Echo4V

From what I've seen if you sew with this stitching awl, then cut a stitch, you can pull the cut thread and the whole thing will come out. So the whole peice will unsew itsself if one stitch is cut. This doesn't happen with the two needle saddle stitch method. Just my observation David

I also think this is a plantation saddle of some form but, I think whoever made it wanted a more western cantle. It looks to me to have a 12 or 13 " cantle where most plantation saddles have a cantle that is around 20" side to side. Curbstrap has a picture of one type of plantation saddle but if you "google it" you'll find several types of them. Isn't this the same saddle that Pella posted about? Can you get more photos of your saddle? ( Like a photo from front and back and one of the bottom of the saddle) Have you ridden it yet? David

I would love to see more photos...maybe different angles. It looks very similar to a plantation saddle, maybe it's a cross of a plantation saddle and a western saddle. The plantation sadddle was a cross of an english saddle and a spanish (La Jinetta ) saddle. David

I'm not positive but you should be able to get a Marine Corps buckle for less than 20 bucks. I don't ever remember paying that much for them when I was on active duty. I'll see if I can't find some sites that sell them. David Ok maybe I was wrong. Everywhere I've seen it was 20 bucks, guess I remember wrong or maybe it was because I was buying on base.

Well, I may be the exception but in NW Georgia I'm paying 25 a month per horse ( I'm the renter) with good fences and grass and year round creek frontage. The husband fell from a latter and passed away last August so I'm now taking care of the place but I have access to all the farm implements, including an almost new John Deere and a Kawasaki Mule. To be fair though, we've been there for a few years and these people are almost like family to us but we can find pasture here for 50 per horse ( or less) pretty easily. It can get much more expensive though depending on facilities and services provided. Well, I may be the exception but in NW Georgia I'm paying 25 a month per horse ( I'm the renter) with good fences and grass and year round creek frontage. The husband fell from a latter and passed away last August so I'm now taking care of the place but I have access to all the farm implements, including an almost new John Deere and a Kawasaki Mule. To be fair though, we've been there for a few years and these people are almost like family to us but we can find pasture here for 50 per horse ( or less) pretty easily. It can get much more expensive though depending on facilities and services provided.

Just an idea but how about working your lacing so that the point where you cross to the other side is within the padded area of the sling and then just run across the back of sling between the two layers? David

This may not work but I think it would be worth a try... Try a saddle with gaited horse bars on him. Also, I think I heard that wade bars flare at the front (similar to gaited horse bars) so maybe that would work to keep them from digging into his "lumps" If you are not needing to rope you could try a plantation saddle ( one of the older ones with a hard seat not the suspended seat). The reason I say that is they have the flare to the front of the bars but they also were made to sit further back on the horse so would have less of a chance to dig in there also. David

Jbird- if you click on my link and look at the smaller pictures (you can click on them to make them bigger) there are a couple of pics of the back of the holster to show how the straps attach. David

First let me say I'm with Josh and ArtS on the horse thing. Second, I have a suggestion for the holster, look at the old military shoulder holsters for the 1911's. Obviously the holster itself should be made for the gun but the pattern works very well for horseback riding (in my personal experience and opinion) is one of the few styles that can be adjusted for a wide range of wearers. They are very simple but have a lot of adjustment and retention options. Here is a link to several pictures of an example of what I'm speaking of, as you can see it also offers several wear options. http://www.ima-usa.com/product_info.php/cP...1e5c5094b44f4ce Hope this helps David

Talfuchre- glad you found the site. Just wanted to post on here to give my opinion on the grommet. I think for your purpose I would leave the grommet off. Either way it's one heck of a first project. David

Mark- I don't normally see a lot of brass on tack at all in GA. However, I'm originally from KY and I see more brass up there than here. I think it's because of the humidity difference though because brass tends to corrode in GA much more than in KY. Stainless is king in GA in KY it's more evenly split. david

Not an archeologist ( although wouldn't that be a cool job) but I do love to read historical stuff ( and since I work at a university I have access to a lot of it) so I guess I'll throw my opinion out here. I think it's a spear point and I think you hit on hafting it just like it's meant to be. I've seen a lot of pictures of spear points and that appears to me to be a leaf style spear point because: 1 it's sharp all the way around which some knappers did so that it would be easier to push into the wood of the handle/spear. ( hand held hidescrapers had one side broke off flat or dulled so that it wouldn't cut the hand when held) 2 At almost 4 inches long it would be too heavy to be an arrow head 3 The back of it is a lot thicker than the tip which implies it was meant to puncture something with the tip ( the back was thicker so that it wouldn't just push back further into the wood when it hit something) So, that's my opinion based on what I have read and by no means an expert opinion. David

First let me say that's a beaut of a headstall. Second let me pose a question...I have found out here (GA) that headstalls with chicago screws for holding the bit are going out of style again, people seem to be going back to leather ties or even buckles ( personally I have always prefered buckles because I ride a lot of different horses and can change bits easier), so my question is are you seeing the same trend in your area? Are people moving away from chicago screws in their head stalls or is it just in my area? I did notice about 10-12 yrs ago buckles and strings were more in style but they fell out of style and are now coming back. Do you folks with more experience than me see this pattern often? David

That saddle of Brazil looks a whole lot like a Native American pad saddle also called a Sioux Pad Saddle. Does it have stuffed panels ( like an english or Australian saddle)? The only thing that bothers me about it would be the placement of the rings, looks like they would sit right under the rider's thighs. Denise- (this is just a guess) but that ring on the front looks like a "monkey strap" which is used very similarly to a "night lash" to replace a saddle horn. David

I may be too late but I just found this thread. I think a lot of your problem could be that saddle pad. Here are my reasons... 1 you live in Canada ( where it gets cold) and the whole time you had problems was during the winter. 2 gel impact saddle pad 3 cold gel pockets are about equal to putting a rock under your saddle I have seen these pads cause sore backs and back sores. I know you sold the saddle but if your next saddle gives you any issue try changing out the pad with a plain felted wool pad. David

That cantle stitching looks ok from the seat side but it looks like the saddler didn't even glance at the back side while stitching. Given that I'm no expert I'll hazard a guess at the age of the saddle. Given the scalloping and the fact that the front of the seat runs pretty much straight across the gullet ( instead of being cut round like modern hand holes) while still having a sort of hand hole there, along with the way the rope strap is made. I'm guessing sometime between 1900-1930. I have done a lot of internet research on older style saddles and I only saw this combination between that time period. That style rope strap was pretty well gone by the start of the depression and I never saw hand holes on saddles till about the turn of the century. I'm not saying that my reasoning is 100% accurate that's just what I've found in own personal research. David

Just from eyeballing your design, I have a suggestion that may or may not be worth considering. Personally, since it's meant to resemble suspenders, I would move the Y so that it sits more in line with the center of the shoulders and extend the front strap (on the holster) to accomodate this shift. I would also lower the holster to make it sit more on the wearer's flank instead of rib cage. The lower hang of the holster will make it easier to get to the pistol. If you move the Y then I would add one more strap with an aligator clip to attach in the back so that you essentially have Y suspenders with a holster added. This would serve the purpose of holding up the pants as well so that your wearer doesn't have on two sets of suspenders when they are carrying the holster. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't like what you have, it looks like a nice holster as is but, you asked for suggestions so this is mine. Hope it helps or at least gives you some food for thought. David

Growing up we only used the woven wool Navaho style blankets with sometimes a pad over them. When I got out of the Marine Corps and back into regular riding I saw a lot of neoprene this or that and the air ride stuff and I admit I experimented with the new stuff- to the detriment of my wallet and my horses' backs. Took me about 6 weeks to be back to a woven blanket on the bottom and a felted wool pad on top of that. No more sore or hot backs and my wallet doesn't hurt nearly as bad. One thing though, I always use the woven blanket on the bottom because they are easier to wash and makes my felted pad last a lot longer. David

I saw this thread yesterday and read through it. I haven't used ebay in a while but right now I have a couple of things for sale. I sold a junk saddle last night and recieved payment today. Did you know that ebay can decide you're a scammer and put a hold on your money until you ship the item and get positive feedback from the buyer? I called the contact number and after literally 20 minutes on hold that's what I was told, we think you're a scammer so we won't give you the money until you get positive feedback. WTF??? Guess who just sold his last item on ebay. Now I have to pay for shipping for this saddle out of pocket and wait on the buyer to give me positive feedback before I will get the lousy hundred dollars. It's almost worth it just to call the buyer and cancel the sell then put the saddle back in the corner of the barn, but I know it's not the buyer's fault and their kid probably really wants the saddle. It should be illegal for them to just take my money like that but I'm sure they've got some kinda fancy pants lawyer that got them around the legalities of it.

Just found this thread and I know a little about it so I'll comment even though the thread is old. The suspended seat is an idea copied from the Universal Pattern saddle ( as stated) and it does make a comfy ride for some people. Generally people under about 165 lbs love it. That seat is commonly found on Buena Vista and plantation saddles ( which are the same and not, a buena vista is a type of plantation saddle). The Millers really like to put that suspended seat on their saddles but they also make "hard seat" saddles which to me are more comfortable. By the way ARTS Eli is retired and Henry ( his nephew ) has pretty much taken over the business, so if you have an Eli Miller hold on to it because they are becoming in demand and are getting upwards of 1000 bucks for nicer used ones. The best picture I have seen of the suspended seat design is in the Army saddles series of books, I believe it's in the book that goes from the Revolutionary war until the Civil war. Very good diagram of how the UP saddle should be built even showing a lacing pattern for tying on the suspension ( canvas sheet with manila cord I think). If you want to see it I'm pretty sure you can view it on Amazon with the look inside option although, sometimes they change the pages you can see so it may not be there now. David

Assuming you weren't interested in using it as a clicker, what's the smallest press you could get away with just for the moldings. I know it's just a guess but what would you be comfortable with?

I wonder if a 12 ton press is necessary? What would be the smallest strenght press that you folks would suggest using for molding. Also, would this process hurt an actual pistol or magazine? Obviously I wouldn't want to put 12 tons of pressure on a real pistol but do you really use the full 12 tons? David

Bruce- I was actually looking at it from the idea that a flat topped horn was the goal of the donut instead of a solid filler. That's why I was wondering about a smaller hole and thinner edges to screw/nail through into the horn. David

Steve, good point I hadn't thought of that. Couldn't the donut still be used though if it were cut with a little smaller hole then the inside edges skived a little and nailed around the hole? Would that provide enough strenth to keep it from twisting? David

I don't know if this is the reason for the donut or not but it seems to me that having that donut, instead of a full filler peice, would tend to take out the slight dome that some horns have in them. If the top of the horn is not domed at all then it would seem that the full filler peice would work out better. I do really like the look of the cap you have with stitching all the way around. I don't understand why this way would be more likely to get yanked off the horn than any other way if the throat peice, which the top is stitched to all the way around, is anchored as well as the the throat peice on another style of horn covering. David