I Bit the Bullet and Got a Very Large Heiser Item

boykinlp · #1 09-25-2020, 05:31 PM

About 2 months ago I started a forum post on Saddles. Here it is:

Saddles

It basically was about the sanity of owning a saddle and no horse. I have been a holster collector for about 20 years. My favorites are floral carved ones from the big three makers (Heiser, Myres, and Lawrence). So, naturally, I decided to find a floral carved saddle.

I started looking and researching, and finally, I found a couple of saddles that interested me. One was a Heiser, and the other was a Fred Mueller. After negotiations, I acquired the Heiser saddle. When I started researching Heiser saddles, I quickly found out something that surprised me. There is quite a bit of detailed information about their holsters online, much of it here on this forum, or other gun forums, but very little detailed saddle information. I have hard copies and digital copies of some Heiser catalogs, but when I looked at the ones I had, there were very few pages on saddles. They were fairly thin and mostly dedicated to gun leather. There are some catalogs dedicated more toward saddles, harnesses, bits, and Spurs. Some of those are their #18, #21, #28, #35, and #41 catalogs. These wholesale catalogs are much thicker, some having over 200 pages, and have around 60-70 pages of saddles. If you have any of the hard copies of the catalogs, take good care of them, because they can be worth a lot of money. Heiser Catalog #18 (220 total pages and 70 pages of saddles) sold at auction on August 1, 2020 for $510.25! I bought a digital copy of catalog #28 for $13. It has a red cover with a roping cowboy on it that says it is their 78th Anniversary. It is about 100 pages with 30 pages of saddles. Some of those pages are 3 saddles per page, so there is quite a number of saddles shown. I think it should be from around 1935.

I found the saddle I have in the #28 catalog. My saddle is their Model 39 Oklahoma Special Roper Fork Saddle. It has a 16 inch seat, weighs about 40 pounds, and cost $148.20 in this catalog. I looked through some other online Heiser catalogs trying to find my saddle with no luck. It may be in one that I was not able to look at, may have been assigned another model number, or may have been discontinued. The saddle is in terrific condition for being 80 years old or so. After I got it, I worked on it similarly to the vintage holsters I get. I then thought about how I was going to display it. I decided to buy a saddle blanket (got it for $13 from Tractor Supply) and saddle stand kit.

From what I understand, each Heiser saddle has a number on it. Mine is 27490. I guess it is like a serial number, but unfortunately, I can't find any information that says when certain serial numbers were assigned. Some of the numbers I have seen even have letters in the series. It is really disappointing to me that I can't find out more information using this number. From my research, I found that many of the earlier saddles had large square skirts, like this one does, and they became smaller and more rounded as time went by. The stirrup straps are laced on, instead of using buckles. I hope some of you folks might have one or more of the other Wholesale Saddle catalogs so I can find out about when the Model 39 was first offered by Heiser and when it was discontinued.

I found out some information about this particular saddle. It has the initials "WR" carved by Heiser on the back of the seat, and a circle with a perpendicular line through it carved on the bottom of each fender. The guy I got it from wrote me this. "The original owner was an old school rancher/cowboy style whose family were some of the original land owners in the San Juan Capistrano area. There are still a handful of ranches there, and many stables & horse owners. Every year they did the "Swallows Parade" near the mission in downtown San Juan. He was one the the Horsemen that are a big part of the parade. And this saddle was in the parade for decades." Unfortunately, I have had no luck finding out who "WR" is.

I am still trying to find out the gentleman's name, and what the symbol might be. Maybe a ranch or cattle brand. Since this saddle is a Roper’s model, and has a strap to secure a rope, I think I should look for a vintage rope to add to my display.

Here are some pictures:
Larry

boykinlp · #2 09-25-2020, 05:40 PM

Don’t know why that one picture is sideways.

Here are some more pictures:
Larry

Onomea · #3 09-25-2020, 05:42 PM

I’m astounded that you can buy something that beautiful for $150. Congrats! A very cool decorative piece, especially for a holster collector!

Oops! Re-reading the OP, thanks to CelticSire’s post, I see that was listed at $150 in 1935. Well, whatever you paid, it is beautiful.

boykinlp · #4 09-25-2020, 05:49 PM

And a few more:
Larry

weatherby · #5 09-25-2020, 05:52 PM

Beautiful

Forget the rope you need the horse.

Man up throw on the BBQ rig the stetson and ride tall.

J. R. WEEMS · #6 09-25-2020, 06:59 PM

WOW!! That is beyond beautiful!! A Great CONGRATS to you. I dont know the vintage, but the rope in this photo is available to you.

ISCS Yoda · #7 09-25-2020, 07:35 PM

A bunch of years ago I bought an old, handmade saddle for 200 bucks, a stand for half that, I already had a blanket, and I had a really cool living room decorative piece. I also owned a horse for awhile but one thing had nothing to do with the other!

I had a rope with it, too, used, bought for 10 bucks at a rodeo.

Nice purchase! Enjoy it. I lost mine in the 2018 fire but I might do it again someday.

Golphin · #8 09-25-2020, 08:05 PM

Never thought of that but I like it a lot. My wife would kill me if I started collecting those. I see them in the pawn shops and even thrift shops some times in Ocala. Ocala and Marion is a big time horse place that rivals Kentucky when it comes to thoroughbred horses.

D Brown · #9 09-25-2020, 08:20 PM

That's a beautiful saddle! Thanks for the great posts!

dwh · #10 09-25-2020, 08:29 PM

What a great saddle, life is to short to ride in an ugly saddle. I would look for matching stirrups those stand out like a sore thumb. Stirrup get changed on saddles like we change grips on guns. Again great find.

J. R. WEEMS · #11 09-25-2020, 08:32 PM

WR?? Will Rogers perhaps???

Iggy · #12 09-25-2020, 09:11 PM

I rode my Dad's old saddle from the time I started riding to school between ranches when I was 6 years old.

When I graduated from high school my Granddad told me to go down to Heisers in Denver and pick out the saddle I wanted.
I ordered a double rigged rough out leather one with a smooth leather seat and Blevins buckles. I can still remember the smells in the showroom and all of the stuff in the display cases.
My Dad and I went back in a week to pick it up.
I still have that saddle 69 years later.

CelticSire · #13 09-25-2020, 11:17 PM

That $148.20 in today's money is $2,811.67. Darn good price for a custom built hand tooled saddle. Nowadays most tooled saddles start at twice that, and go up.

Igiveup · #14 09-25-2020, 11:32 PM

Iggy still has his saddle, and I think a guy never sells his saddle. I still have mine, a Danes saddle from the 1930's made in Sacramento, Ca. I will probably never chase a cow again, but the saddle still sits in the spare bedroom, ready to go along with the blanket and halter. My son has a young buck skin filly that I would sure like to break to ride, but the wife says I am too old for such things. I told her to bury me with the saddle.

Inusuit · #15 09-26-2020, 05:48 PM

The barred circle might be a cattle brand. Wyoming and Colorado have state brand offices that have assisted me with identification of brands. Don't know if California has such an agency. Might be worth checking.

boykinlp · #16 09-26-2020, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. WEEMS

WOW!! That is beyond beautiful!! A Great CONGRATS to you. I dont know the vintage, but the rope in this photo is available to you.

J. R. WEEMS,
Thank you very much for your offer. I would very much like to take you up on it! I believe that rope would look perfect on the saddle. Let me know what I need to do.

Larry

boykinlp · #17 09-26-2020, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwh

What a great saddle, life is to short to ride in an ugly saddle. I would look for matching stirrups those stand out like a sore thumb. Stirrup get changed on saddles like we change grips on guns. Again great find.

You are right, they are very plain compared to the rest of the saddle, but since they have been there are decades, I think I will leave them alone. I may try to clean up the galvanized metal, if I find out a way.
Larry

boykinlp · #18 09-26-2020, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. WEEMS

WR?? Will Rogers perhaps???

You mean "America's Favorite Cowboy"?

Larry

boykinlp · #19 09-26-2020, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inusuit

The barred circle might be a cattle brand. Wyoming and Colorado have state brand offices that have assisted me with identification of brands. Don't know if California has such an agency. Might be worth checking.

After I got this saddle, I was looking all over the internet for pictures and information on Heiser saddles. I found these two pictures kinda interesting, but unfortunately there was no explanation on this symbol that is on another vintage Heiser saddle either.

Larry

Inusuit · #20 09-27-2020, 10:39 AM

My dad purchased a special order Heiser saddle in the 1950s. At his request, his brand was carved into the top of the saddle horn. I've not seen a brand on the stirrup fenders before, but it is a possibility on the saddles pictured.

boykinlp · #21 09-29-2020, 02:31 AM

Here are some pages from the Catalog I found my saddle in. It is the Heiser #28 Catalog. It should be from approximately 1935. The saddle is their Model 39 “The Oklahoma Special Roper Fork Saddle”. Do any of y’all have any other Catalogs with this Model saddle in it? Thanks.
Larry

richcory · #22 10-19-2020, 01:49 PM

OP, I really like that saddle, congrats.

Cory

boykinlp · #23 10-23-2020, 03:14 PM

I told you folks in my first post that the original owner of this saddle, whose initials "WR" are carved in the saddle, rode every year in the "Swallows Parade" near the mission in downtown San Juan. He was one the the Horsemen that are a big part of the parade, and this saddle was in the parade for decades. Hoping to find out who "WR" might be, I contacted the current organizer (Jim Taylor) of the parade.

I hoped maybe there was a program with a list of the riders or some other way he could help me identify who the owner was. Unfortunately, Mr. Taylor told me this about the parade: The Fiesta de las Golondrinas is an outgrowth of a school carnival in the 1930’s which was held to celebrate the return of the swallows. It became a local equestrian parade. Original events consisted of an equestrian parade, a trail ride, and a western dance. The Swallows Day Parade is now one of the nation’s largest non-motorized parades and draws interest worldwide. The parade has 3000-5000 participants, which include around 400 riders, each year. Having that many people involved each year makes it near impossible to figure out who "WR" might be.

He said he would include my request in their newsletter that goes out to around 800 people.

My detective work is lacking. Do you folks have any ideas for me? I would really like to find out who the original owner was!
Larry

Salty RI · #24 10-23-2020, 05:52 PM

Today on How It's Made they made a saddle, it's all done by hand, the tools they use cut through that leather like it was butter, it took 40 hrs to make the saddle.

Sent from my LGL455DL using Tapatalk

Claymore33 · #25 10-27-2020, 10:32 PM

As a guy who rides fence and works cattle every week, that is a great saddle. Worth @ $ 2,000

Claymore

stamper · #26 10-28-2020, 12:13 AM

That is just flat-out awesome.