help with old photograph, man on horse

Okay, here goes - this is all from that rider extraordinaire - i.e. my daughter!

Definitely not dressage -- that is not a dressage saddle. Probably hunter pace.

The tack is HUNT SEAT - you can tell by the flat nose-band & the running martingale on the horse. (A running martingale has the rings you see attached to the reins, with the loops of leather that dangle around the horse's chest to prevent it from raising its head too high.)

The running martingale is not allowed in dressage (or hunt seat equitation) which would suggest that the photo was taken following some sort of HUNTER PACE (a timed trial - running a foxhunt course for time, not in a real fox hunt.) The attachments on the saddle (those pouches or pockets) suggest HUNTER PACE, not show jumping or steeplechase.

In addition, all that lather on the horse indicates over-exertion - perhaps even poor conditioning of the horse, as well as possibly poor conditions on the course itself. (No self-respecting equestrian would do that to his/her horse!)

The horse itself appears to be a Thoroughbred of an older style, of English or Irish stock (note its large head.) Today's t'breds have been bred to be thinner & slighter, and they have more delicate heads.

Finally, the rider's positioning here is of a very old fashioned style that has long been out of favor - particularly because of the way it impedes the horse's movement & allows the rider to be easily unsaddled. (For instance, by today's standards, the rider's stirrups are too long, his feet are too far in front of him, and his "butt" is too far back on the horse.) He is probably slumped the way he is because he's exhausted from trying to stay on that horse!

 

@SBSVC That's the kind of knowledge that beats google every day of the week.

 

Yes, indeed - and that's why I had to WAIT FOR HER to comment, instead of trying to answer it myself!

(Back in the day, my daughter was the US Pony Club National Champion in Know-Down [Horse Knowledge] in both the junior AND the senior divisions! When it comes to questions about horses and/or English style riding, I ALWAYS go to her!)

 

now thats what i call a definitive answer, thanks sbsvc

i cant help but feel sorry for the horse now, poor old horsey

hunter pace sounds a good fictional character name

'hunter pace knew the game was over as quickly as his horse belted away, to the hills i imagine'

 

I read a lot of Dick Francis. In at least one book he says that there are weight classifications and sometimes they used saddle weights. Maybe those pockets were for the weights

 

Bev!? Me too! How do you like the son?

 

Meh. I've read that Dick Francis's wife, Mary, had a lot to do with the finished books. The writing was so elegant and contained. Plus the subject matter was so interesting. I had to live away from home as a child and one family that fostered me also boarded race horses. We couldn't ride them, but we could feed them hay and carrots. I have a soft spot for Dick Francis. His son writes decent stories, but they don't have the same appeal.