08/25/2026
Official before/after for a childhood saddle no longer safe to ride becoming memorialized. Now I want to do my own childhood saddle! It’s so cute!
This older Big Horn saddle carried years of history, but time and improper storage took its toll. With expired leather, rusted hardware, and a broken tree, full restoration wasn’t possible. Instead, I gave it a careful cleaning and conditioning, stabilizing it where I could, and added decorative touches to preserve its story.
I carefully cleaned and re-laced the stirrup leathers with some creative leatherwork since I couldn’t safely replace them and preserve the saddle, created a tooled sunflower horn cap, added a faux horn wrap, and replaced all the tie strings. After all that, I added an epoxy to help slow further deterioration as best I can. 
The result is a sentimental display piece that honors the original saddle and holds on to its memory. Sometimes it’s less about restoring function and more about preserving the story.
I love doing pieces like this but it’s a hard walk. You want to be respectful while also honoring and being honest about what you can and can’t do. I truly appreciate being considered for pieces like this!
❤️❤️❤️
