Truckload Of Vintage Saddles

[edgefarmer]

A guy living nearby was cleaning out his barn and selling heaps of old stuff. In there were six old saddles. One is a M1904 McClellan with 1928 kit installed, sadly in pretty bad shape. One is a Cowboy Brand Big Horn child's pony saddle No. 70, which is in pretty decent shape but with no kids I'll probably just clean it up and put it on E-bay. One has a Mfr. stamp which identifies it as a Ranch King saddle by Tanner Leather Co. Dallas, TX. I could use some info and history on that one. It needs lots of oil and restitching but if it's worthwhile I'd put the time into it. One has a partially legible stamp on the back jockey but someone familiar with the brand might be able to I'd it. (first two pics) One may be an old Simco, but can't tell. (3rd and 4th pics) One also has a partially legible stamp on the right fender, and appears to have girth/flank D-rings made of cast iron? (pics 5 and 6) Obviously lots of work on any one of them. So advice is welcome.

[edgefarmer]

Aha! I have identified the maker of the one in pics 1 & 2. It is H.S. Lebman, San Antonio Texas. Apparently was a jewish saddle maker who was also known to have made some guns for the gangsters of the era including Babyface Nelson? Does that make the saddle worth restoring?

Edited March 27, 2011 by edgefarmer

[Kevin]

I have a Lebman's catalog from 1974 and the most expensive saddle is $260,I don't know if that helps your decision or not. They look pretty cheap.

Kevin

[edgefarmer]

I have a Lebman's catalog from 1974 and the most expensive saddle is $260,I don't know if that helps your decision or not. They look pretty cheap.

Kevin

Our mortgage payment in '74 was $215 on a house worth $250k now, so I guess that would be about like a $2k+ saddle now. Is there a saddle in your catalog that looks like mine?

[edgefarmer]

A neighbor looked at the ornate saddle with no marking and said the swirled/spiraled pattern on the top of the horn was just like his old hereford. Still can't find any mfr. marking on it and am very curious. The plainish saddle with the diamond shaped marking on the fender would seem to be the oldest because of the forged iron rigging rings and four sided nuts on the stirrup bolts, but that may be a misguided assumption on my part. there is definitely a star in the middle of the mark so another wild assumption is that is is also a native texas saddle. I read Bruce Johnson's reply on a thread about disassembling a western saddle and am very grateful to him.

[Kevin]

There is a Low Moose Roper, but the cantle is only 3" and the fenders are shaped differently. 129.75 with a Ralide tree or 139.75 with a bullhide covered tree.

Kevin

[edgefarmer]

There is a Low Moose Roper, but the cantle is only 3" and the fenders are shaped differently. 129.75 with a Ralide tree or 139.75 with a bullhide covered tree.

Kevin

(nods) This one has absolutely no tooling on it at all except for the brand stamp on the back jockey and also uses four sided nuts on the stirrup bolts. IRT the other saddle, pics 3 and 4, I found a number, 0429 stamped on the back of the cantle if that sounds familiar to anyone.

[Saddlebag]

Not sure about the first saddle but the others depict the styling of saddles from the late 50's and onward. Back in those days and for many years TexTan (Hereford) put identifying numbers behind the cantle plus used the stamp of the bull on the fender.