What would we call this civilian saddle?

[rbruno]

Hello,
In the midst of all the saddle discussions, I found this picture that is titled "Cavalry Detail at Gen Albert Ames Headquarters." There is no date for the image, but if you zoom in you get a great look at the civilian saddle and bit and bridle on the one horse on the left. I am wondering what "name" we would call the saddle. Is it just a generic English riding saddle or one of the other names we float around. I thought it would be good to put a picture with a name.



Also, does it look like the dog in the front is playing with that rope? Or, is the rope just behind his head.

[Ken Knopp]

Re: What would we call this civilian saddle?

Rob, that would be a Somerset. Built on an English tree but with a higher pommel. Cantle "may" be slight elevated too. Note the rolls on the front of the skirt. Sorry, Rob, I could not find the "dog".


Ken R Knopp

[rbruno]

Re: What would we call this civilian saddle?

So that is what would be called a Somerset saddle. Ok. Now I have a picture with a name. Side note, the dog with the rope in his mouth is on the far right side of the pictrure just about in the middle under the guy with the pick axe in his hand. It also looks like another dog on top of what looks like a barrel in the middle. They each are moving so there is only three legs in the picture.
Anyway, thanks for the info on the saddle. That double rein bit is a Pelham bit isn't it?

[Mark Choate]

Re: What would we call this civilian saddle?

Ken your copy of the photo is cropped and the dog is lost (at least one of them is). Rob's is a little wider.

Rob, I cannot see the detail well enough to pick up the pelham bit. When I zoom in, I lose too much detail. Either that or my eyes are shot.

Mark

[rbruno]

Re: What would we call this civilian saddle?

Here is the link to the picture. You can down load it at a couple different sizes. I did the size next to the largest and when you zoom in you can see the bit and the headstall. I downloaded the TIFF at 24.8mb.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/item/cwp2003004741/PP/

And the dogs....

[Outrider]

Re: What would we call this civilian saddle?

Looks to me , and I could be completely wrong, that there is a bradoon snaffle/ curb combo going on there. I think I see a bit of the ring of the snaffle when I zooomed in close. So it could be that traditional setup with the double reins as opposed to a pelham. I am having a harder time distinguishing the "rolls" of a Somerset. At first I thought maybe it was just the way the skirt was " molded" from riding. Like my (pardon the reference) modern English saddle has but it does look to have a higher pommel so I defer to Ken on that one.
Good looking horse it is on at any rate.
I cant tell about the Dog/rope but just going by the body type/ color he almost looks like a Treeing Walker hound I had once upon a time.

Neat picture.