British saddle seat riders head to Kentucky for World Cup
Alongside the dressage and paradressage riders, showjumpers, eventers, vaulters, reiners and endurance riders who travelled to Kentucky last week, there was another small band of British riders boarding a plane — the GB saddle seat team.
Saddle seat is based on a style of riding popular in Europe until the end of the 19th century.
The rider sits back on a flat saddle and holds the hands high, while the horse moves in an animated fashion.
The sport is popular in South Africa and the US though only has some 50 regular competitors and around eight shows a year here.
The team is financing the trip themselves and will be competing in the Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup.
The riders only have 30 minutes to get to know their assigned horses before doing a pattern test and showing off the gaits.
Team GB captain and gold-medal winning saddle seat rider Gertrud Hendriks, said: “We’ve been practising hard — I’m hopeful, but it also depends on how good the horses are.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
This article was first published in Horse & Hound (30 September, ’10)
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.