barebackmule

the bars angle seems to be a bit narrow under the cantle for my mule's very flat back but in a 2 hour ride i did last sunday my mule seems to be happy with this saddle as he's flopping his ears while walking which means everything is alright for him btw this sadde has Blevin like buckles but they seem to be made out of cast pot metal instead of steel, are they typical of mexican saddles and are they safe to use? here's the saddle on my mule

Thanks! What's that looks mexican in it?

is this american or mexican made?

Hi everyone... it's been a long time since i last posted here i just bought this old buckstitch saddle in a local tack shop for 150 bucks, it seems to fit my mule reasonably well and it's quite comfortable to ride, also it look like it saw very little use there's no maker's brand or logos anywhere on the saddle, there's just "1979" stamped on the latigo holder, could this be the Mfg year? any thoughts on the possible origin of this saddle?

Well, at this point i'm going to take your advice and keep this saddle as a display piece... i got this saddle for free (it came out of a friend's barn cleanup and was about to become landfill) and since i'm a long-distance bareback rider i don't really need to ride it... I still need some advice to clean the old smelly gunk off of it and try to improve the appearance of the rotten areas and possibly prevent them from decomposing any further while on display. Also i need to glue back a small piece of leather that's about to fall off a fender, is flexible cyanoacrylate based superglue OK for leather? i have already tried it on a piece of torn scrap leather and it seems to hold it together pretty well but i don't know how long it's going to last.

Thanks! i have just opened a thread about a beautiful but ruined saddle i'm trying to restore in the "Saddle identification restoration & repair" section!

Hi there, I have this old slick seat saddle, there's a blank triangular area on the fenders which looks like the shape of a Tex Tan logo, but there's nothing stamped into it, maybe an unmarked Tex Tan? this probably belongs to the first generation of western saddles to be imported in Italy in the 50s-60s and has MANY miles on it. The horn is a bit off to the left but it probably left the factory this way as the horn base itself is off center on the fork, and the tree is apparently solid and straight, the original sheepskin fleece is still in decent conditions, but, as you can see in the attached pics, the leather has a rotten and cracked spot on the front jockey, the bottom ends of the fenders near the hobble straps are in the same condition. The leather seems to be still soft, strong and pliable on most of the saddle but is really stiff and brittle in those confined spots, maybe it's dry rotten? also the whole saddle has an old, nasty, tacky coat of gunky hardened grease/conditioner, how can i safely remove it from the saddle? and what's the best way to soften and repair the rotten and cracked spots? Also the rear right tree pocket has become unstitched, is it safe to ride the saddle this way with just the string holding it together? also is it possible to restitch it without damaging the original fleece lining? This saddle seems to fit my mule decently so i'd like to restore it to rideable conditions.

Hi you all, My name is Francesco and i'm from Italy, i just joined this site as i have two horses, a mule and lots of related tack, i mostly ride bareback but i have 4 saddles anyway (two westerns, an Argentine Gaucho saddle, and an Italian Basto "rideable" pack saddle) and i need some advice on the repair and maintenance of leather goods. In the attached pics you can see my "herd" and me riding my mule.