You, Your Sidesaddle and Your Horse.. Making it all fit!

This  has to be one of the best diagrams and instructions I have ever seen to get the right fit!

Found this on Pinterest of all places!

SHHHHHH - Don't Tell....

... but here is my new Owen sidesaddle:

Yeah - that makes 4; almost enough to host my very own sidesaddle clinic!

New Sidesaddle Covers!

Jeanne Cracknell is making me new sidesaddle covers.  This is the fabric pattern I chose since my barn colors are black and white! LOVE THEM!!

From a Discussion Yesterday...

..on the Sidesaddle group in Facebook.  The ladies were discussing the pictures just below showing the same rider on different horses where the sidesaddle is positioned in very different places.While the picture on the left does look really far back at first glance, I challenge you to look again.  

As I said earlier, these are 2 different horses.  Instead of looking at how much distance there is from the horses head to the rider, look now at the distance from the horses tail to the rider and you will see just low long the horse on the left is and that the rider is in acceptable riding positions in both pictures.

 This picture is a top side photo of a sidesaddle.  You can see the cut back under the flap in this photo.

My horse background comes from the breed of American Saddlebred horses and riding astride in cutback saddles, as shown below.

In this photo you can see just how much our cutback saddles match the typical sidesaddles, both sitting further back on the horses back.  Now a sidesaddle sits further back to accommodate the riders leg coming over to the side.

The cutback saddle was created to also not interfere   It accommodates the Park type horse who is bred with a higher neck and head carriage and more front end action.  You do not want to impede this with a saddle that rubs the shoulder muscles so obvious in this magnificent picture - nor do you want the riders weight atop of them!

Now that you have read the above information... look at the antique photo once again.

Hello - My Name is Julie....

....and I have a problem... a serious serious problem.  I just purchased another sidesaddle.  I now consider myself highly adicted to the hoarding and collecting of such items...

I totally realize that I only have one butt, I can only ride one horse at a time and that currently no other family member has expressed a desire to ride aside...and yet I can't help myself.

In my defense - it is an Owen.. the most sought after, strong, comfortable - best horse fitting sidesaddle out there.  It was owned by a lady whom I have befriended through my sidesaddle journey and I truly trust... It is an honor to own this new sidesaddle....

...in case you were wondering - this is where you are suppose to tell me that you love me!  snicker snicker...

I Had a Vision....

...of a blessing so HUGE... that this was my new tack room!!!

...hee hee... but alas, this is the tack room of the infamous Roger Philpot!

Upcoming Events!

I can't believe it ... but I leave one week from today for the NTASHA - North Texas American Saddlebred Horse Association Show in Fort Worth Texas!!!  This will be the first time for me to show Sport!  Although he is a 5 gaited Saddlebred, I will only be showing him in a 3 gaited class called Park Pleasure.  I am going to ride him sidesaddle.  This way, I will get to experience showing him for the first time without the concern of moving through all 5 gaits.

Lillian completely rebuilt my broken Knoud sidesaddle and I am praying it gets here before I leave.  I hate going to a show without a back up sidesaddle.  Also, the Owen saddle needs to have a tweek here and there. I have ridden the Owen weekly without exception since I bought it and 2 of the keepers need to be reattached.  What a workhorse that Owen saddle is!!

In early November, I have been invited to participate in a reinactment in Beaumont, TX.  I will be doing this with others at Bluebonnet Farm, so I expect it to be nothing but FUN!

The first week of December is the TASHA show held closer to home, held in Katy, TX.  This is where I would love to present Sport in the 5-gaited class for the first time solely because of this shows atmosphere. It is a fun, relaxed show that is big enough to replicate the big show experience without being so large that you lose the family feel!

I will keep you updated.

Below are pictures of the inside of my Knoud sidesaddle with the broken tree.  The second picture shows the modern repairs partially done.

Remember my Knoud Sidesaddle?

.. the one I purchased, rode in for almost a year, then had some restoration work done on it .. then discovered dureing a bucking scene, Oliver managed to break the tree.... yeah - well when Lillian took it completley apart, this is what she found:

...and this is what Lillian wrote about it:

"This is the gullet iron on Julie's Knoud.someone welded the bottom iron but did not fix the top iron. It broke again when her big horse cut up in the ring and the saddle broke. Had it been done right the first time this would not have happened. I will post another photo of the repaired saddle. I had to redo the web in the seat and reflock the seat thanks to this break. It is fixed now but took some time todo it.
The top strap iron was broken as well. Even the rivets were gone. So all the stress fellon the one piece of iron. It could not stand the forces on it. And it snapped.."

For those of you who do knot know Lillian... she is a miracle worker for antique sidesaddles!....MIRACLE WORKER!!!

When I get it back I will try it on Sport for the first time.  I can't imagine going into show season with only 1 sidesaddle... not like I can run over and borrow someone elses!!! 

For Sale..

While I do not normally use my blog as a sales bulletin board, I think you know me well enough to know that when I do business with someone and am very pleased with the service, I will let everyone know about it and help to promote them.  Well my friend Jeanne has yet another beautiful Owen sidesaddle for sale.  I purchased my first Owen from her and ride in it weekly.  It is an amazingly beautiful and strong sidesaddle - and Jeanne represented it exactly as it was.  She is an honest person and I just wanted to help her get the work out about this sidesaddle.   

Owen sidesaddle for sale. The seat length is 20", width is 13". The tree is wide, on a newer wool flocked panel. This saddle has had all repairs and updates completed so is ready to ride and show. It has a M&M type convenience feature, so there isn't the bother of the elastic tab for tightening the girth while mounted.

I am attaching three photos. Saddle is priced at $3250.00 firm, comes with a stirrup iron and fitting. This Owen has a Mayhew breakaway assembly.

If you are interested, you can contact her at longmeadow at comcast dot net

My Knoud Sidesaddle..

..as you know it was located.  Thank you Jesus!!! 

Well, I heard from Lillian and she confirmed what I thought, it does indeed have a broken tree.  Not in just 1 place, but in 2.  She is going to talk to her welding guy and see what they can do.  I really want it restored because when you are working with such grand (and old) sidesaddles, you do need a back up!

Will keep you posted!   

M.I.A.

My beautiful Knoud sidesaddle was sent to Lillian to have the tree repaired. Oliver broke it during a little buck fest on a chilly morning. I packed it securly in a computer box. The saddle had a saddle cover on it and was wrapped in plastic just in case it got wet. All vacant spaces were filled with peanuts. My husband shipped the saddle over 2 weeks ago with the US Postal Service and it is now nowhere to be found. Yes, it was insured, but I want my saddle back...

Knoud Sidesaddle Restored!

My Knoud Sidesaddle BEFORE:




...and after!!!



It would probably be easier to tell you what was NOT restored.. but to name a few:
all new billets, balance strap, stirrup leather, suede seat and new covers for the heads.

The above pictures are what Lillian sent me after she completed the work. The saddle should arrive today. I am very anxious to get it into my hands... especially since I am leaving for a show on Thursday morning!

Need More Information...

Let's play a game.. We will just call it "Need More Information".. since that pretty much describes what this is all about.

As you know, I search long and hard for interesting sidesaddle related things, people, events, history, art and absolutely anything else I can find that even comes close to having anything to do with riding sidesaddle... all for the purpose of entertaining you and me on this blog! In my searches, I sometimes find items with little to no information. Most of the time, these types of items are found on E-bay, where a seller has purchased something at an estate auction and it just trying to flip it for a profit. It is a shame isn't it.. when a piece of history loses it's story. Kind of like a registered horse being sold without his papers.. (but lets not get me started about that!)

Usually I just file what I find and later come up with more pieces of the puzzle - at least enough to make a good blog post.. but every so often, no further information surfaces.. no matter how hard I try to locate it. This is why I have decided to every once in a while .. post something and see if any of you know anything about it!

This is a sidesaddle made by Parker Bros.

It is obviously not a fake or modern reproduction, however I have come up empty for any historical information about this manufacture.

Have any of you ever heard of Parker Bros. sidesaddle company? If so, please chime in so we all can learn about it!Don't bother to google Parker Bros.. because all you will come up with is a large assortment of board games.. even if you add the word sidesaddle into the mix!

If we can find out about this saddle maker, I will change the label from Need More Information to Saddles and file it accordingly!

**UPDATE**
Parker Bros of London operated from the mid 19th Century until about 1910.

Parker bros was bought and added to the saddlery department of the famous high society mens clothing company Moss Bros in the early part of the 1900's.

Sadly, this is the final chapter for Parker, Thomas, trading under the name of Parker Brothers;

ADDRESS: Carrying on business at 7, 8, 9 and 10, Littlestreet, Andrew-street, St. Martin's-lane, and 5, 6 and 7, umber-court, St. Martin'slane, residing at 9, Little St. Andrew-street, all in the county of London.

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Saddlery, Harness and Horse Clothing Dealer

COURT ORDER: High Court of Justice Ln Bankruptcy

DATE: DECEMBER 10, 1910

Owen and Co. Sidesaddles

I recently purchased an Owen Sidesaddle. It is the first sidesaddle that I have that does not need to be restored immediately! It is just beautiful!!! (Thanks Jeanne!) So lets look at Owen Saddles today and talk about them!


Following information from:
http://www.nickcreaton.co.uk/collection.html
Owen and Co. was founded prior to 1839 by Henry Owen trading from 125 Mount St, Berkeley Square, London.

*1900 ~ around this time introduce the “Flat seated side saddle.”

*1930 ~ By this time The Middleburg Saddlery Co. Virginia, U.S.A. sole U.S. agents for Owen & Co.

*1940–47 ~ Between these dates A McDougall & Son., (Est. 1770), 22 City Road, Finsbury Square, London E.C.1. have purchased Owen & Co.

*1959 ~ W & H Gidden Ltd., (Est. 1806), purchase McDougall & Son.
Held Royal Warrants to Queen Victoria and the King of Italy


Informatiion from my sidesaddle readers verifies that Owen saddles the elite of their own. They are not only great for flat work but are preferred by those who enjoy hunting and jumping.

My observation after only a few rides upon Oliver: It is a beautiful and elegant saddle! I was impressed with the fit. I knew immediately when I rode him too. With one slight exception of needing about 1 inch rise in the back to make it perfectly level, it seemed like it was made for him. For me, this saddle is a KEEPER! I found no places where it rubbed or pinched. Although I miss the 'garage door' feature I have on the Knoud, it does have a hook/eye for a quick adjustment.

This saddle does sit about 3 inches higher than my Knoud and about 1 inch higher than the Champion and Wilton I have. While this does not make much of a difference in the ride for flat work, it does give the impression that either Oliver has a shorter neck than he does ... or that his rider (that would be me!) is really really tall. For this purpose, I may be showing him in Saddlebred shows using the Knoud.

This Owen sidesaddle has two toned leather. Jeanne was trying to find out if this was a popular design of the era.

**UPDATE**
Jeanne found out from Nick the reason for the two-toned coloration on her saddle.
"The pommel and cantle were of pigskin so they darken fairly quickly.
The reason the flap leather is so different is that it has had a surface dye i.e. aniline dyed or in the trade known as anionic dye.
This is fairly common."

This is an offside Owen... very very valuable to the ladies who prefer riding to the right.

I had this picture saved and labeled as an Owen breakaway stirrup assembly however, it does not look like the one on my saddle. Tonight I will try and remember to take a picture of mine so we can compare.

**UPDATE**
This is a Champion and Wilton stirrup assembly and was specifically requested for this Owen sidesaddle..as many of you already guessed!

Gemma sent me this pic of her Owen sidesaddle stirrup assembly and mine looks more like this too:

The Earliest of the Earliest..

Sidesaddles! Here are 2 photographs of museum quality historic sidesaddles that just thrilled me to pieces! You see, before I saw these, I had only seen drawings and read descriptions of these types of sidesaddles.

Look at the basket where the lady would literally sit sideways upon the horse with little to no control over the animal at all! Can you imagine how uncomfortable it would be to travel a long distance in this 'chair'?

Here is a stunning example of a rail saddle so primitive that instead of a stirrup, it has the foot rest.
Just amazing!!!

Great C&W Restoration

Irene sent me these pictures a while ago. My intention was to post them when I did the big write up on the Champion and Wilton saddles. Somehow I overlooked them.

I love these pictures because it shows the before and after of a great restoration of one of the "old girls". This is the before shot.

..and here is the after!
I remember how thrilled I was when I got my newly restored C&W saddle back from Lillian and I have that same feeling right now as I anxiously (obnoxiously.. since I e-mail the poor woman every other day!) await the restoration of my Knoud!

Thank you again Irene for sharing your beautiful saddle with everyone!!

Great Western Sidesaddle Review!

Angelina sent me this great e-mail about her sidesaddles. This is what she wrote:

"My newest saddle that I love is the Fraizer, I can't believe the only picture I have is on my very woolly horse last January,"

This is a picture she later sent me of her Fraizer:

Angelina continued:
"There are more pictures on the side saddlery website. I bought it from the side saddlery who are great to work with because they also do repairs and are very professional so I knew I could trust it would show up in great shape. It is from about the turn of the century by the makers stamp probably after 1898 but it is very close to the Gallup saddle who Farzier was employed by from 1884 to 1892 when he became a partner, in 1898 he left to open his own saddlery. Frazier "Builder of the Famous Pueblo Saddle" is still popular with cowboy and saddle collectors the off side has a huge purse with some one's initials on it so it looks like a custom which was really popular with cowboys of the day so in my story in my head it belonged to a cattle bareness and she rode sidesaddle on cattle drives as the Goodnight saddle was developed for, but I'll probably never know the real story of who owned the saddle.

The catalog saddle is just that, while it is a western style catalog saddle it is not a Goodnight.
Personally I like the Goodnight saddles a lot better they are way more comfortable and in my opinion a lot prettier. It showed up with a cracked tree. Luckily one of my friends is starting to make custom saddles in Wyoming so I sent it to him, he fiber glassed the tree and put an entirely new western rigging and saddle strings on it. I had tried to sell it but then my 4-H kids wanted to learn to ride side saddle so I decided to keep it because it is a very solid little saddle now it fits the kids well and is very balanced so I don't worry about them learning to lean or it slipping.

I still want an English side saddle but I blew my extra horse cash on the Frazier so maybe next year. I love your blog and I have learned so much from it especially about the English classes, the etiquette, and traditions. We have one horse show here with a side saddle class that is put on by the Frontier Belles a side saddle drill team my Mom and I ride with but everyone rides western. I asked them if next year I could ride an English side saddle in the regular classes against astride riders. You have inspired me by the way so if I get an English one I am so going to do this. With western you can ride in modern clothes with an apron or try to have a period costume which was fairly random. Some women rode in English habits, some rode dressed similar their husbands rank if they were in the army and I would imagine those that rode Goodnights on the cattle trail were much less interested in being stylish, because I know when I'm out working cows I do not look stylish at all, but I have found very little information about that. For me showing English would be fun to have a habit and be able to look so much more put together, like you're actually at a show."

Thank you so much Angelina for sharing this information with everyone. You might be shocked at how many of the readers ride and show Western sidesaddle!!

Wendy Tibold Sidesaddle

This modern sidesaddle is owned by Anita Exley.
It was made in 2009 by Wendy Tidbold of Australia.

It is a new sidesaddle tree (tree made in the UK) and has a flat seat, dual position leaping head and a Mayhew type stirrup attachment.

And it is super comfy!




I was so thrilled to receive this as it is good to know that there are some more saddle makers out there, than the few I knew about!

This is Wendy's web site:
http://www.wendyssaddlery.com.au/side_saddle_products.htm

...and here are a few of the sidesaddles she has made!

Martin & Martin

Thought I would do 2 posts today since I missed yesterday. Yesterday, I had to meet with the movers to take a lot of furniture out of my Father's home. It was a sad day for me.

The following 2 Martin and Martin sidesaddle photos were provided by Linda Flemmer from The Sidesaddlery. Please visit the ISSO web site at:
http://www.sidesaddle.com/reference_pages/saddletype.htm

Martin and Martin saddles were built in London, Philadelphia, and New York. Highly prized by show riders, these sidesaddles were one of the best hand made saddles available.


The most interesting and convenient feature of a Martin & Martin sidesaddle is the
offside flap, which has a spring loaded arm, sometimes called a 'garage door' to give access to the billets. This feature allowed the rider to make girth adjustments both without an assistant and without having to dismount. These saddles were constructed with either a safety bar or a roller bar system. Although this worked well for riders who fall off on the off side, it sometimes failed to release if the rider fell falling nearside. The stirrup fitting could remain lodged behind the locating pin.

This is an older Martin & Martin. Note the narrow pommels.

More modern Martin & Martin saddles weighed in at a light 23 pounds with fittings making it the lightest sidesaddle of it's time.

These next 2 photos are from Jeanne and this is what she told me about her Martin and Martin saddle:

This M&M has medium pommels, dual position leaping pommel, all leather saddle was used for fox hunting in the late 1940's and more recently on the Morgan show circuit. Has the M&M bullseye breakaway fitting and M&M "garage door" convenience feature.