rode hard!

[chuck123wapati]

Thought i would share some pics of an old saddle i have, My dad picked it up years ago i have no idea who owned it but whomever did rode it for a loooong time lol. It has many repairs and the seat leather and horn appears to have been worn off from use. I mostly posted it so that the makers name and his work wouldn't be lost to time. Wish this thing could talk i wonder the stories it could tell.

Just now, chuck123wapati said:

Thought i would share some pics of an old saddle i have, My dad picked it up years ago i have no idea who owned it but whomever did rode it for a loooong time lol. It has many repairs and the seat leather and horn appears to have been worn off from use. I mostly posted it so that the makers name and his work wouldn't be lost to time. Wish this thing could talk i wonder the stories it could tell.

 

[chuck123wapati]

[sbrownn]

Looks like it certainly spent a lot of time out in the weather.

[Ken Nelson]

I had an old Hamley Saddle come into my shop about 15 years ago for a clean and oil.  I was told it was ordered new in 1935 and had been rode since by its original owner and had been handed down to a great-granddaughter.  This saddle was actually in good condition for its age and amount of use.  The leather was still in good shape, however it had been rode enough there were two holes in the seat  about 2 inches in diameter, where his pin bones rested that were through the seat leather and part of the way through the ground seat.  The cantle binding had been replaced and was worn through in several places again.   I have wondered many times how many thousands miles of  South Dakota prairie had passed under the man and that saddle.  I have never seen a saddle that showed the amount of use it did, and the amount of care it showed to last through that much use.  I regret I didn't take pictures of it.  

A testimony of the pride of ownership those old cowboys had for their saddles and tack back in the day.

[chuck123wapati]

8 minutes ago, Ken Nelson said:

I had an old Hamley Saddle come into my shop about 15 years ago for a clean and oil.  I was told it was ordered new in 1935 and had been rode since by its original owner and had been handed down to a great-granddaughter.  This saddle was actually in good condition for its age and amount of use.  The leather was still in good shape, however it had been rode enough there were two holes in the seat  about 2 inches in diameter, where his pin bones rested that were through the seat leather and part of the way through the ground seat.  The cantle binding had been replaced and was worn through in several places again.   I have wondered many times how many thousands miles of  South Dakota prairie had passed under the man and that saddle.  I have never seen a saddle that showed the amount of use it did, and the amount of care it showed to last through that much use.  I regret I didn't take pictures of it.  

A testimony of the pride of ownership those old cowboys had for their saddles and tack back in the day.

yes i agree how many times did that leg get thrown over the cantle till the leather wore through, we have it so good now we don't even realize what a saddle meant to a person or the work that went into buying one. Buying a new saddle, or anything,  wasn't a trip down to the bank for a loan or four easy payments it was cold hard cash in hand and it wasn't something you let get ruined or you went without plain and simple. I was fortunate enough to have met many old cowboys  back when i was young.

A funny story my dad was a mechanic so on weekends he would go out to the different ranches and repair their haying equipment and such this was back in the 60s. Well i was talking to this old rancher one day and mentioned i would like to look around his place with a metal detector to find lost money. He just gave me that old cowboy look kinda out under the brim of his hat and said you can look all you want but if we had money back then it was in the sugar bowl in the kitchen and it didn't come out till we went to town. 

[Ken Nelson]

Good ONe.   Those old ranchers were a different breed of animal.  America lost the best with those people back in the day.  They were a rugged, determined tough lot and those pioneer women were maybe even more tough and rugged. I miss those old men I knew 60 years ago.

[sbrownn]

23 hours ago, Ken Nelson said:

I had an old Hamley Saddle come into my shop about 15 years ago for a clean and oil.  I was told it was ordered new in 1935 and had been rode since by its original owner and had been handed down to a great-granddaughter.  This saddle was actually in good condition for its age and amount of use.  The leather was still in good shape, however it had been rode enough there were two holes in the seat  about 2 inches in diameter, where his pin bones rested that were through the seat leather and part of the way through the ground seat.  The cantle binding had been replaced and was worn through in several places again.   I have wondered many times how many thousands miles of  South Dakota prairie had passed under the man and that saddle.  I have never seen a saddle that showed the amount of use it did, and the amount of care it showed to last through that much use.  I regret I didn't take pictures of it.  

A testimony of the pride of ownership those old cowboys had for their saddles and tack back in the day.

I've been to Hamley's many times but their leather shop is long gone and the store is nothing like it used to be since it was sold.  I would have liked to seen it in the 1930's when the leather shop was probably running full speed and the store actually catered to the cowboys.

[Sheilajeanne]

22 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

A funny story my dad was a mechanic so on weekends he would go out to the different ranches and repair their haying equipment and such this was back in the 60s. Well i was talking to this old rancher one day and mentioned i would like to look around his place with a metal detector to find lost money. He just gave me that old cowboy look kinda out under the brim of his hat and said you can look all you want but if we had money back then it was in the sugar bowl in the kitchen and it didn't come out till we went to town. 

I'm sure he found LOTS of stuff with that metal detector, but it wouldn't have been money! Nuts, bolts, and bits of scrap for sure.

[chuck123wapati]

21 hours ago, Ken Nelson said:

Good ONe.   Those old ranchers were a different breed of animal.  America lost the best with those people back in the day.  They were a rugged, determined tough lot and those pioneer women were maybe even more tough and rugged. I miss those old men I knew 60 years ago.

oh heck yeah the women were double tough. Another story this particular couple homesteaded and built their ranch from the ground up by themselves, Dee and Agnus Burch were their names, During ww2 there was a training base for pilots in Casper and they often flew over the ranch. one day a pilot did a strafing run at Agnus while she was hanging up her wash blowing it all down with he prop wash as he went over. She went straight to town which was a feat as the ranch was about 30 miles from the good road then another couple hour drive and chewed the commanders butt personally lol. She would yell out that lunch was ready but you had better not open the door till your feet were clean and you were washed  or she would run your butt right back out. 

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

I'm sure he found LOTS of stuff with that metal detector, but it wouldn't have been money! Nuts, bolts, and bits of scrap for sure.

yup i found a ton and a few arrowheads as well you get to watching the ground as you sweep the detector so you find other nonmetal stuff as well.