My Old Saddle

Today I’d like to pay homage to my old saddle. I’m sure many of you have a favorite saddle – one that fits you like a glove, one you’ve hung on to over the years because it’s so comfortable. English, Western, endurance, or any kind of a saddle, a horseperson tends to get attached to the equipment that works best for them.

Here is mine:

I have owned and ridden this saddle for about twenty-five years. I got it with a little trading horse that I bought and resold, but the saddle was so comfortable that I kept it. And kept it, and kept it.

I have another good name-brand saddle in the barn, and it’s nice also. In fact, I owned a saddle shop for many years, and had the luxury of bringing any saddle or piece of equipment home to try on a horse (gosh, that was fun.)

But this old saddle is the one I still choose to ride most days. I’m guessing it was made in the 1950’s, and although it does not have any markings on it, it appears to be a custom saddle. I’d love to know the maker. Notice the unusual tooling, and the braiding on the swells (which used to be red.)

The only thing I’ve done to it is add silver conchos, long saddle strings, and have a crupper ring put on the back for a little mutton-withered mule I owned for a while. It’s definitely a tough, well-made saddle.

I’ve logged literally hundreds of miles in this saddle. I trained for endurance rides with it, and in fact rode the Tevis Cup (one hundred miles in one day) in this saddle. If it looks a little rough around the edges, that’s why. It’s been used.

If I sound a little sentimental about this saddle, well, it’s true. I even wrote a song called My Old Saddle, had it copyrighted, recorded, and hand delivered it to Ian Tyson, cowboy musician. That never went anywhere, but oh well.

“My old saddle has carried me
Up on the mountains and through the streams
And I’ve sat there and watched the moon rise through the trees.”

My old saddle has fit every horse I’ve owned. Here it is on my old high-withered quarter horse, Buddy. My saddle doesn’t have a padded seat, and these days I ride it with fleece saddle cover, which makes it super comfy.

On another note: Horse Racing Update. If you marked your calendars for the April 9th match-up between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra in the Apple Blossom, it ain’t gonna happen. At their respective prep races on March 13th, Rachel came in a disappointing 2nd against 3 other fillies, and her connections decide not to run her again so soon. Zenyatta, racing in a field of eight, won handily and is now 15 for 15. She is set to ship to Arkansas today to run in the Apple Blossom Cup on April 9th, as promised. And Zenyatta, with her come from behind style, is worth watching absolutely any day of the year, so if you can find it on television, tune in.

Anyway, back to Saddles. You've just heard about my great old favorite saddle. What kind of saddle do you ride? Do you have a favorite, go-to, never-part-with saddle that you cannot do without? Tell us about it.