Gate Post versus Knee Roll

  I got a call from a local equine supplier [tack shop to you and me]. A lady had brought in her saddle. She has failed to negotiate a gateway and walloped her knee on the gate post. Luckily the gate post was unharmed in the incident but the rider and saddle were not so lucky. The rider is sporting a dislocated knee. That's going to smart for a while. The knee roll of the saddle is partly separated from the saddle flap.

 The job was to restitch the knee roll to the saddle flap. That is easy to type but not so easy to execute. First I examined the saddle and then the damage. The saddle was made in Sutton Scotney apparently by hand. It says so on the badge attached to the tree underneath the skirt. My idea of "by hand" and what I had in front of me are two different things. However after a cup of tea and a bit of thought I reconciled my issues. The saddle was machine stitched throughout. The stitching thread is nylon. There is no question that the saddle is robust. It looks like it has had a hard life. In a sense that is a good thing. It means the neddies [my term for horses or ponies of either sex] are getting ridden regularly. If I had a horse I would ride it everywhere. Perhaps not to London or Manchester but certainly in twenty mile radius of home. Returning to the damage on the saddle.....

The customer said the stitching had ripped. This was true in part. As I tidied up the stitch holes I found: A. the machine stitching and B. There was a 1 1/2 inches gash where the leather had ripped. The funny thing was that the loops of the stitching was still in place. It took a few minutes to clean the area of thread and figure out a plan to repair the stitching. Tea always comes in handy at this point.

   I figured there was nothing I could do to repair the ripped saddle flap. The customer was not going to buy a new saddle on account of this damage. I guessed I would be able to piece together the seam between the knee roll and saddle flap and restitch the seam using the existing stitch holes. When the stitching got as far as the rip I decided the stitch line would have a detour. I would take the stitch line inside the rip so the new stitching would be still provide support in joining the two piece of leather together although looking a light asymmetric. Symmetry would mean a new saddle and we knew that was not an option.

   I decide to do the easy bit would be restitch the upper stitch line first. My rationale was that the leather and holes were not damaged. Also that in securing the upper line it would hold the piece in place whilst I tackled the lower stitch line and the rip area. The first five inches were easy enough. The saddle flap was errr....flapped back and forth at give access for the needles to execute saddle stitch. I started the stitching over the end of the machine stitching in order to secure the end of the machine stitched line. It got really tight as I approached the skirt and the big rivet that secures the saddle flap to the tree. The "D" ring of the martingale anchor also served to reduce access. The needles are about two inches long so that is the minimum space required to pass the needles to and fro. Once I got to the end the stitch line is was straight forward to turn the corner and make the three stitches down the start of the lower stitch line.

   I back stitched here partly to reinforce the seam at this point but also to start a new thread. My plan was to stitch along using the existing holes until one stitch before the rip. Take the stitching through 90 degrees for two stitches then another 90 degree turn to bring me parallel with the rip. I would stitch along parallel to the rip then do two more 90 degree turns to bring me back onto the original stitch line. This was a great plan except there was no room to work in. The detour stitch line line needed new holes. The leather is three thicknesses at this point and I had to be careful not the stab the existing saddle with the awl point. It is enough to say but making the twenty odd stitches to execute the detour took nearly and hour and a good deal effort. I probably did not help myself my doing the stitches at 16 to the inch. I figured many stitches would provide a secure repair. In hindsight that was probably overkill. Once I got back onto the original stitch line I was away again. I had plenty of room and difficult bit was behind me. I took the new stitching over the end of the old stitching to secure it. A couple of back stitches and the repair was complete. I cast eye over the rest of the saddle and found a small section of the welt on the knee roll had been opened up by the impact. I could not help myself and repaired that section. The access was good so it only took a few minutes. The customer drove a hard bargain on the cost of the repair so a baulked at cleaning the saddle and repairing the other areas of general wear.

      The repair closed the joint between knee roll and saddle flap to its original position. It also closed the rip. The top edge of the knee roll saw to that. I got the fine paint brush and the dark brown dye out. I carefully painted the inside edges of the rip with the dye. The inside of the leather was a lot lighter than the outside surface of the saddle leather which had weathered and had the patina of age. The dye toned down the contrast essentially making the repair disappear to the casual observer. What the owner of the saddle thinks remains to be seen. My customer, the tack shop, seem pleased with the repair.