I can't believe I actually forgot to mention that I *cough* acquired another sidesaddle! I now have two, I guess that is how collections start? lol
It is incredibly hard to find sidesaddles in New Zealand, there just isn't the number of saddles down here. I had toyed with buying myself a western sidesaddle for trail riding, but then I spotted this one for sale up in the North Island. It has been recently refurbished (so didn't require any work) which was a bit of a deciding factor.
It has been christened Big Bertha as it is just enormous, I feel like a child in it, but she is ohhhh so comfy :) Its not a sidesaddle that I would do dressage in, I can't "feel" Molly like I can in my Tidbold sidesaddle, but its a great second sidesaddle (and did I mention how comfortable it is?), and I like that I now have a sidesaddle I can lend out to interested people who want to have a go, since nobody else down here will do that.
The girth is too short unfortunately, it was a struggle to get it in the last hole on each side. I have a saddle fitter coming shortly and hopefully he will be able to extend it on one side, to give us some extra length to play with.
I would be interested in any opinions as to age. It has a cut back head and a fairly level seat. It has an ordinary roller stirrup bar, but a two position leaping head, which I thought was a fairly "modern" invention? And I've not seen it on an old sidesaddle that wasn't a O.N.E.S before. The leaping head also collapses, and has an intriguing square ring on the end. What was the purpose of the collapsible head and what could the wee ring be for?
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| Collapsible leaping head and a small square ring on the end |
The saddle is quite long, 22" from in front of the upright pommel. And the pommels themselves are huge, I can only imagine what sort of imposing figure it was made for!
Yes, Anita, you have started down the path to becoming a sidesaddle junkie. I also have one of those classic victorian saddles with a fold down leaping head, though mine isn't so large. I've heard two reasons posited for the fold down leaping head:
ReplyDelete1. It makes it easier to handle the saddle around the tack room and makes it possible to stack saddles.
2. It makes it easier for the lady to dismount without getting her skirt caught on the leaping head.
I don't know which one is more plausible...I've tried dismounting from mine with the leaping head down and noticed no difference. If anything, the upright horn is the bigger hindrance, but I can't see making one of those fold down.
The little D is for a strap that connects between the pommels, ostensibly to keep the skirt from getting bunched between the pommels.
It looks like your saddle could use some flocking in the rear, though you may find that it has felt panels. Mine had the original panels removed and replaced with felt (very poorly done, I must add) which I then replaced with wool and serge panels. It is extremely comfortable.
That's a REALLY nice saddle, especially with all those unusual bells and whistles on it! :) Great find!
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