I've loved wade saddles for a while now, but never been able to afford one. This one has been used pretty hard and definitely has that lived-in look. The roughout is worn smooth. But I saw the ad and I had to go take a look. It didn't come with the tapaderos that were pictured in the ad, which really hurt my heart, but I still love it. Just have to find a pair of stirrups for it. Well, and try it out on my horse, which I'll be doing first thing in the morning. The WSU Polo team has the local arena booked starting at 10, so I want to make sure and get there bright and early to hopefully avoid having to share the arena. It's too muddy to do much at home other than maybe ride up and down the road, which doesn't sound like much fun.
I love the above picture. If you click to enlarge it looks all misty and magical, like some place I'd like to visit. But really it's the view from my own front yard, made pretty in the misty morning light.
Okay, so back to saddles. I know I just recently sang the praises of my expensive custom saddle that I bought last summer. Although it wasn't custom made for me, the quality can't be beat. And I thought the fit was perfect. However, while I was feeding the other day I found the telltale white hairs that had come in with Tonka's winter coat. (Insert expletive here.) So the search goes on. Hopefully this saddle will be the perfect one. I'm not holding my breath, and I can take it back tomorrow if it doesn't work, but I really hope it works.
An "awwwww" moment:
I'm off to look for stirrups. What kind of stirrups would you put on a saddle like this? I'm thinking either wood bell stirrups or maybe rawhide covered. Oooh, the darker brownish rawhide might look nice.
3 comments:
Check out sharpsaddles.com . Clay Sharp is an extraordinary saddle maker and has all the stirrups and taps that you would want for that nice Wade Saddle. Clay rebuilt my 1955 Hamley after it was stored in a barn in Oregon for at least 10 years.
Hope the saddle fits the horse. I'd just put stirrups on it until you know if it fits or not.
I hope the saddle works for you! What about that dressage saddle you had tried at one point?
AKPonyGirl - I checked out the site, his restorations look great! I probably couldn't afford custom stirrups though. I'm going to go eBay cheap or something.
froglander - I bought the dressage saddle too. Well, still paying on it. My sister doesn't want the cash until the Mark Rashid clinic next spring so no hurry. I love that saddle. Haven't ridden in it in a long time but will eventually do more. It's WAAAAAY to nice a saddle to trail ride in, it stays on a stand under a cover and my kids are instructed DO NOT TOUCH. This rough old beat up Wade is just the ticket for me. It can take a little abuse. :)
Post a Comment