skirts

[malachi]

On Mr. Knopp's site, under the photos of mounted confederates, there are two photos I would like information on. Perhaps some of you know, so that I needn't bother Ken directly. Private Willis of a Ga. unit sits astride a skirtless Texas saddle. So states the description. My question concerns troopers Secrest and Bowman. The descriptions for those two states that they are sitting quarter rigged Texas saddles. No mention of skirts is made one way or the other. Do any of you have an opinion on the presence of skirts on either Bowman's saddle, or Secrest's? I read many references to abbreviated skirts, but not many to skirtless entirely. Is it appropriate to construct my Texas saddle without skirts entirely? Will such a decision relegate that saddle to mid/late war impressions exclusively? If my frequent queries on the Texas saddle grow tiresome, I offer my sincerest apologies. Money being as scarce as it is for me, and given the need for a custom tree to fit my horse, I can afford but one try at this thing. My only desire is to get it right.
God bless,
Greg Tucker

[rbruno]

Re: skirts

Greg,
I can't specifically recall those pictures on Ken's site, but recently someone posted a link to an online auction that had several pre CW and CW era saddles. Most were civilian. I know there were ton of horned saddles. Maybe those photos might help you find one without skirts. I want to say the link was posted on Facebook but not here. Maybe someone has the link and can repost.

[Mark Choate]

Re: skirts

Hello Greg,

In a word, the answer to your question is "yes." Yes, it would be correct to be completely skirtless, if that is what you choose to do. The longer I studied those saddles (as well as the Jenifer) the more I came to believe that there were more variations than we can possibly ever catalog. This would be commonly referred to as a "skeleton-rigged" version of the Texas saddle and would not have been an uncommon thing to find. In addition to certain Texas, Spanish, Jenifer and other utility intended saddles (by this I mean saddles that were created for utilitarian usage such as military, cattle work, etc.) we have seen pack saddles with no skirts. I have even heard it discussed that a skirtless saddle is more comfortable to the horse as it does not trap heat around the back and weight bearing area as does a large section of leather on top of a blanket.

Anyway, good to chat with you again and enjoy your saddle.

Mark