The Art of Female Equestrians in the 19th century. Transgression or reproduction of gendered stereotypes? On circus rings, female equestrians were free to act like men, to borrow their repertoire (academic riding). This article shows that this took place without blurring the division between male and female genders. For the greater part, female equestrians maintained the gendered stereotypes in force regarding horse-riding techniques (sidesaddle riding) and clothing, even if female equestrians dressed as men were quite fashionable at some point. Audiences adopted also female stereotypes. The art of female equestrians thus conveyed both a gendered transgression through what they and a reproduction of female stereotypes through what the audience saw of them, imagined and fantasized.