Mexican rigged saddle information

[Cliffrose]

Looking for information on an older Mexican rigged saddle.  It has very thin, leather and no fleece, just mattress ticking sewed to the underside of the saddle.  Interesting shape to the stirrups, they must be metal under the leather. They are also on the wrong sides.  Strings are tied on, kind of a simple knot, doesn't look like a rose knot to me.

Looking for ideas of age, use and value.  I can't keep it, I don't have a room to keep it inside and I worry about it in my tack trailer.  

I will try to attach more pictures.

 

Also, you can see the bare wood tree under the jockey.  Some leather has been attached to the tree, but some is just bare.

[Cliffrose]

Also, you can see the bare wood tree under the jockey.  Some leather has been attached to the tree, but some is just bare.

[Outlaw68]

First off, beautiful saddle!

I'm curious about why in the world there's a billet in the left riggin ring. Is it riveted, stitched, or laced in or just hanging? Is there one in the right ring or a latigo?

I'm afraid I can't be too much help, though I can say, I that looks like an American saddle, not Mexican. The horn is too high and it's shaped wrong to be a roper and the lack or rawhide on the tree confirms it.

Just looks like an old trail saddle, but is for sure not a Silla/Charro or Drover/Hope. Being without rear riggin, it couldn't have been ridden, or at least wasn't made to ride in any very hilly country. If the riggin was centerfire it could have handled some hills, but not with that.

There are no tapaderos and it looks like it never had any judging by the color of the leather. The lack of tapaderos says it wasn't ridden in brush country or around a lot of cactus.

It only has six saddlestrings vs eight, the skirts are square with rounded corners instead of sharp square, and the lack of rawhided tree say it's probably younger than it looks, though I'm seeing some different years in the style. The most strong year I'm seeing so far is late 1890s or early 1900s. Don't take my word for it. I haven't seen the whole saddle and could be off by a long margin.

Sadly I can't tell you who made it or the value, though with more info I might be able to give a vague idea on value. Could you show some pictures of it from the front, rear, and an above view? Maybe hold a tape measure across the handhole so we can see the width? Measure how wide the stirrups are and how tall the horn and cantle are. How much does it weigh? Check the saddle over real well for any maker's marks or any identifying numbers. Since it's not got rawhide on the tree I'm making a pretty safe bet that there won't be a mark, but you never know.

[Cliffrose]

Thank you.

Yes, both sides have a riveted billet.  Both are tooled to match the saddle, so they are original.  Weird, I know.

I would not say that it was a working saddle at all.  The rigging is Mexican style, that doesn't mean the saddle was made in Mexico.  I think it could possibly be a ladies astride saddle or other pleasure type saddle.

The stirrups are pretty small, but a lot of saddles of that alera seem to have small stirrups. It is very very light.  I think shipping weight was 22 pounds!

Photos are hard to add here, but I'll try a few more.

What if it isn't a horse saddle?  What else could it be?  There's no padding or fleece...Lama saddle? Lol.  Or some kind of a light weight sample for selling saddles?

 

 

[Cliffrose]

[Outlaw68]

That's a horse saddle. I have a Texas Hope from the early-mid 1800s with no fleece or even lining at all. All it had was rawhide and leather, but the leather is worn off. That's the same hand hole width as mine. Most modern saddles have a 3-4, so that narrow width also makes me think lat 1800s. I couldn't read the seat length. What was it? Yeah, a lot of stirrups were small, but mine, surprisingly, are 5/5, but then it was a man's saddle. 22 pounds is pretty light. Most were 40-60, but those are working saddles. Mine was a working saddle, but has no skirts and weights in at just over 10 pounds. Just looking at it I do think it was just a pleasure/trail. Maybe some town's person who wanted to take a hack about on occasion. I doubt it would handle much more than that and back then things were built to do their job, so that's probably what it was built for. DO you see a maker's mark, serial/product number, or any monograms?

[FjordHorse]

This is a fascinating saddle! I wonder if it isn't made for a gaited horse- say a Tennessee Walker? Are you going to be selling it?

[Cliffrose]

Yes, it's for sale.  I'm trying to figure out what to market it as.  Definitely won't fit a fjord!

Edited October 9, 2022 by Cliffrose

[Outlaw68]

I'd say market it as an antique. Doesn't look like it'd fit many nowadays and not havin a rawhided tree it may not be very stout anymore. If it's still sturdy an rideable I'd say maybe thoroughbred cross