I'll bet the leather quality on that old bridle is 100 X's better than anything you'd find today; unless you buy English leather.
Remember when Sears was Sears-Roebuck and they sold farm stuff and horse tack? I still have the saddle/bridle/martengale mom bought me for my first horse in 1959 - lol lol lol It's black with fake silver diamond studs and even has taps on the stirrups! Whoo Hoo!
You're so right about the quality. My first saddle came from Montgomery Wards, It was made by Ozark Saddle Company when they used to make saddles for Monkey Wards. It was heavily tooled and included the matching bridle (the one I have) and breast collar. It was a roping type saddle and weighed about 40 lbs. It was a serious saddle and very comfortable.
I logged many miles of trail riding and even did some team roping in it. Also, it fit nearly every horse I owned over the years, and I broke a number of young ones and did all my initial training in it until the horse progressed to english. I kept it for 40 years and never had to repair it.
Most of my riding and lessons were done hunter and I had quite a collection of english saddles and tack. I also still have my first english saddle. Talk about quality. It was a cheapy at the time, and it was ridden in on a daily basis for almost for 40 years and only had some minor stitching repair over the years. It was my go to saddle for trail riding, show training and arena work. It is twice the quality of the stuff I see these days. I still have that one, retired on my loft wall as a deco piece.
You know these vintage saddles are worth big $$ these days if they're in good condition. I saw an old western saddle like mine on eBay for about 3X what I paid for it back when. I'll bet that black saddle of yours is worth something, aside from the memories.
If I ever needed another saddle (in my dreams) I would certainly buy the older used stuff in good condition before I would lay out the bucks for the cardboard stuff they call saddles these days.
Speaking of riding bareback. That's how I learned to ride and believe me you learn fast how to be one with the horse, huh? I never owned a saddle until early adulthood and am happy I really learned how to ride instead of depending on a saddle to save my butt. It served me well in some tricky situations.
This video is spectacular and I am in no way saying I could ever ride like this, even in my best days, holding my mouth just right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkK29D6NHQQ
Thanks everyone for being patient while TWH and I have our daily horse fix
Oh, and just to keep this topic legit, no big plans for the day, except to get out of the freakin' house. The weather's gonna be nice and I am shooting for a campfire cookout this afternoon...even if it's only turkey sausage and beans.
