Help - Rawhide Saddle Horn Fix?

[hansol04]

Hi all,

TLDR: How do you "fix" this saddle horn?

I picked up a 1950-ish Kenway saddle that had been stored in a guy's garage for 30+ years. (He wanted to turn it into a motorcyle seat, but never got around to it, thank goodness.) I bought it off him, gambling that there's nothing actually wrong with the saddle, and just needs some love. I'm in the middle of reconditioning it now, and the leather is in good shape and is coming back to life nicely. But the saddle horn is something that I don't have a clue how to best deal with. My biggest concern is that the underside of the horn is "bare" - You can see the rawhide tree is exposed, and I don't think that's a good thing.

Any thoughts from the pros here on what to do about this? Or is this one of those times where it's best to leave something alone. (And yes my shop is a disaster right now...)

 

 

Edited September 19, 2024 by hansol04