Hennessy

you could try thin nylon seat belt material,you can hot nail melt holes for cinch tongue[flatten melt on anvil whilst hot]not hard to find,look up auto wreckers for long pieces

its a ralide tree sdl from the 60's,probably action co,or tex tan the numbers are factory the g is personal id

there's good saddle makers and tree makers,good horsemen and all the rest drag along behind.dave jones back in the 60's wrote a book on his three way dee rig.how it eliminated a saddle from crawling into the shoulder blade[scapula].monty foreman also in the 60's invented his own flat plate rawhide back'd front rig [no crawl].both of these men were well known horsemen and very successful.both did ok in the saddle world, also.back then they gained some followers,even a few innovative imitators created their own versions of a no crawl saddle..sad to say,the competitive big shops avoided it,or rigg'd wrong and nothing big ever got going..i've been hearing of people x ing their cinches and snugging everything down and the saddle stays put.,it came via a mule man when i heard it.people who ride a bunch need to watch their horses for sore spots and mannerisms[most do]but we've all got a horror story or two of ignorant ,know alls who learnt from their father who learnt from his father and so it goes. ignorance to them is bliss,my thoughts are be prepared to own several blankets and if your saddle slips to you when you step up,take a blanket off or tighten your cinch or write in this forum for help

thats an educated way of resolveing a messy experience eh!

an old custom tree maker told me scrape hide right after removal off animal ..find a running creek lay hide out under water,preferably on a rock base[rapid water better] weight[rocks]down hide.return every day n move rocks about.hair will slip in a few days resulting in a clean raw hide.dont drink downstream eh! failing that there are several braiders and tree makers who may share mix formula's,one did with me yrears back ,i never used it and is now lost.being able to tumble hide in a wooden container with lime solution accelerates the process[no metal containers]plastic or wood.also after lime bath and slip you have to neautralize the lime in another immersion of [forgot] then peg out for a few days for shrinkage before cutting oot yer circles

hi ri mai, i lived at 10 dunedin st ponsonby in 1967 does that count? if you wat nt to ask a q bring it on if unable to someone here will eh adios peter john

i've been in and around a few of the greenville tex mex saddleshops if'n they were in arizona[well nuff said] if theres a short cut to be had they've explored it,some are magnificent in their simplicity. most all of them seem to stay busy year round,mostly because ,the majority of buyers are buyin wholesale and that is a dog eat dog market where price wins out and quality is not what it appears to be..trees majority are mexico made,rawhide on good wood [i,ve had a few] quality questionable as to symentry,leather mexico or argentina again ok but questionable,hardware china or mexico, nails [american i think] screws i see a lot of sheetrock black metal [look em up in a few years ]indusive to corrosion of surrounding leather [not all but i've seen them used]stirrups mostly cover'd mexico.you cant put all the greenville shops in the same box but real quality people suffer in their efforts [shops too] because the rub comes when some good ol boy in spokane or edmonton or wherever seeks a good feelin saddle that appears to do all he wants,and pays out the nose for a so call'd shop name which in reality could have been one of a deal[buy two get one free] marketing ploy. i have seen many shop saddles where a nail driven down in the heart of the skirt[back cantle area] no foolin its common amongst the greenville saddlemakers.the short seats were here from the beginning when people rode to work every day, also there was'nt any mcdonalds or sonics aboot eh!the stirrups setting back ,i've seen ground seats with no leather stopper at lea channel back. tin and one piece of leather where the leathers will slide back under you.as a lad i observed [probably at the sat afternoon movies]some indians who were tryin to escape pursuit they went to draggin a shrub behind them on the ground covering their trail.we all know how to drag the brush ,me i like to paint with mine but when every penny counts and price demands thrift,well let me say this price no more sets quality but craftmanship does. seek and ye shall find,discuss and it will be built unto you and the horse comes first eh!

how aboot a shower mat one with suction cups. cut a 2inc strip measure to fit from belt under to belt[back] kinda like a g string suction cups out of course just enough traction what to call it [key]to sales my thought is cowboy tractionstring jest an idear

i wonder if the flat bar is meant to set the saddle behind the wither. on the back behind the scapula movement fore and aft and the occaisonal butterflying also when climbing or desending.i have noticed that dressage riders have their saddles well back and their horses move freely and in apparent comfort . their ears reflecting inner thoughts and contentment.the shorter bar wont reach the kidneys, the rig is where it should be to avoid forward tree movement.i have a horseman friend who loves them.there sure to be better tree makers in ol mexico mebe the maker reflects the quality[possible] .they have heat issues also to contend with,i had a pix of pancho villa on a big jug headed horse clearly you could see where the saddle set.hard arse'd they might be but they rode mucho miles every day back then and my opinion there must be some merit to the saddle

try this on scrap n see!first lacquer lea ,dry apply black oil dye thru lacquer,dry buff a tad,relacquer finished works for me

Rick J.rick just a note to humour ye.th nails in th bar,believe it or no a mex saddlemaker in greenville was makin me a sdl in my shop 12 mi n o grnvll almost finished and he up sides the bottom n drives two nails at back in line with cantle bar connection in th heart [he said]i ask him curiously Why did you do that his reply was billy cook told him to ever time.billy trained a slew of people here in this area toolers n saddlemakers n straphands most were wetbacks many busine'ss here are bc spinoffs how many nail'd down skirts are out there i'd say thousands ,i just pulled a bc saddle down from his first shop in abiline tx twas well made a bit heavy no nails on flat bar but one long one in valley by th frog .watch them greenville saddles eh adios peter john hennessy

kate nice saddle if you look you'll notice similaritys betwixt bj's saddles and billy cooks saddles.those two blokes plus many other good texas makers got their start with a rockwall tx maker named vaught,those two fellas went on greatly billy cook went further n bigger but their quality back then 60's 70;s was a1billy cook went in n out of business more times than bj did,they both set examples in th trade n taught many billy cook taught hundreds and can be liken'd to a military quartermaster as to acquistions,training,product ,n distribution even to this day!billy's worst weakness was his failure to employ american workers before Mexicans and ins hounded him more than any other sweatshop tx mx saddle shop in greenville tx so much so that he moved lock stock to sulphur ok.two years ago ins busted him thar with 50 illegals lets see at 10000 per /thats er oh well

luke your avatar kinda favors crocodile dundee a bit any relation? pete

i just come up on this thread,n reckon i'll add a bit of my knowledge of such.it is probably a bull thrower tree by a Colorado tree co,they originally made these trees for the Australian rough riders assn twixt th years 1962 to1967 as an interim saddle btwixt the old aussie assn saddle and the future assn saddle which was to be the american contest saddle.the reason was the assn wanted th aussie bronc rider to be able to go to canada and usa and compete equally because of familiarity with the us bronc sdl. they have proven their ability over the years and now theres allways a few doin good over here every year eh.this saddle proved to be such a good ridin saddle that it became the catalyst for a revolution in saddlemakin in Australia and spawned a vast array of hybrid styles many lookin very appealing.the saddle was not known as a bull thrower although many of them tried ridin it!i think it had a #212 or somrthing like that.when you hobble the lower stirrup lea up front like you do on the competition saddle it is a pleasure to ride a bucker and was well liked by the competitors of that time,i rode some broncs in it as a lad in australia n thats all i have to say aboot that pete hennessy

howdy bob,when i was a bit of a nipper back in australia i worked in two old prestigious shops awhile,i recall we used edge irons which we heated over a candle,then whilst hot stuck it into a block of beeswax then run th iron down the edge it had a concave wide edge and did a nice job.barra an aussie member in here could bring you to a total knowledge of this application pete

latigo is by tannage an out door leather stuffed with oils n stuff not conducive to further penetrating dyes,other than oil dye. try wetting th edge then slide saddle soap over edge and burnish with wood slicker adios pete

for wot its worth,i rinse my mouth every day at least 6 times, twice of a night, with hydrogen peroxide,a homeless bloke told me its good alternative to fight germs etc.it seems to work for me [touch wood]get a bike[pedal]hunt local work,n dig dig dig hoo roo n good luck pete

i was showed a way to dye black that i consider'd [no way] but upon testing i found amazing results it's crazy but here it is.when your ready to apply dye,'don't' apply lacquer first,dry then dye , buff n lac or 2nd coat if necessary, buff then lac,it works really well pete

today an amish machinery sales /saddlemaker ask'd me to pass onto lw news about a guy travelling about sthn states ,selling his shop off.he has quite a list of delectable shop equip that he's priced to sell.'he's recovering from a stroke and wants out quick hence th low price.he will give you his shop adress[defunct]and offer the machinery to you on a test basis before purchase,'all'you have to do is pay freight up front,he'll contact you in a few weeks to make sure everything got there safely[ahem]he's making a living floating about biting gullible leatherworkers or part thereof.mostly for 350$ or so.he uses the name earnest webb from alabama but the name may change but th scam won't.this amishman had him checked out by a district atty who said he's made quite a trail, reports from several states of gypped people beware pete

i've done very little with buff but its big in asian saddles and mex also its tough and i think the tanner will make or break it.i've heard theres weak spots in the grain and it can tear a bootmaker told me so, but there are lots of projects where it would be effective,i would not hesitate to use it adios pete

some people have good sense,skill's,talent,charisma,driveand determination johanna strikes me as one of those.me i'm going to poker stars for a couple la dayz n then ah'll check back hoo roo n adios pete