My father in law passed away the end of May and I was able to acquire a Hereford Brand Tex Tan of Yoakum parade saddle. I've looked all over it looking for a model or serial number but haven't been able to locate it. The Hereford Brand Logo is a large oval silver stamp. I'm at work or I would attach pictures.
The story we were told by father in law that it was in the Rose Bowl parade between 1965-1969. He bought the saddle between 1969-1973 (my mother in law isn't real sure on the year). It has SC on the Sarape and M on the Taps. There is a small plate on the cantle which I wondered if it could have had a name on, but has been rubbed off. The saddle came with Breast Collar, Bridle, Serapes, and Hip drops. Horse heads are all over all parts of the package. The saddle has lots of tooling but also some of the conchos are engraved with flowers(I'm wondering if this is not silver). The horn and swell are both silver plated, the horn is small with a height of maybe a couple inches.
The saddle has been left in a garage attack since he bought it. Its been laying on the floor so there is lots of dust. Some of the conchos are missing, I believe my father in law took some of them off to try and sell the silver off of it. Probably decided its a lot of work to grab each piece.
So my first question is how do I find the number on it and could this saddle not have one? I've looked on both right and left fenders near the Blevin buckles (which are Al Ray brand). There is no latigo keeper but have looked all over the skirt. The Hereford Stamp is on the Taps also, I even looked there to see if there is anything. I know I could email Tex Tan but it seems they do better with a model/serial number.
And what is the best way to clean it? I have been using a little dawn soap with water and a tooth brush to get into the tooling and to scrub the silver. As it has a lot of mold I think, and its tarnished. I've heard to use scrubbing bubbles for the mold issue but worry that it will ruin the leather.
I am hoping to get it cleaned up before the fair so I can exhibit it just so people can see what they look like. I'm from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and I'm pretty sure no one has ever seen a saddle up here like this locally. And I would like to showcase it.
Thanks for your time and ideas.
Shiloh
