Help! How to remove nail from saddle where saddle strings attach?

[Oldreiner]

I am restoring an old Big W saddle that was really dry and even had a wasp nest.  The saddle strings are shot.  I've removed the floating rosette.  The second rosette is nailed into the tree and the head is flush with the leather.  How do I remove without damaging the leather?

[cowboycolonel]

Take a piece of scrap leather and place it between the saddle and a pair of nippers or side cutters.  Use the nippers to grasp -NOT CUT - the nail and gentle pull it out, using the scrap leather as a shield.  Note:  Some people think they are doing a good thing by using ring-shank nails in building a saddle.  These are a real pain to remove, and you often have to cut them off and the set them below the surface of the leather.  Don't make that mistake.