand

The event has been organised by Belinda Wilkins following numerous requests by horse lovers and riders wanting to learn to ride side-saddle but unsure how to go about it.

Belinda, of Walberton, became interested in side-saddle after seeing a side-saddle display at Midhurst in 1998 that had been advertised in the West Sussex Gazette.

The display was given by Paula Keeley wearing a superb costume and she captured the imagination of Belinda's daughter, Caroline Wilkins then aged 11. With the help of her grandmother's side-saddle, instructor Valerie Millwood and a video by Isobell Hasket of The Side-Saddle Association, Caroline was competing locally within a month, nationally within a year and internationally within four.

Now 21, she will be riding her young Westphalian horse Just Hans at the display. She will be riding her dressage freestyle programme that she is preparing for the National Show at Addington in August.

For full story see Sussex Horse World March 26