I was rooting around in an abandoned farmhouse in Neersville, Va., and I found a rather dilapidated saddle and salvaged it -- with the caretaker's permission, of course. This area saw heavy Civil War action during both the Antietam and Gettysburg campaigns (it's a few miles south of Harpers Ferry), and it's rich with artifacts from that era.
I'm not trying to influence anybody's assessment; it would just be very cool if it was from that time. My intention is to donate it to a local museum. (In fact, by the time you read this, it'll already have been donated. I just would like to tell the museum staff what it is.)
I've examined it with an inexpert eye, and found no markings that would indicate a military saddle. No maker's mark that I could see. Small embossing marks. The horn was repaired at one point with what looks like a modern shoestring that hasn't rotted away, so must have been in use in living memory. The farm was abandoned after a fire destroyed the main house in the early 1980s.
Help Identifying Old Saddle?
in Saddle Identification, Restoration & Repair
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Hello, folks!
I was hoping you'd be able to help me out.
I was rooting around in an abandoned farmhouse in Neersville, Va., and I found a rather dilapidated saddle and salvaged it -- with the caretaker's permission, of course. This area saw heavy Civil War action during both the Antietam and Gettysburg campaigns (it's a few miles south of Harpers Ferry), and it's rich with artifacts from that era.
I'm not trying to influence anybody's assessment; it would just be very cool if it was from that time. My intention is to donate it to a local museum. (In fact, by the time you read this, it'll already have been donated. I just would like to tell the museum staff what it is.)
I've examined it with an inexpert eye, and found no markings that would indicate a military saddle. No maker's mark that I could see. Small embossing marks. The horn was repaired at one point with what looks like a modern shoestring that hasn't rotted away, so must have been in use in living memory. The farm was abandoned after a fire destroyed the main house in the early 1980s.
Here it is:
Side view 1:
Side view 2:
Top view:
Underneath:
Front view:
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Harrison