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Trooper Saddle History |
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English & Canadian trooper saddles are a lightweight and comfortable saddle
originating in Hungary in the Mid 1800's and further developed by the English.
The trooper saddles were used by the
cavalry troops are found everywhere the English had influence. We see versions
of the troopers from England, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and
Australia. Some of the most popular original trooper saddle you will find in the United States is the the Canadian version. Many of these saddles are still around and being ridden on a daily basis by a bird dog trainer. Most of the old original troopers migrated into America with the help of the professional bird dog enthusiasts. Running bird dogs off horseback for hours at a time, and found the old troopers light weight, durable and comfortable. The pre 1900 trooper saddles are identified by shorter boards than a normal trooper saddle, and a small brace that was attached between the rear frame and the boards behind the rider. The post 1900 Canadian Trooper saddles were very basic, light weight, and useful saddles that were easy on the horse and rider. Sometimes you can identify a Original trooper saddle by the S,M,L, stamped into the front frame, and the maple boards. If your saddle looks like an original but has a laminate board, it could be an Original English trooper. Australian trooper saddles are very fine quality with the best example of the pivoting side bars or swivel tree. South African trooper saddles were built very similar to the Troopers but many had a pivot at the boards. These African swivel tree trooper saddles were a good and sturdy but did not perform well. A few people began to copy the old original and produce the Americanized version of the Trooper Saddle. Dan Clark was an old field trialer who started to rebuild many old trooper's, and was one of the first to get cast frames and laminate sideboards made for his own version. Dan was responsible for helping several people get started in the Trooper business Shepler's begin to purchase South African trooper saddle trees, and hang their own leather on the tree. The heavy steel frames of these saddles were cast iron, and the boards didn't have enough twist making them very flat. The webbing under the seat was stretched to tight, and all had a 17 inch seat. Some of these were made by simco. Wilson Dunn having a steel frame and a 16 inch seat with a laminate board made a small seat for the rider. Tarpin Hill Company started in 1980 by rebuilding old Original Canadian Trooper Saddles. Then in 1983 Tarpin Hill started producing a New saddles with cast brass frames and laminate boards. Tarpin Hill Saddles still are as close to the Original Canadian Trooper Saddles as any other.
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