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Need some advice here.
The novel is set in 1910 British Guiana, on a sugar plantation. There are horses, and my MC and her sister, upper-class English, ride. There's a scene where they ride out on the plantation alone. To have then ride side-saddle is most inconvenient! They have to dismount at one point -- how do they get back up? My research shows they would need a mounting block, but there just isn't one, and I can't conjure one up.
The way they live is actually quite free from English social conventions and it's possible to have them riding astride, which I would prefer. But then there's the problem of clothes. I've gone into riding clothes for women in those days and the best option would be long culottes -- they have all their clothes made by a seamstress, so that would not be a problem. Or they could wear their long skirts with bloomers underneath (to prevent leg-chafing from the stirrup straps)... anyway, I'll solve the clothes problem somehow. That's not my question, though I'd appreciate your suggestions.
I'd just really like some opinion as to whether having them ride astride in that day and age would be just a little too - let's say, immodest? Progressive? Unbelievable? Anachronistic? Too much literary licence? It seems that riding astride for women didn't really take hold until after WWI -- though there are some exceptions, according to this blog.
The novel is set in 1910 British Guiana, on a sugar plantation. There are horses, and my MC and her sister, upper-class English, ride. There's a scene where they ride out on the plantation alone. To have then ride side-saddle is most inconvenient! They have to dismount at one point -- how do they get back up? My research shows they would need a mounting block, but there just isn't one, and I can't conjure one up.
The way they live is actually quite free from English social conventions and it's possible to have them riding astride, which I would prefer. But then there's the problem of clothes. I've gone into riding clothes for women in those days and the best option would be long culottes -- they have all their clothes made by a seamstress, so that would not be a problem. Or they could wear their long skirts with bloomers underneath (to prevent leg-chafing from the stirrup straps)... anyway, I'll solve the clothes problem somehow. That's not my question, though I'd appreciate your suggestions.
I'd just really like some opinion as to whether having them ride astride in that day and age would be just a little too - let's say, immodest? Progressive? Unbelievable? Anachronistic? Too much literary licence? It seems that riding astride for women didn't really take hold until after WWI -- though there are some exceptions, according to this blog.