The artisan of this classic half-seat Great Plains stock saddle
is unknown, but his skills were recognized and collected by Mort
Fleischer.
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Tribute
to a Working Cowboy, a 1995 work by Jim Kelly of Cody,
Wyoming, is titled like the artwork it is. A masterpiece
of leathercarving, it depicts the workaday life of a cowboy in
scenes carved into the saddle's fenders, jockeys, and
skirts. Another hull some might consider "art"
is the alligator saddle commissioned in 1915 by a King Ranch
cowboy who won the skins in a poker game. The hides were
ample; even the tapaderos and cincha billets are 'gator.
From Hope to BohlinThe
Western stock saddle started with the simple saddles of the
vaqueros and ciboleros of Mexico. Their bare wooden trees
sired the beginning in the 1830s with the Hope, or Santa Fe
Trail saddle. Adolphus Hope's design became the Texas
Trail, or "cow boy" saddle. (Few of these
historic saddles remain. Some, thankfully, are in the
Fleischer Collection, assured of preservation.)
The Texas Trail
saddle went north with the great herds, inspiring trail town
saddlemakers along the way. The Cheyenne, or Plains saddle
evolved, built by legendary makers like Gallatin, Collins, and
Meanea. Fleischer's Collection features several original
half-seat, double-rigged Cheyenne saddles, including one fine
example by an anonymous maker whose unsigned craftsmanship
caught Fleischer's discerning eye.
As the open range
retreated before plow and fence, saddles became heavier and
easier on the rider. The half-seat became the loop-seat,
then the full-seat. Forks swelled as rodeos become show
business and stock saddles morphed into the upholstered cushions
we call Western Pleasure.
Fleischer
includes them all. Many, designed just for display,
showcase sliversmithing as well as saddlemaking. Such is
the unridden Frank H. Coenen outfit, built in 1940 and stored
since then in a sealed display case; it is a brand-new
60-year-old saddle.
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