My grimy-saddle-of-the-week project

I think it's just the angle of the first picture. That's the picture from the listing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's a medium tree, KE = 27.5 cm, just like my other one. I as well thought when I bought it and saw that picture that it might be narrow or something, but I didn't care, since I was planning on probably just stripping spare parts off of it. I e-mailed Passier, and measured it against my other one, and it's a bona-fide medium. Put it on a chunky horse today and it fit marvelously.
I'm pretty sure this saddle was stored poorly for a very long time, and probably got both damp/hot/cold/who knows what else. That's good to hear that the color might patina and even out. Nothing buffs out saddle leather better than a heavy rear spending hours in the saddle

Wow. Great find! Enjoy. :)

Can you come and clean my saddles please? Lol

You know, I really enjoy cleaning saddles. It's relaxing. In the wintertime, I sit in front of the fireplace, so the balm melts into the leather really nicely, and I just take my time and detail and rub. I love feeling the leather soften under my hands. I love the smell of the leather-balm, and seeing the leather and hardware come to life again. It's an oddly therapeutic stress-relief.

Of course, that's English saddles that are light and fit nicely in my lap. I don't think I would find cleaning a Western saddle to be quite as stress-relieving.

I agree, I do love to clean my saddle as long as it is my pride and joy dressage saddle :P I spend hours cleaning out every crack and crevice and it comes up looking amazing :) I like to clean saddle listening to music or in front of a movie or somthing.

Where did you find this saddle??

I had one that I was selling in consignment, no idea what happened to it. Looks a lot like the same saddle...

Loved it when I had it though! Just doesn't fit anything I own :)

It was on eBay. It shipped from Pennsylvania.
On one hand, this saddle didn't look like it had seen any care or love for a VERY long time, so I wouldn't think it had been yours.
On the other hand, it's been ridden in a lot, yet the tree is straight as can be, so it was at some point used by someone who cared and had a clue, so maybe...

I'll just say I have Anebel's saddle. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it

I have another one just like it that I got on Craigslist from someone in Connecticut. That's my really nice one - buttery as can be, no nicks, scratches, or flaws of any kind. No moisture stains on that one. That one has definitely always been cared for. I've doubled my chances that I have your old saddle.

Haha that saddle won a few Regional Championships like 6 years ago, and then I put it on consignment because the horse went home. So who knows, that could have been 6 years of weird consignment and getting-shipped-across-the-country grime :P