Nearly 2 years ago I was contacted by Gerard Hogan, an Australian Saddler and conservator with the Australian Army Museum about my 1890 UP Saddle. Gerard wanted to get some more details about the Saddle and if possible if I could make paper templates of each of the elements of the saddle as there were a whole host of components and parts of the saddle that sparked interest for him.
One of the things that he was particularly interested in was that he wanted to see the feasibility of recreating it as the Australian Army Museum did not have a 1890 UP in its collection.
Having taken a large number of photos and made templates and paper traces for Gerard and now 18 months on I’ve been very fortunate to see the result of the work done by Gerard and others in Australia. The following information and photos have been provided by Gerard.
This saddle (Universal Saddle, Steel Arch, Pattern 1890.) depicts the Mk I without the split seat, and is fitted with the first pattern V-girth attachments (the MKI), and the MKIV numnah felt, as no numnah panels were fitted to the Mk I saddle.
The lancer pattern stirrup irons are fitted to this saddle, and these are original NSW Lancers stirrup irons made in 1885 England. The Mk I also had brass runners fitted to the stirrup leathers but we have to make these as it is impossible to locate brass runners.
However we forgot to add the leather caps to the side bars for this pattern of saddle. This meant this pattern, the Mk I, did not have felt numnah pannels fitted until the Mk II. The purpose of the caps protected the sidebars from damage and were held in position over the fans, by screws.
This was the period of time that the British War Office was experimenting with dispensing with the bulky horse hair pannels and using felt as an option.
Interestingly, the Mk I also had a small tab fitted into the slot on the rear edge of the seat on both sides. This tab looped under the foot of the rear arch as there was a small bevelled channel made into the timber side bar. The idea was to hold the seat down but it was soon found to be unnecessary. By the time of the Mk II introduced into service, this was dispensed with.
In service, the MkI had a brown saddle blanket fitted under the saddle and on top of the felt numnah Mk IV.
The Mk IV numnah felt had a front and rear small strap fitted and this was buckled to the front buckle on the saddle seat, and the rear buckle under the rear spoon of the rear arch, this was to hold the felt and blanket in place whilst in service.
It was found the saddle was too slippery in this manner on the horse and although the numnah felt could be ‘brought up’ into the front arch off the shoulders, the blanket often bunched up or fell out whist in service.
Therefore the MkII was fitted with the first pattern of felt numnah panels. This had a pouch to fit the front arch point and the rear fan had no brass loop fitted. This now provided the necessary grip on the brown blanket. Soon after this the numnah felt was then fully dispensed with.
Saddle Work Credits:
Arches were blacksmithed by WO2 Bruce Sinclair Ferguson RQMS (Australian Army History Unit, Australian Army) and are Mk I arches for the Universal Saddle, Steel Arch, Pattern 1890.
Leatherwork by Gerard Hogan the Regimental SaddlerTM
Timber side bars were made by Australian saddle tree maker Jeff Freeman.
Saddletree and leather assembly by WO2 Ferguson.
I have to say that I’m incredibly impressed with the work and effort that has been done to create the Saddle and I’m very pleased to have been able to help in this project for Gerard and the Australian Army Museum.