Re: 1st century Auxiliary cavalry

[John Conyard]

I am sorry Jurjen I have only just noticed your post. You certainly don’t seem to be having much luck. I can of course get the other saddle repaired for you. PM me.

I am not sure I follow your comments regarding size. Your saddle was repaired to the exact size it was before, and the old saddle cover even fitted over the repaired frame. It will fit your horse as it did before. The girth attachments are made of nylon webbing strapped to the frame, they will not break, you can tow a lorry with them. Do you mean the leather straps sewn to the webbing? PM me and I can advise.

It certainly is true we are learning more about saddles all the time. I’ll start a new thread on saddle construction when I find a moment. Modern riders certainly want saddles to fit their horse as a modern saddle does, and want to use modern materials to ensure the saddle doesn’t break. In past years the horns were the weakness, but these are bullet proof on the new saddles. Now the cantle/sideboard joint is the issue and we are currently re-enforcing that with steel. I still believe that the Roman saddle was a military saddle designed to fit most horses with suitable padding. Or even the same horse in good or spavined condition. How well we manage that mirrors the relative success of say British and French cavalry in the Peninsula War, the bad backs of French horses being detectable by their smell. There is an issue around the flexibility of the design which modern reconstructions have yet to fully understand and that materials can compromise. For example the wooden tree needs to flex as does the webbing and cover.

Comitatus has been using the new saddles since last autumn. The covers are well stretched and nicely weathered with oil, beeswax, sweat. They are stronger than our other saddles and seem a good general size for horse and rider.