*A word of explanation: I was recently asked to write an article about riding safely in skirts. This is the result. I hope it is encouraging!
We girls were out with Daddy for our annual Christmas shopping trip - which is really just a nice opportunity to go out for the day with him since we don't usually buy much. We headed into Barnes & Noble to get some coffee and stood near the front door, enjoying our special treat, when an older, sloppily-dressed lady came up to us. "I just wanted to say that I like the way your girls dress," she began in a forceful tone. She looked from Daddy to each of us.
"Well, thank you," Daddy said.
"I don't dress that way because I ride horses and it just ain't safe to ride in a skirt, but I like the way you dress."
All my sisters - except Anna Frances, who was distracted - looked at me. I smiled and said, "Actually, I have horses too and ride in a skirt all the time."
"Well, you can do that, but I ain't gonna be caught dead in a skirt! It ain't safe!" she said.
This lady held to a common misconception. All of us who wear skirts have probably heard it at some point or other and many ladies who prefer to dress modestly feel that wearing skirts or dresses would restrict them from riding. This simply is not true, though. Riding in a skirt can be done safely - but it does take a certain amount of thought and preparation. For the purpose of this article, explaining how to ride safely in a skirt, I'm going to skip all the wonderful reasons to wear skirts. Those of you who are reading this are probably already familiar with these reasons and the Biblical basis for them.
I have been riding in skirts for eight years or so and have never had a skirt-related accident yet. Not to say I never will have one, but I haven't to date. I have also done a lot of other things in skirts, including climbing trees (a lot), swimming, hiking, bicycle riding, climbing rocks, canoeing, dog training, and working around the house and farm.
This is what many people think of when they hear of riding horses in skirts.
