Need Help on ID of Western Saddle's Maker's Mark

Hello! I'm new. Nice to see everyone!

I recently acquired a heavily tooled black roping saddle. The leather is real, definitely not the cheap stuff or the waterbuffalo that's being passed off as leather. It was all dusty and dirty (it was so dirty that I couldn't tell whether it was actually black or just a deep chestnut)! The leather is really thick and supple. When I got it home and started cleaning and conditioning it, I did actually find a maker's mark on the latigo keeper, but I couldn't identify it on Google anywhere. It's very faint. I had to use a piece of paper and do a rubbing to be able to read what I could.

The entire logo is inside a circle (not an oval). In the center is a longhorn steer head. Underneath, around the bottom arc of the circle I think it says "Laredo Team". There is writing on the upper arc of the circle, but it's too faint to even read with a rubbing. There is a model number stamped underneath the entire logo: "1991"

Does anyone have an idea of who this saddle might be made by? I'm just curious.

Thanks,

Jessica

A picture would help tremendously but the first brand that pops into my mind is Longhorn. I can't seem to find what their logo looks like but it sounds similar, I think.

Welcome to the forum!

I thought Longhorn as well, but their border is more of a shield then an oval or circle. They typically put their logo on the fender.

It could be a Corriente

EDIT: I rethought this and the logo I was thinking of was a TexTan not a Longhorn so it may be Longhorn. Hmmmmmm I need to look it up.

Ok, I have pictures now. Maybe they'll help.

Here's what the logo looks like on the saddle:
aec19e44.jpg picture by LivingDedGrrl - Photobucket

1bdb198a.jpg picture by LivingDedGrrl - Photobucket

Here's the rubbing I did of it...the visibility is a little better:
c51f30a4.jpg picture by LivingDedGrrl - Photobucket

e8a8670a.jpg picture by LivingDedGrrl - Photobucket

Here are some pictures of the saddle itself:
44943b91.jpg picture by LivingDedGrrl - Photobucket

9ef308e7.jpg picture by LivingDedGrrl - Photobucket

4c4f54bb.jpg picture by LivingDedGrrl - Photobucket

You can't see it from the pictures very well, but the pommel on this thing is huge! It's got a nice deep seat, too. But I'm beginning to wonder if it was hand made or has been repaired...I found some subtle inconsistencies with its construction that you normally wouldn't normally find with a main line company brand. The tooling is very nice and elegant (and the pommel is beautiful!), but the way this thing is put together is more like a tank than a luxury car. The outside looks good and it's tough, but in the places you can't really see it ain't real pretty.

I'm thinking that says "Laredo Texas" That logo looks so familiar I can't seem to place it though.

Well, I doubt it's a Longhorn. Longhorns are made in Greenville, TX and your logo says Laredo, Texas.

Definitely says "Laredo Texas" on the logo... I don't know anything off the top of my head, but gosh that logo looks familiar.

I looked for saddle makers from Laredo, TX and the only big name I could find was jim sands but I have no idea what his logo looks like. That stamp looks like it is from a custom saddle maker, not a big company but I could be mistaken.

It almost looks like the bighorn logo, but then again it doesn't.

I found some things about it today, but not much. I actually found a website that used to have a 1992 of the same saddle. It's a saddle shop in Texas somewhere, but the image isn't on their site any more so I can only see the thumbnail. :^/

I found an old Horsetopia thread from 2007 that suggested that maybe the keeper was a replacement keeper for a saddle shop in Laredo, Texas that had keepers specially made for them, and they would replace them on the saddles that they sold. I don't know why anyone would take the old maker's mark off and put a new one on. Ever hear of that? (I live in Ohio and I've never known a tack shop do that)