The known history of the saddle can be traced back to the Moorish horsemen and warriors of the Dark Ages.
The Moors invaded Spain in the 700’s and brought with them a unique style of riding and tack. With high cantles and forks for protection and security, their saddles were designed for battle. They included stirrups to accommodate riding with armor. The knights rode these saddle on the crusades.
The Spaniards brought their Spanish War Saddle to the New World. These saddles evolved from a military saddle into a stock saddle, becoming a tool for the working cowboy.
Two schools of preference developed – the Texicans and the Californios. The Texican style was popular east of the Rockies and up into Canada. These saddles were big, plain, heavy square-skirted, double-rigged saddles. They were suited for the heavy brush of the region and the hard riding and roping style.
The Pacific coast, Great Basin country, and the Northwest were dominated by the Californios style saddle. Their saddles were lighter, round-skirted, and center fired rigged for the dally style of roping they used. The vaqueros had more free time because of the climate and terrain of the area. They used their time to begin to highly decorate their saddle and established the tradition of saddle decoration.
These two distinct styles can still be recognized in the Buckaroo slick-fork saddle (Californios) and the swell fork, square-skirt saddle (Texican).
The Moors invaded Spain in the 700’s and brought with them a unique style of riding and tack. With high cantles and forks for protection and security, their saddles were designed for battle. They included stirrups to accommodate riding with armor. The knights rode these saddle on the crusades.
The Spaniards brought their Spanish War Saddle to the New World. These saddles evolved from a military saddle into a stock saddle, becoming a tool for the working cowboy.
Two schools of preference developed – the Texicans and the Californios. The Texican style was popular east of the Rockies and up into Canada. These saddles were big, plain, heavy square-skirted, double-rigged saddles. They were suited for the heavy brush of the region and the hard riding and roping style.
The Pacific coast, Great Basin country, and the Northwest were dominated by the Californios style saddle. Their saddles were lighter, round-skirted, and center fired rigged for the dally style of roping they used. The vaqueros had more free time because of the climate and terrain of the area. They used their time to begin to highly decorate their saddle and established the tradition of saddle decoration.
These two distinct styles can still be recognized in the Buckaroo slick-fork saddle (Californios) and the swell fork, square-skirt saddle (Texican).
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