Saddles and Harness

Some horse drawn carriages found in Celtic graves show hints that their platform was suspended in a frame, elastically. First century Romans used sprung wagons for overland journeys. With the decline of these civilizations these techniques almost disappeared.

In the Middle Ages all travelers who were not walking rode, save the elderly and the infirm. A trip in an unsprung cart over unpaved roads was not lightly undertaken. Closed carriages began to be more widely used by the upper classes in the 16th century. In 1601, a short-lived law was passed in England banning the use of carriages by men, it being considered effeminate. Better sprung vehicles were developed in the 17th century. New lighter and more fashionably varied conveyances, with fanciful new names, began to compete with one another from the mid-18th century. Coachbuilders cooperated with carvers, gilders, painters, lacquerworkers, glazers and upholsterers to produce not just the family’s state coach for weddings and funerals but light, smart fast comfortable vehicles for pleasure riding and display.

In British and French coaches, the coachman drove from a raised coachbox at the front. In Spain, the driver continued to ride one of the horses, as also in the 1939 state visit procession in Canada.

From the 1860s, few rich Europeans continued to use their posting coaches for long-distance travel: a first-class railway carriage was the faster modern alternative. Then, in the 1890s, just as automobiles came into use, “coaching” became an upper-class sport in Britain and America, where gentlemen would take the reins of the kinds of large vehicles of types generally driven by a professional coachman.

Cleaning a draft horse saddle isn’t a difficult process for something that is an imperative part of horse riding. Here are some easy tips:

• Place your saddle on a saddle rack, preferably a moveable one that you can put in your garage or outside where you can work on it.
• Keep a new saddle in good condition and prevent it from darkening by lightly wetting and wringing out a soft dust-free cloth and wiping the entire saddle. Wipe off any excess water and allow the saddle to dry naturally.
• Use a little extra elbow grease for older saddles. With a sponge, apply glycerin saddle soap to the entire saddle. Work soap in circular motions on smooth surfaces.
• Use a soft-bristle toothbrush to clean basketweave and intricate scrollwork on the saddle.
• Wipe soap from the saddle using a damp towel. Lightly dry saddle with a clean, soft, dust-free cloth.
• Twist both fenders of a Western saddle to the outside and place a broomstick through both stirrups to help keep the proper form; let the saddle dry naturally.
• Use the same materials for the rest of your tack.