I TRIED SIDE SADDLE FOR THE FIRST TIME 

Matt really is such a polite and well mannered person to everyone around him. It’s something I’ve noticed from the first video I watched of his years ago, when he took chase from Australia. He acknowledges everyone, he thanks everyone, when he’s talking he directs it to include everyone. These are things so many young men his age simply do not do and are greatly overlooked. And things that make a huge difference in how people think of someone. I noticed Jesse is the same way. Very sweet and thankful and very polite. It makes them both even more likeable than they already are. Someone’s manners or lack-of, say SO MUCH about that person. It is something a lot of people don’t realise the importance of. So it’s just so nice to see someone like Matt be so polite and gracious whoever he is around. ❤️ Please don’t ever change your ways Matt and Jesse. sending love from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 💕

"Imagine if these are the last moments of my life.. and I'm gonna die in ONE BOOT!" omg MATT!!!!!!!!! 😂😂😂😂

"My stallions would have already killed everyone" 🤣 That was so amazing to watch! I would love to get into this!

Just casually hops on a horse he just met and rides side saddle like he’s been doing it his whole life. 🤯♥️

The Friesian gentleman was so kind and generous. You were a delight to watch together

The ladies looked fantastic in their blue velvet dresses and hats!! Matt you're a trooper learning side saddle.

What a privilege to try side saddle. The ladies looked amazing. Many years ago my mum used to ride saddle. Seeing the girls giggle while you walked so funny. Well done Matt for giving it a go.

Well done Matt, remember the Trooping of the Colour with the late Queen. She used to train in Buckingham 20:58 Palace in their arena riding side saddle and she did it on one horse mainly Burmese. 17 years she did it. We didn’t realise how clever she was. Urmese died in 2000 and he is buried at Windsor Castle. After he died the Queen didn’t do it anymore because it took 17 years of training the horse which was given to her by Canada. He was a beautiful horse. Remember in 1992 when someone fired blanks at her but she sat firm while. Burmese jumped just a little she patted him and stayed on. Now that’s horsemanship at its highes level. 😊

Matt and Jesse are such troopers, trying new things!

Marion DuPont competed jumping side saddle and was also one of the first women to compete astride jumping against men. The book "Battleship" describes her life and her dedication to horses.

I was always fascinated watching Her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II riding side saddle. Thank you, Matt, for exploring this style and sharing it with us. ❤ from NY

OMG!!! THe Friesian horse is the epitome of elegance and finesse, there is no equal. Love them

When I was a young tween, my 4-H leader brought a sidesaddle for us to try after her lessons for the day were over. We each had a turn to try it out during our lesson. I was terrified of it. I’d seen movies where sidesaddles were featured and I was absolutely convinced I’d fall off at the walk let alone jump in it. Our club was quite large. I had my own pony, named Rebel. He was a large bay tobiano pinto with beautiful feathered legs. I was quite proud of them and tried my best to keep him spotless. If someone saw him today, they would have thought he was a Gypsy Vanner. Those of us who had our own ponies or horses, rode them in our lesson and members who didn’t have their own, rode school horses or I’d let a someone ride Rebel. He was almost 14 hands, but still not as big as our school horses. At that time in my life, I hadn’t ridden a horse and was a little intimidated. Put a side saddle on and I was extremely nervous. I was only about 10 or 11 years old. Idk why I was so scared. Judy put the side saddle on a lesson horse who was about 15.2 hands. When it was my turn, I felt extremely excited, terrified and it seemed as if I was riding a draft horse. I was shocked how secure I felt in the saddle. Duke was the gentlest of horses even if he felt as if I was riding a mountain! Once I did a walk/trot feeling totally comfortable and relaxed, I picked up the canter. I liked it so much, I not only cantered, I jumped a small cross rail that was in the center of the ring. I started riding when I was about 5 years old. I didn’t own an English saddle and for some reason my bridle had gigantically long reins. I had an old Calvary saddle that I hated and only used it in little local shows. I must have been an incredibly odd site. Judy was the judge at the show. I had a friend teach me about trotting on the proper diagonal and I picked it up correctly after the second or third try. Leads were totally foreign to me. I obviously, didn’t place in any class. The final class was bareback. To my utter shock I won it! Judy took me aside afterwards and talked to me about 4-H. If I helped clean one of barns after school, she wouldn’t charge me for riding lessons. She gave me a really old English saddle to use. I cleaned my little barn after school then jumped on Rebel and rode to Judy’s farm to clean. She gave me so many experiences during my years in 4-H and I learned so much. I was a sponge just sucking up knowledge. I have to say that learning to ride in a side saddle was one of the most fun experiences in my riding experience. It was great fun. I’m glad I didn’t have to use it often, but I’m still shocked at how easy and secure I’d feel when riding in it. Maybe you should make riding in one a regular thing! 😆

The “good luck” sent me into laughter. Matt’s a pretty sharp cookie so I didn’t feel too bad for him when he was trying side saddle AND a new horse at the same time. This was super fun to watch and the ladies and coach are so talented and very friendly.

I was thoroughly entertained. Loved your sense of polite humour. Had me laughing, and wanting more. You have a talent in etiquette, that all of us could learn from, well done. Your parents must be proud.

“ My stallions wouldve already killed everyone” 🤣🤣💀. Lol. You did great Matt!

I guess you enjoyed the muscle pain the day after 😆. But actually for those who would like to try after this video there is nothing much to fear: we pretty much cannot fall with a side siddle, because the forks are going above our legs and then keep us locked on it (it is even more true on a three forks side saddle). Keeping the legs tight around the forks and the back slightly on the right is called the security position, something impossible to have with a classic saddle. Some people I know feel safer riding a side saddle because of this and it is definitively easier to do a levade in a side saddle. Otherwise you have a great balance for a first time in a side saddle, I'm impressed! I think the full dress look would suits you amazingly 😁, as it is prettier to cover the legs when on a side saddle

I loved this! I had no idea how sidesaddle worked, how the tack worked, or how it was shown. You should do this as a series for more less-known disciplines and how they're shown. I very much enjoyed this, thank you! ❤

I loved how delighted everyone in the background is watching Matt try out their craft

Matt, you are so genuine and sweet to people and horses.

So as a child we rode "bare back" a lot during New England, winter, months. We kept blankets on, flipped the back of blankets up and removed leg straps. On top of that we added saddle pads with an eventing overgirth. A chest breast plate helped keep all together. We w/t/c jumped like that from Nov to Feb. Let me tell you our positions are all STILL gentle and balanced. Our trainer, Gincy Bucklin, had us ride side saddle this way too. W/t/c... Small x rails. It was great fun. We learned more doing that then riding any 3foot course. I should add we used neck straps to prevent pulling on the horses mouths. Quite fun for beginners to advanced. Im 52 yrs old and can ride a 3'6 course no stirrups like the best of them! Lol!!!

It's impossible not to like Matt! He is so amiable, funny, and self-deprecating.

Haha, love the slip up of the one woman in the blue, just started talk in the Friesian language. Those Friesian horses are so so majestic wow! Good work riding him Matt!

"My stallions would have already killed everyone" sent me 😂💀

Matt 😂😂😂 I friggen love your enthusiasm! All the “Oooohhh” I think that’s when your horse slowed down 😂 but it’s so refreshing seeing someone willing to learn and give this much of themselves, as always: keep up the good work and stay true to yourself ❤❤❤

I am gonna die in one Boot….😂😂 I am cracking up…these Ladies looked so graceful on their beautiful Friesen, amazing also that the Horses seem to balance that one sided Weight very well…awesome ❤

The way they are all talking dutch by the couresel is just amazing😂😂😂

You made it look easy Matt! I’d love to see Jesse do this too😂❤

I learnt to ride side saddle in the uk from a really young age and used to show/ jump and hunt side saddle! There is a lady called Lucinda sims in England who is one of the best and most experienced/award winning side saddle trainers in the world and if you want to learn she is definitely one of the best!!

One of my first riding instructors/coach was from England and moved to the states. Her main discipline was hunters and eq. Once a student had very solid foundation, she required everyone to branch out from the hunter/eq world by taking lessons in western (reining and cattle work), dressage, showing jumping, cross country, hunting, driving and yes, side saddle. Students were required to compete in schooling shows in ALL the above mentioned. I was most worried about side saddle. The side saddle classes weren’t just flat classes or riding a dressage test but also jumping. The highest I jumped side saddle was 3’ and I was good with that 😅! I also did one drag hunt side saddle. It’s very much a lost art. Thanks Matt to doing this video. It brought back some good, and scary, times many years ago!! I learned to love side saddle.

Hello Matt!! You did AWESOME with the side saddle!! I love how you bring other things from the equestrian world to your videos. They are very educational & fun!!

The late Queen Elizabeth used to ride saddle until she became too told to ride. She rode side saddle for all official engagements where she had to ride (Trooping of the Colour) .... she was an amazing horsewoman

Side saddle is very cool, but looks quite difficult! Can you imagine jumping side saddle?!?! The riders and horses at the beginning looked beautiful! Matt did a great job! ❤

I had a lesson from an instructor who taught both side saddle and astride. Sitting straight is such an important part of sidesaddle, and I was NOT straight. I was riding astride, but was not allowed out of walk, lol. But anyway, the riding position is about posture, straightness etc. Crookedness is not good. Good to see SideSaddle being highlighted.

So pleased you wore your helmet. Always wise🐴

PERFECTION Both the horses, ladies and Matt. Thank you for bringing such a rare and beautiful art. 🤩🤩👏👏🇦🇺🇦🇺

I really loved this show. I used to ride almost every day. Then I was in a car accident. I now have a very bad right knee and a fused left ankle. Always wondered if I could ride with a side saddle. You did great thank you so much.

This was a great video! Matt is so warm and natural and, of course, an awesome rider. Thanks Matt for getting out of your comfort zone to show us something new. Well done!

So cool! I have pics of my great granny in a sidesaddle and now I want to have a go, so looking for one currently that I can have lessons. There is a bit of a sidesaddle scene here in the UK

Matt love to see you ride western and barrels something different to put you out of your comfort zone.

Matt this is a great video! I never knew these things about this style of riding. And you're so charming 😄

Matt that was so great! Adorable older stallion took good care of you. Nicely done!

Matt, one can see what a gifted rider you are, getting on this unknown horse, using this strange saddle and still looking confident and steering the nice stallion competently through all these exercises!👏🐎 And these Friesians are such a beautiful breed😍😍❤ and the Ladies in Blue looked gorgeous riding side saddle👍.

STUNNING!!! Ballet on horseback! I got chills watching them and I love that breed of horse, my favorite 100%

I really enjoyed the content. It was a great mix of watching gorgeous Friesians in the Netherlands, and watching Matt be Matt. What a lovely school master of a horse as well.

What a beautiful video ❤️. You did so well Matt. And these Friesians are so beautiful and impressive. Maybe you should get one some time?

I've been loving the consistent uploads on here and HorseWorldTV! BEST equestrian entertainment = Matt Harnacke ❤

Good for you, Matt. Maybe someone else said this but if the saddle fits you correctly, it is not easy to fall off. If you are going to jump in it, it should be taken to an experienced saddler and have it adjusted to fit you. Sidesaddle is at bottom one as of those things meant to keep women less powerful/capable/adventurous than men. But there is no doubt that it can look gorgeous depending on the attire. The Baroque breeds are particularly suited to it, so it should be right up your ally. And as far as actually being limiting, it never stopped those English ladies in the hunting field. My great great grandmother was one of them in the middle 1800s. She was, as is said , “a devil to go”. She was also a notable whip and disdained a modest lady’s phaeton, driving her chestnuts tandem in a sporting vehicle. Shocking. We have 2 beautiful paintings of her, one in the hunting field and one driving.

Hi all YOU are SO luck to have a go at sidesadel ,AND all goose best. And THANK the ladies. SO glad you had a GO.

Well done, you’re gonna be sore. What a great experience and what a good boy!

Wow, Matt! You did great! Those riders are so beautiful! It looks so difficult and uncomfortable, but it was great to see someone new to it try it out. Thanks for such fun content!

That was much fun to watch. Those families with status and money often started their daughters like their best horses, early. It was easier to mingle with the best suiters. Unfortunately it was also common to assure they were "pure" before marriage, so riding sidesaddle maintained the integrity for that inspection. Sounds horid but reality with so much money and status involved. Loss of integrity meant marrying below your families status and a harder life. I love sidesaddle. It's better than any palates work out and can appear graceful. Hunt jumping can be challenging. Matt thank you for taking the bullet to experience. It's not comfortable for Men.🐎 Love the Friesian breed. Do wish you would visit Stahl G and cart drive. Opportunity to meet Johnny and offspring for Jesse.

Matt!! That was beautiful to watch!!❤❤❤ You did great!! I happen to love Friesian horses, because they have very good patience with humans 😊😊. I really only thought that royalty still rode side saddle now. Those ladies did a spectacular job and I give them a 10❣️❣️❣️. Thank you for the video!

How beautiful! It's like watching a horse ballet.💕 Matt, you did wonderful! I'd have probably fallen off. LOL I'm sure you gave those ladies things to talk about for days.😂

Thank you for taking us along on your side-saddle journey Matt. It was so fun watching and you are such a funny guy. Always making me laugh. I learned so much just as you did. Can't wait for the next adventure.

It’s so hard ! Much harder then it looks I learned for my wedding even just a walk I was struggling. I would’ve never dare tried to trot or canter, good job!!

Ahhh I see! Since both legs are on the left, one needs to look to the right, to compensate the pull of balance weight to the left sitbone, and realign, so weight is evenly distributed i.e to the right sitbone as well. Cool! You are so elegant even trying this change!♥️

I love that they all put on their performance outfits and really gave you a show!! And they all seemed so kind and knowledgeable. If I lived there I would totally want to join their team ❤

What a charming segment. Truly LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this! You are an intrepid and entertaining sport, Matt. Would enjoy seeing more delightfully unique content like this. Thanks for sharing. 🐴❣

Great video. I always wanted to know more about sidesaddles. Thank you. And of course the Friesian horse is beautiful. Thank you Matt for a few laughs also.

WOW .... this is so beautiful and the music is sublime!! I had no idea riding side saddle was a thing! Thank you so much for sharing this with us ❤❤ 🎉😊

I loved the caroussel part! Do you think that maybe could be an interesting video, to find a quadrille group and train with them for a day? We used to sometimes do a few quadrille figures when I used to take lessons (ages ago) and it always was my favorite thing to do!

Wow, look at those beautiful Frisian Horses! You did great Matt; always cool and interesting to try something different from your normal, and see how you feel about it! and interesting for us to watch

You crack me up! Love it. Your sense of humor is so lovely. I can't believe you did trot and canter in the side saddle! You are an amazing rider as well as such a nice guy.

Now that was something else! We rode in the normal saddles sideways - just for fun and to challenge ourselves. I really enjoyed to learn more. And to see the stunning Friesians. The dressage at the beginning was very beautiful 😊 You did amazing Matt - and you survived fortunately!

Ahhh hi from Australia 🇦🇺, my Friesian mare passed away at 30, and was an amazing dressage horse, and éventer, she was amazing with children, and I even tried extrême cowboy her in hand when she was older, because she always wanted to be a part of everything . My family has owned 3 from the same sire . lol I now ride extreme cowboy on a quarter horse! Such a different life now . I only changed from English to western, as I had an acquired brain injury, an forgot how to ride, so I relearned in western. Although my boy knows both , we use a combination, depending on what he is better with . I do however love be able to ride with hardly any contact , and bit less etc I miss our beautiful Friesian’s , I highly recommend them. I’m half Dutch 🇳🇱 also . Half German 🇩🇪 first generation Australian

You should get Jesse to ride side saddle too!Give him a challenge! Brave man!

“At least one of my legs is warm” 😂

What fun and the ladies looked elegant.

Beautiful horse and lovely to see the side saddle team. I visited one of our local shows in West Yorkshire, UK this year and they had a side saddle class. The costumes and the horses looked magnificent. So well done Matt for trying it ❤😊

Loved this video! You can see you are a good rider and very polite to people and horses! Keep on doing what you do Matt❤️

I have ridden with a side saddle before but just to experience it. I did often ride “sidesaddle “ bare back, as well as my friend, after a long day of riding when the muscles on the inside of our legs were sore. It felt really relaxing. We were both expert riders and rode daily but you can still get sore riding bareback all day.

I just LOVED that. Watching at the beginning, with the music, I literally sat here and wept. It was so beautiful. The black and blue. And then you gave me some humour (thank goodness!). Brilliant.

This was really interesting. Beautiful horses. The horses that you rode was gorgeous!

You are a trooper Matt! This was really interesting. A series of different riding styles and tack around the world could be fun. For me, the higher level of detailed explanation, and the instructor's assistance while you were riding were what made this video so great. Respect to you for doing this.

That was an incredible learning experience. I had no idea of all the different factors that need to be in place. Wonderful video Matt and loved that you gave it a try and demonstrated the differences. ❤❤

Stunning horses and you look really good riding side saddle Matt, some ladies can do jumps too, tfs x Julie 🇬🇧

This was soooo great to watch, you a legend Matt🎉Thank you for this great episode❤ love from South Africa🇿🇦

You are So funny Matt! That was fun to watch! I learned a lot this video! All the best to you

Thoroughly enjoyed watching you trying to ride sidesaddle, you did well. Love seeing Freisian horse’s, they are my favorite.

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Oh this was a fascinating video. I loved how well you took instruction and also seeing you connect what they were saying to what you knew from riding "normally".

Matt, you look so gorgeous on a Friesian! You really must add one to your stables some day. I think you would have killed it in one of those pretty blue skirts too lol but it was interesting see what you were doing with your legs. I had always thought sidesaddle would be horribly uncomfortable but I can see that once a person gets the correct muscles strengthened up, it might actually be more comfortable and stable than riding astride. How amazing would it be if we got to see Jesse trying this? 😂 His anxiety would be through the roof and maybe we'd learn some new swear words but I bet he'd be just as graceful a rider as Matt in the end.

That was amazing! Beautiful horses, I loved seeing the costumes, too!

You should remove that FAIL stamp... this was FAR from a fail! Great to watch - informative, amusing and fascinating, all in one. Love your humour and the fact you put yourself out there, potentially to be humiliated but actually coming off really well, and are so respectful to the experts! More please!

Great video showing the skill required to ride side-saddle. One thing though, how do you dismount from a side saddle? That would have been interesting to watch.

Hi. You are absolutely brilliant horsemen and great individual. Well done. Alan

18:37 the grungy “it’s very difficult for me” while nothing was happening got me 😂

I wanted to see the dismount! Haha such a fun video!

I wonder how much difference it makes if you are that tall, long legs are bound to fit a bit differently in that saddlehook, especially in saddles made for the women that long ago who would have been shorter. But on the other hand maybe it helped him not fear for any sensitive parts getting bumped in gallop.

Just Loved to see this! Thank you!

Just plain WOW! Thanks so much for sharing this.

This is great!! Matt needs a Fresian, now that he has room.......so lovely for dressage ☺ 💙

This was amazing to watch!!! Good job and thank you!!

Beautiful video Matt thank you!

What a wonderful video! Thankyou so much!

I have pictures of my great grand mother riding side saddle. To think women used to ride hunt and jumping this way. Thanks for this video

Loved watching this!!

Fascinating to watch. Well done Matt, you did a great job. ❤

Absolutely brilliant video, well done Matt ❤