Ab Womack - Hailey, Id

[Mechanical Cowgirl]

You might try "Sitting Tall: Saddles and Saddlemaking in Idaho' from the Idaho State Historical Society.

Good luck,

Kevin

Yep! Looked there, all it has is the exact same info that Bruce Johnson found and a picture of the maker's mark.

I spoke with the guy my neighbor said to contact and he said he knew Ab very well and that "he made a hell of a good saddle." But told me to contact another saddle maker up in that area and if he couldn't get me any info then to call him back... the hunt is on.

[Berlinda]

I have my grandpa’s (Ted Edholm) saddle and I believe it is the same saddle maker. Eventually my mom started using it and mom was born 1930. So I’m thinking 1910-20 (my family history is packed right now). My grandpa raised sheep in the Willow Creek area of Fairfield with the ranch north of Gooding. 
 

I’m looking at selling it but I have no idea the value.

On 3/9/2011 at 6:59 PM, Mechanical Cowgirl said:

Yep! Looked there, all it has is the exact same info that Bruce Johnson found and a picture of the maker's mark.

I spoke with the guy my neighbor said to contact and he said he knew Ab very well and that "he made a hell of a good saddle." But told me to contact another saddle maker up in that area and if he couldn't get me any info then to call him back... the hunt is on.

 

[Berlinda]

I found an article from Albuquerque, NM news paper about Ab and his wife. He started making saddles in 1900 approximately. I would love to know the value.

[Mallory]

On 3/8/2011 at 8:21 PM, Mechanical Cowgirl said:

That's all I've been able to find out about this maker as well. My neighbor just gave me a number of a guy up to Shoshone (just south of Hailey) that he thinks might know of the guy or know someone who might know something. If I find anything out I'll post it.

I have finally finished the saddle, every bit of stitching was rotted out so I've hand sewn the cantle binding, horn, and all of the rigging back together and refleeced it (in the original holes, don't worry). Maybe the pictures will help be able to date the saddle?

And of course now that I'm done I'd like to sell it but have absolutely no idea what it is worth these days. There's a lady over this way that is trying to find a saddle collector to buy it, I guess Idaho made saddles where quite sought after a few years ago (in Idaho), but now it's hard to find people with excess money for pieces of history. Do any of you have any experience pricing these old saddles currently? I'm not in a hurry to sell it, it is completely rideable and fits me very well so I'm not interested in dumping it. Everything is original except new fleece, rope strap, stirrups, and strings, and the 20 hours of hand stitching, I sure appriciate my machine A LOT).

Here is the maker's mark.

Do you still have this saddle? I’m interested in buying, Ab is family and I’d love to have a saddle of his. 

[Jinnyc]

Mallory -- I have a Ab Womack saddle in very good shape. You can call 208-983-1033 if interested.

[AlZilla]

1 hour ago, Jinnyc said:

Mallory -- I have a Ab Womack saddle in very good shape. You can call 208-983-1033 if interested.

Given that Mallory hasn't been here since she made that post, let's tag her like this @Mallory and hope that she's set up to receive email notifications.

Mallory, you'll want to exercise all due caution when dealing with unknown parties.

Good luck, folks.

[Jinnyc]

Thank you