Western Saddle Identification

[PcCowboy]

I have been making saddle since 92 and never heard the term "Elephant ears" I would have called it a bull moose or a little wonder tree.

[KathrynH]

^{That's a very helpful chart to refer to. Thank you for posting it. Mr.Jolley described the cantle the same way Saddlebag did. If you squint when you look at it, you can almost imagine an elephant's ear. I think it's kind of romantic - in an Old West kind of way - to describe it like that. Mr. Jolley is 86 years old though, so perhaps the term may be one used by an older generation?? Little wonder tree looks about right for the tree.}

[Saddlebag]

There was a brief period whereby the cantle flare was larger but not particularly popular. It's just the leather that was done like that, like the cheyenne roll, not the tree.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Saddlebag

[PcCowboy]

These old eyes of mine must be going. When you said "Elephant ears" I missed the word cantel. So I thought you were talking about the front for some reason. Of course I know about "Elephant ears cantels" They are a pain to re-cover. I even had customers to ask me to trim them to normal.

[KathrynH]

No worries, cowboy.

[oltoot]

The cantle is machine sewn all the way around and then the whole assembly is slipped on and glued. I imagine you will find no leather under the padded seat, rather it with the seat jockeys and then the cantle cover is the whole thing. That top piece of the cantle looks like it is not fit around a filler as in a complete build up, rather it is sewed on top of the cantle cover and then they are trimmed flush with one another. This assembly method, common to 'production saddles' of the 50's to 70's made for much more economical cutting from the hides. All you saddlemakers imagine how much easier it would be to get a saddle out of 2 sides if you didn't have to reserve the best part of one hide for a seat but could cut a right and left piece- seat jockey with a little extra and hide on the top edges and join the whole thing with a padded seat. Only drawback would be that you would need a large and tough padded seat leather to complete it. Somebody earlier guessed a Flor tree and I would vote for that. In the 60's when I got started they were about 1/4 the cost of Standard trees from Vernal, Utah which were the 'standard' for good trees.

[PcCowboy]

Interesting. I have always used only 2 sides to make a saddle. This includes a 1 piece saddle seat and not 2 pieces. Wilford Lewis had drawn up a chart showing where each piece of the saddle had to be cut from in a side. Of course these are matched sides, a left and a right.

[Saddlebag]

The more I look at this saddle I can't help but think it was made by Big Horn saddlery. The stitching pattern very much resembles their style of seat stitching. At one time you could tell the maker by the stitching pattern when padded seats came in to vogue.

[KathrynH]

Thanks for a second look, Saddlebag. Big Horn was who Mr. Jolley mentioned as well. I had wondered if stitching patterns could help identify the maker, much like brush strokes help identify a painter, but I guess there's no way to be sure unless I could find the identical saddle with the Big Horn mark on it. I know not every stitched saddle seat in the world is on the internet, but I haven't seen a pattern so far that I like better than mine.

[rwsr50]

This is an old post, but I hope you see this Kathryn.  I have a saddle EXACTLY like yours!   Well, almost exactly.  The leather is darker, and my seat is red, but other than that....  I acquired mine used back in about 1970 in Pennsylvania.  I too am trying to find out anything about mine.  It has MANY miles on it and is still in use.  I'll post a pic of mine when I get a chance.