Ignorant about horse equipment but have a few questions

I am a new member to the forum and first of all let me say that I have never owned a horse, not because I don't like them, because I love them and think they are beautiful animals, but because I could never afford one and never had a place to keep one.The only one I have ever rode was when I was a kid, my Dad would hire a man to plow our garden and he would let me ride his mule, but I recently went to an estate sale and ending up buying 3 saddles and a small truckload of unused bridles,stirrups,leather accessories, etc that appears to have been purchased in the 60's and 70's. I don't even know the correct name for these pieces.Most still have the price tags on them but are dirty and need to be cleaned. Being a member of the Smith & Wesson forum and the Colt forum, I figured this would be the best place to get advice on them. I would appreciate any insight or info you could provide on a few questions I have as I plan to sell them and would rather sell them to people that need them rather than on ebay for people to resell.

1. Am I in the right place on this forum to start with ?
2. The saddles and most of the equipment is made by SIMCO in Chattanooga, Tn. What is their reputation on their quality ?
3. They all need to be cleaned. A friend of mine recommends saddle soap. Is this correct ?
4.Can I list the items on here for sale?
5. Any idea as to value of these saddles and pieces? (I have attached a few pics of some of the stuff and don't worry about hurting my feelings because I need an honest answer )

Thank you in advance for any assistance and if I am out of place, please let me know.

Have a Blessed Day !
Jack

You're probably in the right place, but I can't find the attached pictures. =)

3. A good saddle soap will get a lot of the tack clean, depending on how dirty it is.
4. Are you asking if you can list the stuff for sale on the Horse Forum? Then yes, there is a section for tack and equipment classifieds.

Also, I wouldn't store the saddles like that for very long. I have always been told that was bad for the saddle tree. Setting it on something like a saddle rack is best, but if you don't have one, anything that is similar to a saddle rack works (I have kept my saddles on the back of a sofa before or you can make a simple one out of a peice of wood).

Oh and if you layed out the peices neatly and took pictures I'm sure people could identify what things are for you.

Simco saddles are decent quality. Western Saddles tend to hold their value better than most. I'd say you could possibly get 200-300$ each, if they were cleaned and the leather was in good shape and there wasn't big chunks of the sheepskin underneath missing.

If you don't have a way to put them on a rack, stand them up on the front of the skirts and horn, balanced like a tripod.

I am really interested to see what that black bridle with the brass spots looks like in box number one.

The second saddle looks like it has powdery mildew spots on it. I would carefully clean it with a fungicide.

Thank all of you so much for the info. I will get them stored and cleaned correctly and over the next few weeks will list them on here.

Thanks again and have a Blessed Day !
Jack

I can't tell from the pictures or not, but if the saddle seat is suede, DO NOT clean it with saddle soap or oil. Usually just a few wipes with a damp cloth works. Oil and saddle soap can hurt suede. Just a friendly tip.

I see a lot of nice things in these pictures. Once you get everything cleaned up, I would definitely take pictures and make a thread in the Tack and Equipment Classifieds section! I even see some things I might want! :)

Thanks. I just listed pieces in classified and will list saddles later.

Have a Blessed Day !
Jack

As to the other tack I would have to see it more then what you posted. There are a few things that I see that would be in the $5-$10 range others I can not see enough to really say.