Restoring/maintaining a WWII saddle

Very awesome. I'm thinking King Hi is a Thoroughbred, or almost completely Thoroughbred.

Just give it a saddlesoaping with glycerin soap. That is pretty much what they used then. Don't oil it unless you are absolutely positive it needs it. I doubt it does as they saddles were made of the finest saddle leather available. I rode many old Barnsby english saddles that were cleaned regularly with glycerin and never had a drop of oil put to them and they were 30 yrs old and more.

Thank you! I guess that's what I wanted to know, what NOT to use! I had read somewhere else not to use oil so I'm glad you could confirm :)

I think the Cavalry pretty much dispersed/became irrelevant after WWII as new methods of fighting developed. I can't imagine there are still any mounted regiments today (not combat ones anyways), but it used to be a very large and integral part of our military (as far as I can understand haha)

I won't be using the saddle, I highly doubt it would fit my stocky 14.3hh quarter horse if it fit that huge guy anyways lol I just want to take good care of it.

Nice saddle! I have a WWI (1913) McClellan tree and original girth, but only use my 1904 McClellan, rigged up for trail riding. 11 inch seat vs 12 inch, you see. LOL 11 inch would be about a 13-14" modern western seat. Just some facts for ya.....enjoy that saddle! (why NOT use it? How cool would that be!)

There's lots of useful help and information on cavalry history, particularly WWI and II, on this site, if you're interested

Society of the Military Horse

What a cool saddle, and even better history! Hullabaloo!!

We totally still have mounted cav units - my farrier learned his trade when he was in the Army up at Fort Hood. He says the mounted cav are for displays now, parades and such, and not for fighting.

I understand US Special Forces are using horses in Afghanistan (!)

That is SO cool- I'm totally jelly :(
And that is a beautiful horse!
I'll have to dig up those harnesses we have in the barn in sweden and try to restore them :p

Your saddle is a M1936 Philips used strictly by U.S. Cavalry and field artillery officers. Your saddle appears to have all the proper accessories for service in the field: pommel pockets, saddle bags and the cantle shelf.

Philips saddle seats can be found. HOWEVER, it is extremely rare to find a fully equipped Philips. The cantle shelf alone is a $300-$400 collector item. Your complete ensemble is a museum piece. Please do not think of it as a saddle - I urge you to never put it on a horse or attempt to sit on it. No matter how sound it may look, attempting to sit on it will very likely explode the seams of the seat which will basically destroy this historical item.

Think of this ensemble as a piece of antique militaria. Please avoid any synthetic leather treatments. Belvoir glycerine saddle soap is all that is needed and should be applied with just enough water to make the soap bar barely greasy and then gently, not vigorously, rubbed in.

I recommend you not try to unscrew the cantle shelf. It is sheet steel covered in leather. It is flexed to line up the screw flanges with the screw holes. If you take it off, you may not be able to get the shelf to line back up with the holes. Secondly, you may lose one of the screws. They are of a special design and irreplaceable.

The pommel pocks swivel off - no risk in removing them for treatment if you must. Look in the pommel pockets to see if there are two metal bolt heads. They are meant to be screwed into the sockets on the pommel when pockets not in use. If you find the bolt heads, leave them in one of the pockets. They are usually missing from the Philips saddles that are still around. The stirrup irons should be marked "U.S." and dated on the bottom. If the saddle is 100% complete, the stirrup leather buckles should not look like modern ones. They should be slightly offset.

Good golly, this is better than watching Antiques Roadshow! That's incredible information...