Identifying who made the saddle and/or TREE

[KaLioMele]

Let's say a saddle turns up at an auction, no name on it for whatever reason, maybe the hanger had it and was replaced.

How would someone know which, if any, tree maker made the tree? Do most good tree makers mark them somewhere the marking might be visible?

I see SO many nice saddles advertised, and the only thing the owner can give as information is the gullet size and the shape of the swell. Or they give obscure (to the layman) letter system like a "BL tree" or some such, maybe or maybe not with a saddlemaker name on it.

The tree is the foundation of the whole saddle; I'd think it most important to know and advertise that piece of info FIRST. If they know it....

Thanks all...Hil

[bruce johnson]

There are no standards and tree makers vary. Some of the factory tree makers mark their trees but not all. Often with a large carton marker on the back of the cantle or left rear bar. It is under the rawhide. some glued a business card to the bar and rawhided over that. To get to it, you'd either have to take off the jockey and rear rigging or the cantle back. The downside is unless it was like Sunny Felkins that marked a "Q" or business card usually the marking was seat size and cantle dimensions and not the maker. 

Gullet width gets thrown around a lot and i would defy 90% of the people selling to measure them correctly. A tape measure across the front of the swells is not very exact in a in finished saddle. 

[Goldshot Ron]

Hil,

I hear your concern, but it is difficult to mark on a saddle everything that you are describing.  When I make a saddle for a customer, most of them get bored listening to my tree speech, and care less about who made the tree.  As Bruce mentioned, once a saddle is made, one is hard pressed to figure out the tree measurements.  So, when looking at a saddle with no identification pertaining to the maker or tree, (and even if it has a maker's stamp) it is still buyer beware.

Ron

[KaLioMele]

Thanks to you both. I wish it were easier, and yep, no one (layman) seems to know how to properly measure nor identify to a buyer anything real about the saddles these days. I'm learning alot more than I thought I already knew. Such a pickle for the horseman to be in!