kilts, horseback riding and genetic memory

[Bellfree]

i'm a newbie, so i hope folks will cut me some slack at the naivety of my questions. i mean, i'm not generally a joiner, but i enlisted in X Marks the Spot because i have a few questions that i figured experts might have some perspective i can learn from.

the first is, is there an acceptable/practical way of wearing a kilt while riding a horse?

i can hear the laughs or scoffs now. so on to the next.

do others have the same reaction i do to wearing the kilt? it resonates with me.

for instance, looking at a sporran when i was buying my first kilt this fall at Geoffrey (Tailor) some memory sparked. it reminded me of a small leather pouch my dad had given me when i was 12 in which to put money while i was collecting from customers of my newspaper route. it's a pouch i have kept for 43 years and which dad had been given as a boy and so had to have kept himself for a good number of years before handing it to me. a simple leather pouch which we both kept for so many decades, long after its utility was exhausted, suggests that it tapped into something wordlessly felt, somehow remembered, that leather pouch , same shape in leather, to be worn from the waist, as a sporran. maybe it was someone else's memory, an ancient greater grandfather's, but that memory had been handed down to me like the leather pouch from my father. and so the sporran of my new kilt outfit felt not so much bought as reclaimed.

wearing the kilt feels just as natural. ok, maybe i'm nuts, but what say others?

[Bugbear]

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/h...rseback+riding

[Riverkilt]

Welcome, that sporran/pouch is a treasure. Wear it with pride when kilted.

The rabble have come up with countless ideas for "sporrans" and yours is the best I've heard. Hope you can share a picture of it for us.

And if Mel Gibson can ride kilted, anyone can. I just mount up and sweep the kilt just like sitting anywhere else.

Ron

[Arlen]

I'm not so great at horseriding. My wife rides but I never had until I got a few secret lessons recently so I can surprise her when I am back in the states.
1: If you don't wear soft, cotton boxers when riding in your kilt, at least put a blanket over the saddle. The leather can get sticky against your skin and it's not fun.
2: Ride American style. (Also known as western style.) It is A LOT more comfortable and natural for someone in a kilt than the traditional European style most people use here in the U.K.

There's a lot of fuss about how impractical a kilt is for riding, but I never had any issue with it whatsoever.
Mount up, stand in the stirrups and spread your kilt around a little so it doesn't get creased, sit and go.
I found it to be quite comfortable and easy.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I seem to recall an army uniform, c.1930, complete with a pair of tartan riding breeches hanging in a wardrobe at my aunt's home. These were't trews, but pukka breeches with leather at the knees. Any how, as unusual as they might appear, I doubt they'd get as many stares as a kilt. Especially if you were thrown from your horse!

[Rex_Tremende]

Any how, as unusual as they might appear, I doubt they'd get as many stares as a kilt. Especially if you were thrown from your horse!

Well, in that case, I doubt they'd be staring at the kilt.

Regards,
Rex.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Well, in that case, I doubt they'd be staring at the kilt.

Regards,
Rex.

That made me laugh!

[macwilkin]

I seem to recall an army uniform, c.1930, complete with a pair of tartan riding breeches hanging in a wardrobe at my aunt's home. These were't trews, but pukka breeches with leather at the knees. Any how, as unusual as they might appear, I doubt they'd get as many stares as a kilt. Especially if you were thrown from your horse!

I have a picture of a Canadian officer in the First World War wearing riding breeches in the Government Sett.

T.

[starbkjrus]

i'm a newbie, so i hope folks will cut me some slack at the naivety of my questions. i mean, i'm not generally a joiner, but i enlisted in X Marks the Spot because i have a few questions that i figured experts might have some perspective i can learn from.

the first is, is there an acceptable/practical way of wearing a kilt while riding a horse?

i can hear the laughs or scoffs now. so on to the next.

do others have the same reaction i do to wearing the kilt? it resonates with me.

for instance, looking at a sporran when i was buying my first kilt this fall at Geoffrey (Tailor) some memory sparked. it reminded me of a small leather pouch my dad had given me when i was 12 in which to put money while i was collecting from customers of my newspaper route. it's a pouch i have kept for 43 years and which dad had been given as a boy and so had to have kept himself for a good number of years before handing it to me. a simple leather pouch which we both kept for so many decades, long after its utility was exhausted, suggests that it tapped into something wordlessly felt, somehow remembered, that leather pouch , same shape in leather, to be worn from the waist, as a sporran. maybe it was someone else's memory, an ancient greater grandfather's, but that memory had been handed down to me like the leather pouch from my father. and so the sporran of my new kilt outfit felt not so much bought as reclaimed.

wearing the kilt feels just as natural. ok, maybe i'm nuts, but what say others?

Ok, I have nothing to say about horseback riding (as i"m not good at it) and the kilt does not resonate with me as it does with others.

On the subject of Genetic Memory I will weigh in .

When I was a kid growing up in a relatively flat place I used to go to an area that was rolling hills and pasture land. Very steep hills covered with cow pastures. I had no idea at the time why I was so attracted to the area (it was near my childhood home with relatives living nearby). It just was.

My first trip to Dumfries last January when I was on the train "chuntering" through the countryside between Glasgow and Dumfries I was astounded to find that the countryside we were rolling through was EXACTLY like the few acres back home that I had loved for years.

I have been laughed at and ridiculed (not that it makes a difference) on this board for mentioning it before but yes, I believe in genetic memory and no matter what anyone else says, I've experienced it.

You just can't tell me that all the Scottish descendants around the world who have a longing for Scotland and all things Scottish are not a bit experiencing the same thing.

Ok, well I'll just for now.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

On the subject of Genetic Memory I will weigh in .

I believe in genetic memory and no matter what anyone else says, I've experienced it.

You just can't tell me that all the Scottish descendants around the world who have a longing for Scotland and all things Scottish are not a bit experiencing the same thing.

There are those who scoff and poo-poo the idea of genetic memory, but who quite readily accept the idea of animal instinct. The more we learn about ourselves, and DNA research may just be scratching the surface, the more likely it becomes that human instincts will be more fully understood. If a people can inherit physical characteristics, who can say with any certainty that it is not possible for them to also inherit memory traces as well?

I won't laugh at you.