Meet the side-saddle rider from East Yorkshire who is still riding and competing after nearly half a century

Nearly five decades on from her first lesson at 12, Gill Greenwood lives and breathes the ancient equestrian form, thrown into the spotlight by the likes of Downton Abbey and Bridgerton.

Gill, 59, who recently competed in England’s oldest horse race, the Kiplingcotes Derby, is literally living sidesaddle riding history, and a real-life Lady Mary of the 1920s would recognise her outfit today.

Her austere black habit - the same word for her riding attire also describes what nuns wear - was made in 1928 for Mrs Norman Field by the London firm Roberts and Carroll, while her silk top hat is from the same era.

Meanwhile her side- saddle, made by Champion & Wilton in 1912, still bears the label showing it was shipped out to Shanghai for a Mrs HE Morriss who was married to the newspaper tycoon Henry Morriss.

The last Champion & Wilton side-saddle apprentice, Mike Huline-Dickens, who is in his 80s, still looks after all her saddles, more than 60 years after the firm closed its doors

Gill, who lives near Driffield, said: “My mum was a Cockney and never had a horse.

“She loved seeing the Queen ride sidesaddle. When I came along she bought a Shetland pony, which was about 30 years old. You either love it or hate it - there isn’t a middle ground. It’s Marmite - if you love it you are hooked.

"I think you have to be very passionate about it - if you ask my husband he’ll say I’m obsessed.”

Gill, who regularly appears at events, is having a scarlet costume made for the Great Yorkshire Show in July, and says the “history, provenance and etiquette” are what she loves.

And indeed the etiquette involved is extraordinary - a silk top hat should not be worn until after midday and only at county shows or above. Black gloves cannot be worn as they denote mourning. “No bling, no colours, no buttonholes,” adds Gill, who has twice been a national side-saddle performance champion.

Lady Mary, by the way, got it a wrong - in the earlier TV series her habit and skirt were far too long.

There are around 1,000 members of the Side Saddle Association, and just a few are men. Gill has been a member since 1974 and son Daniel was national junior side-saddle performance champion.

She insists it is a safe sport, and has only fallen off six times in nearly 50 years, despite on occasion jumping 5ft high hedges. She says it’s all about balance and using the pommels on the saddle - the rounded hook the rider grips with a leg.

It is thought Queen Elizabeth 1 was one of the first to wrap her leg round a pommel. A second lower pommel called the leaping head was introduced in 1830 as an extra safety feature and enabled ladies to jump.

While the sport is associated with women, traditionally it was male grooms that trained the horses to side-saddle for the ladies and also got them fit.

A lot of veterans came back from World War One wounded and having lost limbs they learnt to ride side saddle as often it was the only way they could ride if they’d lost a lower limb.

Male side-saddle riders wear tweed and breeches unless it’s an evening performance when top hat and tails is de rigueur.