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Thursday, December 04, 2008

FINALLY. Rewarded with a new saddle!

By "new" I don't mean "brand spankin" but rather "new to me."  I prefer to consider that all the hard work of breaking it in has already been done.  

So here it is, after a good scrubbing with Leather New and a nice rubbing with Horseman's One Step:
Oh my gosh, you know me with my tack fixation.  I actually took the vacuum cleaner to it.  Yeah, I did a bare necessity kind of vacuuming of the rug, then got busy getting every last miniscule bit of barn dirt out of the saddle.  It's a special kind of dirt: dust/ hay chaff/ spiderweb combo.  Hands up if you know what I'm talking about.

Turned out kinda pretty, I think.



I am quite pleased with this saddle.  I wanted lightweight, and high enough in the gullet (that's the space under the horn for non-saddle people) (the horn being the "holygeez handle" for non-riding people) to fit Phoenix.  He's got high withers.  (Bump where neck meets back for non-horse people.)  

I got a little carried away with taking pictures of my new saddle.  I had to get all ahh-ty about it --at least as arty as I can get with my little Cybershot.  

Oh my gosh, do I ever love tooled leather!!!






The really cool thing is that I got the bonus plan yesterday.  I got not one, but TWO new old saddles!  The bonus is a little 13" pony saddle.  

 

I decided a while back to retire my own pony saddle, the one I actually rode my pony with. It looks good, but I know the leather is brittle. It's just a decoration now. My kids are big enough to ride a normal sized 15" saddle, but I'm thinking about the future.  I would like to teach kids when I'm certified, and I feel safer with little people in saddles small enough to fit them.  Apparently a 5'2" 110lb lady rode this saddle. She must have had a smaller butt than me!
The little saddle hadn't been used in years, and was quite dried up.  You can see how the skirt curled up.  I went nuts on this one.  "Hey kids, look!  It's actually kindof reddish brown!"  I lathered it up with Leather New, wiped it down, dug into every curve of carved tooling and picked out the dirt.  And you know what?  I'm gonna do it again.




Check out the fenders and those cute little tapaderos covering the stirrups!


It's carved and tooled from one end to the other.  It's a good solid little saddle and I look forward to getting a chance to use it.  Until then, I'll just oil it up and take pictures of it!!!  Ha!






 

31 comments:

hayseed said...

pretty saddles-much better than a new, crispy crunchy saddle-more personality!

Unknown said...

Great pix! I was somehow receiving your vibes on my junk expedition today. Got an awesome, red/blk plaid w/ white threads vintage cowgirl shirt for $3-- and a super cute retro cowgirl w/ trigger "x-mas ornament" for free! (turned out to be an air freshener that fell out of somebody's car-- who cares-- it's going on my tree.)

Beautiful saddles!

Dysd Housewife said...

BEYOOTIFUL!

dilling said...

sweet!
there are some hand tooled FLuevog boots I want...when I win the lotto

Heidi Willis said...

I don't know much about saddles, but this sure is a beauty!

And I agree... there is something much better about a soft, broken in saddle that has a history

Heidi the Hick said...

Ah yes, history is appreciated with saddles. I don't know much about these ones but heck I can make it up. I'll get back to you on that...

Oh Dilling, hand tooled boots! Wow! yeah that'd go on the wish list.

DHousewife- thank yooooo!

Pseudosu- I am tickled to hear about my vibes influencing your junk ship expedition. That sounds awesome. I'd totally wear that shirt. Does the cowgirl ornament still smell? I'd laugh if it really did have that cowgirl smell. I'll go sniff my saddles now... haha!

LadyBronco said...

Your pics definitely bring out the craftmanship of the saddles - they are gorgeous!

Nice finds. :0)

Coffeypot said...

Pretty, but where's the cup-holder?

Heidi the Hick said...

Coffeypot- the cup holder is your left hand!

Lady B- can you imagine what the $10,000 saddles look like close up? Heck I can't. I've never seen one of those in real life. I'm quite happy with the ones I've got!

Marni said...

Those are lovely!!! I bet they smell good, too, don't they? Leather... mmmmmm

CindyDianne said...

oh, I love a new old saddle. New saddles are uncomfortable anyway. I always let someone else get the sore arse! :-D

Very nice. I like them both.

JJ has high withers too.

I love my saddles. I am shopping for some new old headstalls right now.

OH! I never did tell the story about my headstall. Pffft!

There's a Blogiversary Giveaway going on over at my place!

The Preacherman said...

For a none horsey person I can only say they look beautiful.

Mind you I'd rather admire them than sit on the back of a horse on one...heathen that I am

Kerri said...

It's beautiful, reminds me of cherrywood.

Btw, you are reading one my favorite books by one my favorite authors. Raven King????

Lynn Sinclair said...

That is one very nice lookin' saddle, little lady!

Biddie said...

If it makes you happy....:)

Unknown said...

Please tell me you saw the pony express bit on SNL last night...

Whywudyabreedit said...

Lovely new-old saddle. Nice find.

Just wanted to pop my head in and let you know that I have been lerking around your blog for a month or so. I have been quite enjoying your writing.

Found you through Mugwump...

Angela said...

Oooooh aaaaaaah and stufffff!

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