mule saddle

[malachi]

Good morning gents,
I am a cavalry guy but thought that you might have some help to offer for a problem I've run into. I assume that artillery units sometimes use mules for their pulling needs. My problem is that I have a horse, not a mule, which has an exceedingly flat back. Any horse saddle tree I've tried on him has way too much rock despite his having no problems fitting the gullet end. He is only four and has good muscle at the withers. I want to try a mule saddle on him. Do any of you have any period correct mule saddles of virtually any configuration that you'd be willing to part with? If not, do you have any mule trees I could build one on? I rode a swayback for years, and had an easier time finding a saddle for him! Any help would be greatly appreciated.
God Bless,
Greg Tucker

[IowaYank]

Re: mule saddle

Greg,
I could be wrong but I don't believe I have ever seen any reference to a mule specific saddle in the Civil War time period. I know in the modern day there is, but I haven't seen them referenced during the middle 19th century.

I have moved your post as well to the Cavalry Camp of Instruction as I believe that is where you will find the best audience for this question.

[malachi]

Re: mule saddle

My hope was that perhaps someone had built a wagon saddle based on a mules back. Straighter bars in the rear. Many horse saddles are a poor fit for many mules. Puts too much pressure on the center of the bars, and nearly none on rear fans of the bars. It was a long shot I guess. Bowden told me they can adapt mule bars to period style saddles. Just thought I'd check first.
God bless
Greg Tucker

[Ken Knopp]

Re: mule saddle

Dan Chmelar is correct....there is no such thing as a mule specific saddle at least in our relative pre and wartime period. The army put out a "Mule riding saddle" in the early 20th century but generally most saddles were simply made for either equine....horses or mules.

On the other hand, in regards to the "muley" saddle itself there have been many "muley" saddles manufactured during the 19th century. In general, the muley was simply an un-horned saddle finished with a round, knobby pommel top. The basics of which are so simplistic its origins are shrouded in ancient history. Some pommel configurations could be similar to muley’s such as a few variations of the Somerset (and English tree pattern), the Kilgore (a post war pattern), some Park riding saddles (another post war pattern) and others, yet these were clearly different patterns that retained their namesake identities. Though there may have been others, only one identifiable muley pattern is known to pre-date the Civil War. On February 5th, 1836, a patent was granted to Andrew R. McBride of Williamson County, Tennessee for a saddle tree with a pommel made from the fork of a tree. Unfortunately, the patent for this saddle was lost in the disasterous 1836 Patent office fire that resulted in the complete destruction of nearly all U.S. patent records up to that time. By good fortune, a short description survived elsewhere. From that scant portrayal its physical characterization is clearly that of a muley pattern but details are frustratingly vauge. From 1865 to 1885 a relative, perhaps a descendant nephew, Joseph C. McBride of Cookeville, Tn. took up making this widely known and respected “McBride” saddle ostensibly using the same knobby pommel pattern tree. The McBride remained a popular regional pattern for many decades and is found available in some catalogs as late as 1940. Certainly, other similar round pommel saddles were made prior to and after the war however, the muley was such a simple and universally acceptable configuration its pattern had no clear or legally founded origins or inventor, so it was easily adapted by saddle makers in various configurations.
In addition to civilian muleys, this author believes muley saddles were deliberately made by Confederate authorities during the war most notably in Capt. Josiah Gathright’s (formerly Morgans Cavalry) Alabama saddle making operation in 1864, perhaps elsewhere. While hard documentation is lacking, muleys certainly existed before the war and they were simple to make so it makes sense they were manufactured as expedients for Confederate cavalry. Nevertheless, some horned saddles were rendered muleys by accident too. Given the nature of wooden horned saddles, a broken or snapped off horn would have been a fairly common occurrence, particularly those used in roping cattle. The economics of the saddle owner often required their continued use- often with a simple bit of "field alteration" to make it look better. All of this illustrates the difficulty in establishing a true beginning for the muley. The truth is the shape of the muley was ancient in origin. Regardless, Gathright's post war launch of the Morgan saddle (horned and un-horned) through his very successful saddle manufacturing company- Louisville, Ky based, Harbison & Gathright, their creative saddle making and their monumentally important catalogs beginning in 1875 launched the muley onto the national stage as its own attractive- even fashionable pattern.

A bit of a an excerpt from my upcoming book "American Riding Saddles"- relatively altered for this exchange.

Ken R Knopp