Changing Out The Leather Strings On A Saddle

[helpinghorses]

Hi,

I have a wonderful Morgan Saddlery saddle (original Vernon Morgan before Weaver). Anyway, it has long leather strings/latigos on all the side conchos (which are leather). I would like to pull the old ones off and refit new ones.

Any ideas how I can do this myself?

Thanks ya'll and God bless.

[bex DK]

How are they attached? Ours are easily replaced.. they are attached on rings with a split braid.

[joquarter]

I don't know how they attached on your saddle, but on my old saddle , had to pull one side of the string true the hole in the other string twice , than could pull of the concho after removing a nail . The string was nailed through the leather in the tree , took the nail of and could remove the string.

It's not so difficult if you look very well how everything fits and remove the nails carfully.

[Denise]

I'm no expert but I think sometimes it is an easy job, sometimes not. They can be attached on the top of the saddle via screws or nails - easier fix - or some saddle makers drill holes in the tree and put them right through the tree, but under the sheepskin - not so easy a fix. If you can figure out how they are attached or post pictures of what you find as you looking some of the people on here who do know what they are talking about would be able to give you better guidance.

[Russ]

Denise is correct. Some saddle makers drill holes in the tree and run the strings through the holes, under the tree, and back. If it's done this way, and done correctly, the string will be under the sheepskin and very hard to replace. (I've seen some saddle strings replaced where the sheepskin was drilled out and the string was re-strung through the tree and the skin....you could see the strings when you turned the saddle over. NOT a good idea). To properly replace that string, youd have to remove the sheepskin enough to get the string through, and make sure it's flat against the tree.

Other saddles have the strings just through the rear jockeys and the seat. These are easy to change. Undo the bleed-knot, which should be easy to do if you study it first (take a digital photo too). Take off the leather rosette. The string will probably be nailed into the tree, through the leather, with a small nail. Pull the nail, and the string should slide out. Put a new string in, slide on the rosette, make the bleed-knot, and you are all set! Do one at a time, so you can compare the knot to the originals.

If you get near a Tandy store, you can look in Stohlman's Saddle Making book, volume 2, page 418, for some pictures. That might make it a little more clear.

Russ

[Skidder]

Once you determine how it's attached, one method I've used to replace them when through the skirt but under the fleece is to sew the new saddle string to the old then use the old to pull it through. Of course, this is assuming the old saddle string is in good enough shape and strong enough to pull on. One note of caution. Some saddlers glue the fleece to the skirt before sewing. If that's the case and you have to restitch it, you may have a mess on your hands. I'd be asking myself if I should replace the shearling while replacing the saddle strings. Odds are if the saddle strings are falling apart, the shearling is probably not in the greatest shape. Of course, at that point, it might be worth enlisting the help of someone who repairs saddles to make sure everything is sewn and fit properly once repaired.