Ground Zero

Saddle numero uno!  I blame getting inspired by some of the fantastic model tack artisans amazing creations for having a bash at making this over a year ago, so many fabulous examples are out there of people who's skills are otherworldly in replicating leather work in minute scale.

This was made while I was waiting for a client to collect some repairs after normal hours and had a bored/inspired moment playing around with some off cuts of leather and the metal from a quiche tin! I wanted to try and make a typical UK style show saddle ~ in my mind I had the saddle I had for my Highland pony (a native pony saddle company working hunter/VSD saddle) as the basic theme but I didn't use any reference pictures just remembering that particular saddle, considering this I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I also didn't have a specific scale in mind I simply cut the metal flan tin to a size that appealed and went from there.

As it turned out to be pretty much spot on Classic scale, it has three girth billets both sides which are stitched through the 'tree', I decided at this scale my stitchmarkers and over-stitch markers would be out of scale to add stitch marks (at some point I will post about my saddle making tools and bore the pants of you with my nerd like enthusiasm for tools!). Instead of the markers I went for a crease line where the stitches would go.  I'd like to get a pounce wheel and see if that would work in scale better but I think it might be too large for littlebit/stablemate size which is what I want to try next.  I used teeny tiny tacks for the saddle nails which I got from Hobbycraft which worked pretty well, its riveted in place through the skirt, flap and makeshift tree.

Things I would alter and try to improve on are more numerous than the good points ~ some of the bloopers are:

1.  the makeshift flan tin tree worked ok-ish but needed to have more time taken over getting the basic seat shape sorted prior to covering with leather ~ you can see the sweep of the seat as it bends up into the cantle is too clunky and there are ridges where the metal bends laterally where the riders seat bones would be. All this can be remedied with careful filling and prep to get the seat perfect.
2. I skived the skirts a fraction too thin, you can see the stirrup 'bars' (which are gold covered wire bent into an oval)
3. the aforementioned bars are too tricky to access....I should have made the stirrup leathers before covering and had them attached before covering with the skirts.
4.  going back to the 'tree' its not symmetrical enough ~ notice the squared off cantle is fractionally nearer to the skirt on the nearside than the offside for a start, it makes the whole seat look a tiny bit twisted.
5. the holes for the girth billets where made with an awl not the super idea of using a mechanical pencil
6. the panels are too thin at the back (it was 'flocked' with the inside part of a plaster from my first aid kit...as you do lol!) 
7. also the panels don't have enough of a gullet between them, in real life it wouldn't be fit for purpose as it would press on the spine.
8. definitely need to be more careful applying glue ~ you can just see some especially at an angle on some of the seams.

that's the major boo-boos and the main points I want to alter next time ~ I did leap in a make the seat for another saddle (littlebit-ish scale this time....a teaser pic here showing the working hunter saddle and saddle number 2 in the clip tubs I use to store them in). On reflection I should have again spent more time modelling the seat which is why its spent a year in the box. But I will finish it and learn from the experience of making a saddle for another discipline. The main thing I took from making the saddle was I really enjoyed it and mainly loved a new challenge plus for a first attempt I'm pretty happy with the overall effect.

  

As for whether this saddle number 1 would be live show quality? I have no idea, although I'm happy with how its held up after a year (pics are taken one year on and on my phone apologies for the quality)....I've never been to a live show sadly, one day I will (its on the bucket list) and hope to find out but I'd love to know what folks think of whether it would be near the mark.