Hamilton’s Saddle

Today I finally, finally got the Saddleseat saddle completed.

Last week I got it assembled. All it needed was it’s girth and a few adjustments to the billets and stirrup leathers.

Then the week got busy. My goal was to have it finished this weekend, but I didn’t think I would be able to.

Putting it off even longer bothered me, so I made the time and pushed through.

It’s not perfect, but it’s better than my previous attempts at English type saddles. For once, I actually like how it looks underneath!

Here is the girth. I put rollers on the buckles this time around, (thank you Jennifer!) and while they do make tacking up easier, I still find this really irritating. The tongues like to flop around on these style of buckles.
As much as I love having mini tack look and work like the real thing, I’m thinking of just putting a hidden hook and eye on girths in the future. There has to be a middle ground between super realism and ease of use, right? 😄

Here it is on the horse. I hope the fit isn’t too terrible.

The girth in action…

I would like to create some sort of half pad to go underneath it, but that will be a project for another day.

Once I get that done, this set will really be complete. The hard parts are over, hooray!