1933 Hamley Saddle Restoration

[hjones]

First I want to say hello to the fine folks here. Spent a lot of time reading posts and finally signed up to inquire about my family saddle. My guess is this saddle has been in my family since the 1940s, since my grandfather, my father, and myself have all ridden it. Built in 1933 by Henry Donis at Hamley, it is number 580, also known as the "Triangle". Serial number D8, originally sold to a James E Gunzaler (or Gonzolos, Gonzales, etc.) on September 19, 1933. I haven't ridden in many years, but have kept the saddle since it is a family heirloom so to speak. It's not in great shape, hopefully I'll be able to upload the pictures. I've never inquired about saddle restoration before, so I'm not sure what to expect. So my question is, what kind of cost should I expect, and what are your opinions on restoring a saddle of this age? Leave it as is to preserve the history, showing the wear and use, or restore and have as a show piece? 

So I see there is a very small size limit to attachments here on the forum. Maybe I can just reply to my own thread and add one picture per reply lol

Thanks! 

Another pic

[hjones]

Okay, the forum does not like my pics lol. So, we'll try this, a link to the photos. https://imgur.com/a/GIQyXTw

[Northmount]

3 hours ago, hjones said:

Okay, the forum does not like my pics lol. So, we'll try this, a link to the photos. https://imgur.com/a/GIQyXTw

Please upload your photos here.  3rd party links often result in no picture when user or host change permissions, move, or delete the photos.  Then the thread is useless.

Check out this post for suggestions and helps.  Many posts following it with more helps.  Then come back and upload your photos here.

 

[hjones]

3 hours ago, Northmount said:

Please upload your photos here.  3rd party links often result in no picture when user or host change permissions, move, or delete the photos.  Then the thread is useless.

Check out this post for suggestions and helps.  Many posts following it with more helps.  Then come back and upload your photos here.

 

Thanks for the info, I understand about links resulting in no pictures due to security permissions, site going down, etc. Yes, I have an iPhone and it takes hi resolution pictures. I tried multiple JPEG shrinking sites and software but still could not get them under 1.46mb, which given todays technology, is an incredibly small size. I even tried compressing (shrinking as it's called in the post you referenced) the already compressed pictures lol. Anyway, if I've violated rules or whatever, my apologies, just have an admin delete the post. Not being a smarta**, but as a 20+ year IT professional, I can only laugh at the 1.46mb file size, and I'm not going to dumb down my tech just for one site.

[Northmount]

49 minutes ago, hjones said:

Thanks for the info, I understand about links resulting in no pictures due to security permissions, site going down, etc. Yes, I have an iPhone and it takes hi resolution pictures. I tried multiple JPEG shrinking sites and software but still could not get them under 1.46mb, which given todays technology, is an incredibly small size. I even tried compressing (shrinking as it's called in the post you referenced) the already compressed pictures lol. Anyway, if I've violated rules or whatever, my apologies, just have an admin delete the post. Not being a smarta**, but as a 20+ year IT professional, I can only laugh at the 1.46mb file size, and I'm not going to dumb down my tech just for one site.

Your choice, no one is trying to put you down or force you to do anything.  What's 20 years against 40 years?  I manage fine with all the IT work I have done for years, starting with magnetic core memory, probably before you were born.

[Sheilajeanne]

Okay, here's how I resize pictures. All MS operating system computers that I've owned have an app called 'Paint' Open the picture in 'Paint' and from the top menue, choose 'resize'. Since the pictures are so large, I resize by reducing the number of pixels rather than going by percentage. In this case, I chose 800 pixels. The other dimension of the picture will resize automatically. Hit 'save as', give it a new title, and bingo, you're in business!

 

Continuing...

 

[Sheilajeanne]

Won't let me upload the last one, as I've exceeded the number of allowed MB. Maybe the OP can do it now that I've explained how to reduce the size. I could have made them even smaller by reducing the number of pixels further. Even 500 pixels gives a nice sized clear picture, suitable for posting on the internet.

Right-click on the photo to get the option to open it in Paint (or whatever other app you choose.)

And you don't have to give the picture a new title unless you want to save the original photo at its original size. Just save the smaller one and it will over-write the original.

It would be interesting to see what the saddle would look like after a good cleaning and treatment with some leather balm/NFO. You'd definitely want to replace the stirrup leathers and rigging for safety's sake, if you were going to use it, but the seat and skirts might be salvageable with some TLC>

Edited October 7, 2022 by Sheilajeanne

[Northmount]

The remaining photo.

I doubt @hjones will be back.  One thing that he fails to realize is that hi-res photos don't display in hi-res on most computer monitors, tablets, and phones, so there is really little reason to post hi-res photos here.  Most people are not downloading photos from here, but rather looking at them on screen.  But as he says, he knows all about IT with his 20 years of experience.

 

 

[Burkhardt]

3 hours ago, Northmount said:

The remaining photo.

I doubt @hjones will be back.  One thing that he fails to realize is that hi-res photos don't display in hi-res on most computer monitors, tablets, and phones, so there is really little reason to post hi-res photos here.  Most people are not downloading photos from here, but rather looking at them on screen.  But as he says, he knows all about IT with his 20 years of experience.

 

 

I tried to upload some pictures after compressing and surprised that they wouldn't upload but I had already done @Sheilajeanne way of doing it so now I know.

[Sheilajeanne]

Well, even if he's not coming back, I'm curious to know what y'all think about restoring the saddle! 

Always hoping to learn something new. I rode English for many years, and one of the saddles I used regularly belonged to my instructor. I have no idea how old it was, but I'm guessing at least 40 or 50 years, as it dated from his days in the cavalry. It had been well cared for and was in excellent shape.