c. 1799
Conservatively dated at c. 1799, two horned side-saddles were in fact used in Britain much earlier on in the eighteenth century. Two paintings by Benjamin Marshall, 'A Lady's Favourite Hunter with a Pug and Terrier, a Folly Beyond', and 'The Favourite Hunter of Lady Frances Stevens', both feature side-saddles in a similar style to the above and are dated 1799, but a painting by George Stubbs, 'Two Hunters with a Groom and a Dog', shows a side-saddle of this design, and is dated twenty years earlier at 1779.
This side-saddle can be compared with the c. 1800 side-saddle exhibit, almost identical in general design of the pommels, but without the elaborately stitched safe. The large, square-shaped skirts protected a lady's voluminous clothing from the dirt and grease of her horse's coat.