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I think this is an Army Officer's Saddle


Steve Brannan
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Steve Brannan

I found this saddle in an Antique Shop in the Atlanta area last week. I don't collect them but thought the price was right and maybe I could research it and resell it to someone who would appreciate it more. It looks like a military officers saddle from between WWI and WWII to me. I can't find any markings on it. It has the brass keepers on it like the McClellan saddles I have seen and has hooded sturrips but no "US" like the enlisted saddles. As you can see it is dark brown leather. Does anyone have any information for me?

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A couple more pictures of the saddle.

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Steve: After studying your saddle and going through THE AMERICAN MILITARY SADDLE, 1776-1945, by R. Stephen Dorsey and Kenneth L. McPheeters, I think that what you have is a commercial saddle, probably made sometime between WWI and WWII. The tree looks somewhat like one of the Whitman models and a little bit like the M1917 Service Saddle tree. However, the leather covering and the furniture are not like anything that was U.S. issue.

 

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Here's my French made Officers saddle. It's been rebuilt at JQMD in 1929. If you lift up the skirt and look where the stirrup strap attaches, sometimes there is a brass tag located there.

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The hardware look correct for a military saddle. Model from the late 20s, I think. It should be marked under an over skirt.

Cheers,

Henry

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The hardware look correct for a military saddle. Model from the late 20s, I think. It should be marked under an over skirt.

Cheers,

Henry

 

I still say that it is a commercial saddle and considering that it was found in the Atlanta area, probably a type of saddle known as a plantation saddle.

 

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Steve Brannan

I looked under the skirt and found no tag or markings of any kind. The thing that made me think it was military was the brass keepers, four on the back and two on the front. The keepers are just like those on the McClellan saddle. Didn't officers buy their own saddles and have some flexibility in what style they bought?

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El Bibliotecario
Didn't officers buy their own saddles and have some flexibility in what style they bought?

 

In that era, I would think yes--and I wonder why a civilian equestrian would want those big hooded stirrups.

 

I looked in vol. 3 of Randy Steffan's THE HORSE SOLDIER and found several saddles similar to yours apparently used by officers prior to WW2. Problem is, when it comes to saddles I don't know much other then that they fit over the top of the horse, so 'similar' to me might be the same as an M1 rifle being 'similar' to a M1903 rifle to a non-shooter/non-collector.

 

I'd suggest consulting the R Stephen Dorsey reference mentioned above--and since I can hear Arturo gnashing his teeth at that suggestion, I'd also suggest the Randy Steffan book I mentioned above, or ever better, his UNITED STATES MILITARY SADDLES.

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In that era, I would think yes--and I wonder why a civilian equestrian would want those big hooded stirrups.

 

I looked in vol. 3 of Randy Steffan's THE HORSE SOLDIER and found several saddles similar to yours apparently used by officers prior to WW2. Problem is, when it comes to saddles I don't know much other then that they fit over the top of the horse, so 'similar' to me might be the same as an M1 rifle being 'similar' to a M1903 rifle to a non-shooter/non-collector.

 

I'd suggest consulting the R Stephen Dorsey reference mentioned above--and since I can hear Arturo gnashing his teeth at that suggestion, I'd also suggest the Randy Steffan book I mentioned above, or ever better, his UNITED STATES MILITARY SADDLES.

 

The details of this saddle are not consistent with those of a military saddle. Look at the method of attaching the girth strap to the saddle. They are attached with rivets only. Those on a military saddle would be stitched and riveted. Look at the keeper or standing loop on the stirrup strap. It is fastened with staples. Those on a military saddle would be overlapped and stitched. The foot staples (what you are calling keepers) do appear to be military but they could probably be obtained from a manufacturer. The wooden stirrups do not appear to be military. I still think that this is a civilian saddle. I don't claim to be an expert but I have studied U.S. cavalry equipment since the mid-1950s and at one time I owned 17 U.S. military saddles ranging from M1859 McClellan to M1936 Phillips Officers Saddle and wrote an article on the evolution of the McClellan Cavalry Saddle for the Company of Military Historians journal MILITARY COLLECTOR & HISTORIAN.

 

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Steve Brannan

I appreciate the input. Could it be that a company post-WWI used surplus trees, leather and brass keepers to sell saddles to the civilian market. The saddle is well made and old.

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I think what you have here is likley a police saddle from around the turn of the last century. Many police departments used "military style" saddles including the stirrup hoods and the split type tree. Saddles like this were also as previously stated popular among civilian riders from the same period and most saddlery companies offered variations like this.

Army Officers from the late 19th and early 20th century almost always used saddles which used English style girths rather than a western style cinch as would have been used with this saddle. Also every original officer's saddle I've examined used steel stirrups not the wooden type illustrated. Finally, Officers were allowed variations but as in many things nobody wanted to "stand out from the crowd". Very fine saddles could be pruchased from the Quartermaster departmant, as well as from French "samur school" saddlers in vogue at the time so that a rough looking brute of a saddle like this would have not been appropriate for a cavalry officer to be seen in.

Tom Bowers

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