LindaF

Bartley was a saddler in London, England from the early 1800's on. Their work was exceptional. I have a Bartley side saddle from 1902 that is still in very nice shape with just minor maintenance done on it - new panels, new billets while the panels were off, and regular cleaning. I feed the leather with Passier Lederbalsm. Linda Flemmer The SIde Saddlery

The US military had a lot of trees left over as surplus as they phased out using horses in general & these saddles in particular. Many were sold off as surplus. I suspect that this is the case with your saddle. Thaks for sharing neat pics! Linda

Tim, I hadn't given any thought to exhibiting any of our saddles. We have been building a few show side saddles on spec and actually been selling them despite the lousy economy! This particular saddle is on its way to Texas right now. We're located in West Virginia - a bit of a haul to Sheridan or Wichita. I'm planning to start another one here this Spring for the same market. I'm not certain what the thing will look like until I start doodling a bit. I'm not at found of how the pommels are set on the Steele trees. The leaping head (side pommel) is a tad too short and the exceptionally wide fixed pommel (top) can be hard to use for ladies with short legs. We've played around with replacing these with the more traditional metal tangs and building them up into medium width pommels. We've done one (a personal saddle for one of the store managers), but I'm debating whether to make modifications to a saddle tree that I'm selling to the public. I'm sure it shoots the manufacturer's "warranty" on the tree all to pieces. Do other saddlers out there make any significant modifications to a tree they get from an "assembly line" manufacturer? Linda

I didn't - never thought there would be much interest at the time. All the antique western side saddles have a rise to give room for the withers. Ditto for the older English side saddles that lack a cutback. For English riding you do want a flatter seat to allow you to get forward over fences. Those saddles have a cutback to accommodate the horses withers and still allow a flatter seat. Slightly uphill really isn't a problem for western. You really need the slight uphill seat western side saddle for the security with working cattle. A few antique western side saddles here even have a grab strap on the side without your legs for security when the horse got cow-y. Linda

I ran across a rare animal at an auction about three years ago - an offside side saddle. Most side saddles have the pommels on the near side. A very few were reversed so the lady's legs rested on the offside of the horse. This saddle was from the middle of the 1890's. The leather was so brittle and "burned" that there was nothing to save other than to use it for patterns and to copy the tooling and carving on it. The tree was sound - rawhide covered and at 19 inches slightly longer than the "standard" 18" tree. (Side saddle trees are measured differently than astride saddles!) Most Goodnight side saddles have full double skirts which this one lacked. Most also had simple border tooling since they were utilitarian working saddles. This saddle had some fan-shaped corner carving. The saddle is double rigged. We salvaged the cold iron rigging rings and covered by hand with leather like they were originally. We believe the original seat was deer skin or something similar, so that's we replaced it with cream-colored deer skin. The leaping head (pommel on the side) was crushed when I purchased it. Most likely it was dropped at some point in it's life. We slipped the pommel's cover, heated the internal metal tang and bent it back into shape to match the shape of my leg. It fits some fairly broad horses in my barn. I wish it could speak to tell its stories! I hope you enjoy these pictures. Linda

Here is the latest show side saddle that The Side Saddlery built and sold to a lady in Texas. The saddle is built on a Steele tree. We used calf skin on the seat for better grip. We wanted to avoid the inevitable wear you get on suede. We ran the balance strap under the skirting to avoid breaking up the lines of the skirts or hiding the carving. The near side is covered by the lady's skirt or side saddle apron, so the carving & silver is limited there. We didn't feel we needed to "chase" fashion in the Arabian ring since side saddle is so different anyway. The saddle is meant to look a little "retro" and different from what anyone else might be riding. I hope you enjoy these pictures. I'll also post a Goodnight western sidesaddle we rebuit from the antique tree out in a separate post. Linda

Nice job - matches well with the saddle leather. My only concern is that if I unintentionally part company with the horse, I want the cell phone WITH ME, not on the horse. My horse is well trained, but he hasn't learned to place a call for me yet. Linda

Add the cost of all supplies you use, cost of your building/store, your advertising. Add what you think your hourly time is worth. If it is a hard piece or the customer is a problem, add in a inconvenience factor. As you do this, you will get a feel for what repairs cost you. You can make your own price list to keep from refiguring each time. With experience, you will get faster - the time you take goes down, but your experience should produce better work. It should even out.

The web page for saddles is http://sidesaddle.com/store/saddles/saddles.html I've left up even the saddles I've sold so people can see & research the variety that's out there. If you follow the link by any of the saddles, it leads to detailed pictures from various angles and descriptions. In the works now is a show western side saddle built on a Steele Western pleasure side saddle tree with extensive tooling. I should have pictures by the end of August when its' finished. I'm building it on spec since Circle Y stopped making tooled & carved western show side saddles. I think there's a market out there. The Steele tree is actually fairly rideable, though the leaping head is non-traditional for a western side saddle. Linda

I wanted to introduce myself as a new board member. I am Linda Flemmer, a long time member & Vice President of the International Side Saddle Organization and manager of The Side Saddlery. I've ridden side saddle for going on 30 years and am a certified side saddle instructor and fitter. Our store specializes in restoration and refurbishment of vintage and antique side saddles (English, Western and "period" side saddles) and assciated tack. I'm hoping to learn techniques about saddle care and restoration as well as share knowledge about my own little niche in side saddles. Linda Flemmer The Side Saddlery