Thank you all for the advice!!! The saddle belongs to a friend of mine, who is wanting the repair and would pay for the cost and afford me the opportunity to learn. I do not have the saddle in my possession yet, she sent me the above photos. I wanted to post on here for some direction before I gave her a response. Thank you for the advice, I was able to further research cost of materials and complexity after reading your comments and figure out what I might feel more confident with. I came up with a couple of different options to choose from. I don't know who makes the saddle, but I suspect you could replace the whole thing for a few hundred bucks more than repairs. I think it is just a pleasure saddle for light trail riding for a small lady.
Thank you for the advice on cutting and assembly! I am not sure yet if I will get pre-cut or cut myself, depends on what she wants to spend. I have a collection of tools and think I have everything to get the job done except for the rivets and buckles. I will add the books you suggest to my collection! It is great to get advice on books. If I am ordering online sometimes I find it hard to pick a book and feel confident that it will have the information I am seeking since they are usually quite an investment.
I am nervous about doing repairs for the first time on someone else item. But I feel a little bit better with the advice and being able to research further. Thank you all again!
Brie