05/09/2026
Restoration Project – Stage 1 🐴
I brought this lovely old heavy horse saddle pad from eBay last year. It had been kept in a stable for many years, so, as you can imagine, it wasn’t exactly in the best condition!
This week I finally started the restoration, and Stage 1 was taking it apart right down to the tree.
You learn so much from taking an old piece apart — how other saddlers have worked, the techniques they’ve used, different patterns and construction methods. It’s like a little piece of saddlery history.
The bottom panel had already fallen off, but the rest certainly wasn’t giving up without a fight!
Out came the tools and a good amount of force to remove the 3” nails holding everything together. Most of them were heavily corroded, which meant the heads simply broke off rather than coming out.
At this point I had to resort to my Dad’s motto:
“If in doubt, use a bigger hammer!” 😂🔨
This pad was clearly built to last — and built with the intention of never coming apart!
We got there eventually, and the tree is now completely stripped back.
Next job is to give the tree a thorough clean, treat it for any woodworm and then take it along to see if I can get a copy made.
I’m really looking forward to seeing where this restoration project takes us. There’s a lot of work ahead, but hopefully we can bring this old piece of heavy horse saddlery back to life. ❤️
Stage 1 ✔️
Stage 2 coming soon…
