The Western Saddle

FROM the days of Alexander and Napoleon, the saddle has at times been a throne from which orders were given that affected the destiny of nations. The “western” saddle has played its part in the history of the United States, and especially in the history of Arizona. Its story is interlaced with that of the winning of the West and the American cattle industry. To tell this story without some reference to the chief factors responsible for the present form of the western saddle would be equivalent to painting a picture without a background.

The earliest semblance of a saddle we have any account of was found in Egypt. This, however, was not used as a riding saddle, playing no nobler part than that of a section of draft harness. It would appear that the ancient Egyptian, as well as the Greek and Roman of that day was quite satisfied to take the horse as he found it, riding it in true Comanche fashion, natural and free from all entangling alliances and superfluous contraptions.

On the site of ancient Troy have been found head stalls and cheek straps ornamented with ivory plates; while in Syria, during recent excavations, monuments showing decorated saddle-cloths were discovered. As no saddle is shown in these carved inscriptions, it might well be that they record, approximately, the natal day of the saddle as well as the land of its nativity. Yet, when we learn that objects have been unearthed in the lake-dwellings of Switzerland, bearing a striking resemblance to horse bits, one being curved with knobs grooved for the reins; and also learn that at Somme-Bionne, France, in the grave of a Gaulish chief who lived in the late Iron Age, were found two horse bits of the jointed snaffle type, it should make us rather chary in the matter of forming any hard and fast conclusions.

The frieze of the Parthenon in Athens shows that the Greeks of that day rode bareback, and the saddle-cloth does appear to have been in use till the 5th Century, A. D. A 6th Century vase found at Daphne, Lower Egypt, shows a woman riding astride on a saddle-cloth. And to add confusion to perplexity we find that in the museum at Mainz, Germany, there is a funeral monument of the time of Nero which contains the figure of a horseman on a saddle-cloth with something resembling the pommel and cantle of a saddle.

As has been shown, the genealogy of the saddle has its beginning in its venerable ancestor, the pad, which in its youth was a more or less crude affair secured to the horse's back by one or more girths. In the course of time these pads or seats grew into elaborately stuffed and shaped contrivances reflecting the most advanced ideas and notions of the equestrian world and were surprisingly like the saddle of the present day minus the tree and the stirrups.

The earliest record we have of a saddle containing a tree is found carved upon the Column of Theodosius, at Constantinople, and shows two figures astride high-peaked saddles resting on embroidered saddlecloths. This saddle is estimated to be the invention of the 4th Century, A. D. Stirrups apparently did not come into use till the 7th Century. Prior to that time the rider mounted as best he could, bearing as patiently as possible the various ills incurred by having his legs hang unsupported for hours at a time from the horse's back.

The saddle used by Marco Polo and his party on their journey to the Kingdom of Kublai Khan was practically a prototype of the Crusaders, both being very much like the saddle that the Arab uses to this very day. In the military saddle of the 14th and 15th centuries the high front parts were armoured and extended to protect the legs of the rider. The English jousting saddle of that period was much like a box, into which the rider was squeezed and wedged so firmly that nothing less than a dynamite bomb could possibly dislodge him, while the high cantle protected that part of his person unguarded by shield or armour.

This brief survey of the history of the saddle will serve to show that the type of saddle under discussion is not the invention of any one generation, nor that of any one people, place or time. It is on the contrary the fruitage of centuries of experimentation carried on by men whose comfort and safety lay in the perfecting of its every detail. Human vanity, love of display and pride of possession may account for much of the ornateness and extravagance frequently found in its makeup, but fundamentally this saddle of the Western cowboy is the all important tool of a trade most exacting in its practical require ments. Any weakness in any part of this tool is apt to place in jeopardy the life or limb of its user. It must be built to stand the stresses and strains of one of the most strenuous and precarious occupations engaged in by mankind. For this reason it has perhaps been the recipient of more careful thought in its construction than is usually given to an appliance so apparently simple.

The Western or Texas saddle as it is often designated in trade circles is primarily both in its nature and purpose, a cowboy's saddle. That it has come into al-most general use by nearly all classes of riders throughout the West, despite its apparent clumsiness and seemingly excessive weight, is sufficient proof of its practicability; its pecularities merely lend emphasis to the fact that necessity has ever been the mother of invention. As used by the man on the range, every feature of this saddle down to the last detail is the outgrowth of some definitely demonstrated need. Spending the greater part of his working hours between pommel and cantle, the saddle is the work bench of the cowboy, who spends the greater part of his working hours between pommel and cantle, and is fashioned to carry every requirement of his trade.

Drawing By Ross Santee

The State of Texas claims to be not only the birthplace of the American cowboy, but also that of the cowboy's saddle. It is quite true that in that fenceless empire of a century ago, with its millions upon millions of unclaimed acres, a considerable part of the evolution of the western saddle took place. The elaborate top-heavy Don Quixotish saddle of Spanish extraction, so dear to the heart of the Mexican vaquero, was changed A bit here, altered somewhat there, stripped of its vain superfluities and whittled down to a saddle of service with its decorative features a secondary consideration. To be sure all of these changes did not take place in a day nor a year. The evolution was a gradual one influenced and determined by the needs of every new situation, as it arose.

The preposterously high Spanish cantle, while quite suitable to the taste of the somnolent son of mañana-land, was anathema to the American cowboy who was not only thoroughly awake, but who timed his movements by split seconds; and utility has ever held first place in the selection of every part of his work equipment. Few man-made devices more thoroughly incorporate the needs of its user than this seemingly simple affair known as the "Western saddle for stock." And of a certainty, no contrivance ever devised by man for the furtherance of the task in hand displays more in the way of difference of opinion and the eccentricities of its owner than does this same saddle.

Every cattleman has his own ideas as to how a saddle should be constructed with the result that the various saddle-making concerns show in their catalogues a bewildering array of models, each extolled in the most glowing terms. But with all this infinite variety furnished by the saddle factories, it is impossible for the manufacturers to anticipate the whims and notions of

Saddle makers have developed the art of saddle making to the nth degree. You can buy simple. serviceable saddles or hand-tooled affairs that represent veritable creations in leather. To the hard working cowboy, a good saddle is his pride and joy.each and every prospective customer; and so it is that the local saddlemaker continues to thrive turning out his cut-to-measure and made-to-order wares for his highly exacting clientele. And not only does the cowboy have his own ideas on the subject of saddle-making, but he prizes his saddle above all other earthly possessions. If it should ever come to a question of parting with his saddle in order to save his immortal soul, the latter, in all probability would have to shift for itself, getting along as best it might. He may display a certain amount of interest and pride in such parts of his equipment as boots, hat, chaps, spurs, etc., but first, last and all the time, his saddle is the really one important consideration.

His mount, due to the killing pace maintained in a day's work, is a matter of more or less frequent change, for in every "outfit" of any considerable size each cowboy has his own string of saddle horses, which are worked in relay, changing mounts as conditions demand, but not so with his saddle.

In the early history of California, in the days of the Dons when vaqueros and caballeros gathered to exhibit their finest horses and compete in feats of horsemanship, a saddle was a thing of beauty and a joy forever. The quality of its material, grade of workmanship and degrees of decorations determined the social status of the owner. The Spanish-Mexican saddle of that period, with its silver adornments and embossed leather, its high-pitched pommel and roundheaded projecting cantle (the projection being known as the bucking rim), is the nearest relation, the half-brother of the western stock saddle; bearing a somewhat similar relationship to its American kinsmen as does the Model T Ford to its offspring of today. Of the vaquero of that far day Abbe Domenick wrote: "He is content with a wretched hut for his residence, while he decorates his saddle and bridle with gold and silver ornaments." The Western cowboy of this day may not be "content with a wretched hut," but in all that concerns his saddle, he bears a striking likeness to his California cousin of the 18th Century.

A word or two in conclusion, regarding the construction details of the Western saddle should not be amiss. And it may be well to mention the fact that saddle-making is not only an ancient and honorable art but that as a craft it received special recognition from royalty in the 13th Century, when Edward the First, of England, granted a charter to the London Saddler's Company.

From the shaping of the tree, or frame of the saddle, down to the last finishing touches, every detail of this craft calls The smell of new leather in any saddle shop is something to strike nostalgia in any person ever having been around a cattle ranch. A saddle store is always an adventure to the person who appreciates exquisite handwork.

for a degree of skill and genuine artistry far in excess of that which a casual glance might reveal. The tree is made as a general rule from Oregon pine, a wood noted for its lightness, elasticity and tensile strength. This tree must be carefully shaped to conform to the requirements of both rider and mount. An ill-fitting saddle has more than once proved itself to be a miniature inferno with all the thrills.

The tree is now ready to have its nakedness clothed with all that centuries of experience have demonstrated to be comfortable, practical and useful. The first step in this clothing process is the building of a foundation or groundwork for the seat.

A strip of galvanized iron, the "strainer," is placed over the middle of the tree, to cover the open spaces between the sideboards, and upon this is laid a soft, thick, spongy leather, the belly-hide, which is skived and shaped to the form of the rider. The rigging is next attached and the leather straps, which are put on the sides of pommel, to which the girth rings are attached. Where two girths are used, a flank rigging is placed over side-boards at rear of cantle. Then comes the covering of the pommel, seat and cantle, an operation calling for the highest degree of skilled workmanship, the stiff unyielding leather being coaxed, conjured and made to fit far better than it ever did while on the back of its original owner. The skirts, cut from the best grade of California hide (that around the loin and hips) are then attached to the tree. Next are attached the stirrup-straps and the fenders, the latter serving to protect the rider's legs from the perspiration of the horse. Many of these fenders are lined with rubber or patent leather to make assurance doubly sure.

The idea, of course is to remain as long as possible in the saddle. Put a good saddle on top of a bucking bronc and unless you are one of the best hands in the business you and your saddle will soon part company.

Now, upon the under part of the skirt is glued and sewed a layer of sheepskin with the fleece side out. Then tie-strings are affixed here and there; the "jockeys" (leather pieces serving no other purpose than a trim for the saddle) are set in place; "tapaderos" (footguards usually of leather) are, on some models, added to the stirrups, which are now set in their straps; the girths are cinches of leather, horsehair or cowtail as the case may be, swung into position, and with a few finishing touches, this Western saddle, so dear to the heart of the cowboy; is ready for its owner with a guarantee of long and faithful service.

The western saddle is part of the life blood of the history of the west. It is an instrument of civilization. It represents both something for show and something to work with. Most of all it is the useful tool that makes the wheels move in a cattle camp.