The Spanish stock saddle had no horn or skirts and a low cantle. Over time as the Spaniards transitioned from military conquest to colonial expansion the saddle evolved and became a stock saddle. The stirrups hung low so that the rider sat with his legs hanging almost straight down. There were long plates descending from the pommel, which was also metal, on either side to shield rider’s thighs and as protection against an enemy’s lance getting underneath him. The metal cantle was sharply curved to prevent the rider from sliding off.
This saddle had a wooden frame or tree, was well padded and covered in velvet. The Spaniards took this basic saddle design and adapted it to what became known as the Spanish War Saddle. The saddles they rode on were built for battle they had high cantles for protection and longer stirrups to accommodate riding with amour. When the Moors invaded Spain in 711 AD they arrived with a distinctive style of riding and tack. By the time they made their way to southeastern Europe they were accomplished horsemen. In the fourth century a nomadic tribe called the Sarmations who migrated from Central Asia, are thought to have invented the first saddle. However, the origins of today’s saddle go all the way back to before the dark ages and Moorish horsemen. The western saddle as we know it began development in the early 1800’s. Saddle makers still mark their saddles today. These marks were fiercely guarded and even kept under lock and key. Saddle makers built their reputations on the quality of their saddles and so would put their mark on each saddle they made. Saddles in the days of the old west were all hand tooled and put together by craftsman there was no mass production. A thoughtless rider in a poor saddle could make a horse sore in an hour. A good saddle and a considerate rider could travel 70 miles a day and still have a healthy horse. This was money well spent a well-made saddle would serve its owner well for thirty years or more. A good saddle would often cost a month or two of wages. In the old west horses were abundant and cheap, but a saddle was neither. He might wager or sell his gun, spurs, or even his boots but never his saddle. A cowboy in the old American West could not work without his saddle. When he did get some rest his saddle would be his pillow.Ī cowboy’s saddle was indispensable it was so crucial to his way of life and livelihood that the phrase “he’s sold his saddle”, came to mean that a man was finished as a cowboy. For many months at a time on long trail drives a cowboy would be in his saddle from sun up, through the day and often half the night.
The western saddle and the cowboy who sits in it are an iconic part of American history and culture. The Cowboy Chronicle Publication of the NDCHF
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